4. Give Him A Different, Compelling Backstory
Now, when writing a villain, there are a few ways you can write his story. He can either be a sympathetic villain, a henchman, an arrogant villain, or a full-fledged evil villain. Making Mysterio a simple henchman would be a major insult to his character, as he deserves much more credit than that. I believe Mysterio should be a mix of the sympathetic and the arrogant archetypes. The way I would write him is ultimately with the Quentin Beck version of the character. Similar to his origin in the comics, Beck would be in the movie business, however I would not make him a struggling special effects artist as he is in most media . Bear with me on this Quentin Beck would be introduced as a very famous but also quite arrogant actor. Imagine him as that actor you always see looking well groomed, and ultimately thinks too highly of themselves. It would be like a mix of Edward Norton and Marlon Brando. He would be filming one of his movies in New York, possibly being sponsored by OsCorp, which would therefore confirm the connection. Next, Quentin Beck is simply amazed at Spider-Man and states in the public eye that he is the only man he is willing to respect for doing what is right. To connect him to Peter Parker also, Peter could be working at The Daily Bugle and have an opportunity to meet him.After various attempts to try and get his attention, frustrating Spider-Man to the max, he would publicly humiliate Beck by stating he is no more than a mere stuntman, which could also be expanded upon as maybe he is a fraud actor whereas he has employed stuntmen do all of his tricks he is famous for. This would then spark controversy and get Beck shamed in the public's eye, therefore ruining his reputation and making him therefore hate Spider-Man. By adding this kind of backstory it makes the theme of the movie that Spider-Man's fame does come with a cost and to use his powers to protect the city, not for personal gain. This is when Norman Osborn would step in he would offer Beck the chance to make Spider-Man look like a fraud, and convinces him to frame Spider-Man for a series of robberies. He then creates androids which resemble Spider-Man, therefore making him look like the enemy. He would then give Beck a simple suit of armor, which Beck would then customise to become Mysterio. This would feature hallucinogenic gas being emitted from the gauntlets, similar to the Scarecrow in Batman Begins, electric impulses on the gloves to represent shocking, and invisible fuel underneath the boots to give the illusion Mysterio can fly. It then gets to the premiere of his movie, which despite Beck being kicked off of and being recast, he still attends the premiere. This is where Mysterio is introduced, at first everyone believes it is a simple publicity stunt, but similar to the Spider-Man 2 video game it begins attacking the guests, claiming himself as an alien. Spider-Man would then be in the audience, and save the people, including Beck, which therefore makes him seem innocent, especially after Spider-Man has to save his life. However it would be revealed that the Mysterio at the premiere was a robot, and Beck was the real Mysterio behind the scenes all along. I think it's rather cliche that the hero's friend is always kidnapped, but as a way to introduce this, Mary Jane Watson would be an actress alongside Quentin Beck in his movie, and her kidnapping would somehow resemble an abduction. He would eventually be defeated and sent to Ravencroft. However, maybe in a post credit scene, he is approached by the Man in the Shadows, where he is given a file that simply reads 'Project: Six.'