Gyllenhaal Joins Spider-Man

It's being reported that Jake Gyllenhaal is in final talks to play Mysterio in the sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming. The sequel reportedly takes place in London and Europe, so I will be referring to it as Spider-Man: European Vacation.

I'm not sure how I feel about this news. I'm possibly hoping it's a play to get someone else to sign on as Mysterio.

It's not that I dislike Jake Gyllenhaal - actually it's partially that - but it's more that I can't picture him in a comic book movie. All his movies that I've seen, he's done excellent work in, but all those roles were darker, much more serious. He was great in Nightcrawler and Prisoners, but those are complete tonal opposites to Spider-Man.

Aside from the difficulty I have spelling his name, I'm also distracted that he looks like a rich man's Tobey Maguire - who played Spider-Man. See where I'm going with this? No? Fine, I'm not really sure myself. It just feels weird.

I think the largest problem I have is that I just don't see him as Mysterio. Michael Keaton as Vulture, I saw immediately. It was perfect. But I can't imagine Jake as a Bubble-headed villain. I'm sure the team working on the movie will nail the costume. I just can't picture it. Which is probably why I don't work in costume design.

I'm sure it'll work out fine, even if it is Jake Gyllenhaal.

What has me really excited though, is that Mysterio is an underused villain. He was always one of my favorites in the 90s animated series and the 90s comics. I'm really liking the fact that they seem to be keeping away from Norman Osborn and the Green Goblin, going for the lesser utilized villains.

It's something I hope DC learns from and in future Batman movies, they stay away from yet another Joker. Or in Superman, take some focus off Lex Luther.

The other thing that I'm really excited about is, it seems like we're leading up to some version of The Sinister Six. Even if they don't go through with it, we're going to be more than halfway there and as a fan, that excites me. We already have Vutlure, Shocker, and the man who becomes the Scorpion. Add Mysterio, we're two away.

The only reason I think they may actually head in that direction is that the Vulture is set to return for European Vacation and that The Tinkerer who helped Vulture in Homecoming is connected to Mysterio in the comics. And with a third movie in development, maybe we'll see a supervillain team up, better than whatever Legion of Doom DC is planning. Or what happened in Spider-Man 3.