Many Marvel supervillains have self-designed suits that are more than a little cumbersome. Marvel comics apparently decided long ago that more ostentatious costumes for the baddies would make them more distinctive and further prove their evil hubris. Nowhere is this more apparent than in one major Spider-Man nemesis: Mysterio.
If you know your comic books, then you know Mysterio has a complex suit we know looks cool on a comic book page, but could easily be suffocating to an actor. Just wearing the suit with the golden gauntlets alone likely adds considerable weight. When you add the giant head-encompassing glass helmet, it could become downright dangerous.
When you hire Jake Gyllenhaal to wear the costume, you apparently don’t have to worry thanks to his full acting commitment.
Jake Gyllenhaal always wanted to wear the full Mysterio suit
Hiring Gyllenhaal to play Mysterio was one of the best casting coups Spider-Man: Far From Home could achieve. We all know Gyllenhaal always does deep-dives when it comes to his roles. Some of his recent movies have him taking major risks to bring more authenticity and compelling nature to his performances.
Maybe you can argue he goes to extremes sometimes to make a character jump off the screen. Gyllenhaal is reportedly a fan of the original Spider-Man comic books, so he showed complete support of wearing the entire Mysterio garb through the film.
This wasn’t the original intent of the film’s production team. They thought Gyllenhaal would feel too uncomfortable wearing the entire costume. All intention was to have him act in civilian clothes as much as possible.
Call it acting masochism if you want. Gyllenhaal’s willingness to wear the full Mysterio outfit was to the film’s benefit.
Jake Gyllenhaal gives purpose to working out for a movie
Based on what’s been said, Gyllenhaal has one of the most intense workout routines of any actor in existence. No wonder he was game to take on the role of Mysterio and make him true to life.
When you’re as fit as Gyllenhaal is, you can arguably withstand any discomfort from a bulky supervillain suit for hours at a time. Then again, we still wonder about how he was able to breath wearing that giant fishbowl helmet.
At least Gyllenhaal’s physical fortitude has been proven when Tom Holland recently did an intense workout with his co-star. Holland realized how much of a mistake that was because he couldn’t keep up with Gyllenhaal’s pace. It led to Holland hardly being able to walk due to the workout intensity level.
That says a lot when you consider Holland is also in top-tier physical shape and has the uncanny ability to do Spider-Man’s limber moves at will.
How Jake Gyllenhaal might have been Spider-Man
Gyllenhaal is clearly a big fan of the Spider-Man franchise, and producers knew he could be potentially as great as the title character. Some people may not remember he was on the short list to possibly play Spidey during the Tobey Maguire years. When the latter was seriously injured on the set of Seabiscuit, there was serious thought to replace Maguire with Gyllenhaal.
Gyllenhaal has said: “Eventually, my belief is when an actor’s played a character, particularly in a movie, the character’s theirs, and that’s that.” He thoroughly believed Maguire was Spider-Man and ultimately didn’t snatch it away.
Yes, this was a big, humble move obviously rewarded later by the MCU by giving Gyllenhaal the Mysterio role. Playing this villain is a dream for many actors anyway based on the character’s complexity.
The MCU is reportedly making Mysterio more an ally than a villain (or somewhere in-between), which is perfect for Gyllenhaal after recently playing some of the most complicated people on the big screen.
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