Warning: spoilers for Spider-Man: Far From Home are in play. If you haven’t seen the film just yet, you’ll want to turn back and head to another story before reading through.
By time Spider-Man: Far From Home ended, a lot of big events transpired in the final act of the film’s story. Peter Parker (Tom Holland) finally became comfortable with being a responsible superhero, while also balancing his life as a teenager in a relationship.
Of course, that was the perfect time for a news broadcast to break into his life, and out him as Spider-Man to the general public. That act was a desperate gambit executed by Quentin Beck (Jake Gyllenhaal), in his final moments of life as the supposed hero Mysterio. Naturally, much like Peter, we know the truth of that particularly corrupt revelation.
Though there’s another truth that needs to be discussed in the aftermath of Spider-Man: Far From Home’s big ending; and it’s a scenario that might be as fake as any of the stunts that Mr. Beck pulled throughout the rest of the film.
Knowing the nature of his character, we have reason to believe that for his last, and best, trick, Quentin Beck convinced the world he died a hero, when he’s still alive and ready to play havoc on an unsuspecting world.
How Mysterio’s Fate Played Out In Spider-Man: Far From Home
Towards the end of their showdown on the Tower Bridge in London, Peter Parker and Quentin Beck face off in the observation area. All that stands between them is a ton of drones filling one long corridor, but thanks to his “Peter Tingle”, Spider-Man avoids the illusions in front of him and takes the fight to Mysterio.
In a last ditch effort, Quentin orders the drones around him to disengage their safety protocols and fire on Peter. In the ensuing fire fight, a stray drone that he uses as cover shoots Quentin in the chest, supposedly disabling him. Peter speaks to what looks like a dying foe, before catching onto his adversary luring him into a false sense of security.
The real Quentin Beck supposedly dies shortly after Peter Parker “executes” the drone shutdown, and in his dying words talks about how “People need to believe, and nowadays they’ll believe anything.” Upon first hearing that line, one would assume that this line is just a reference to the mid-credits scene where Peter is revealed to the world as Spider-Man.
However, taking into account some of the evidence that was presented in the final moments of Spider-Man: Far From Home, this could be a clue that Quentin Beck is very much alive and well.
Quentin Beck Was Already Several Steps Ahead Of Peter Parker
During the battle on the Tower Bridge, when his illusions start to fail in front of the world, the wheels start turning in Quentin Beck’s mind. Even his associate William (Peter Billingsley), the man who’s been helping him generate said illusions through the Stark Industries B.A.R.F. tech, admits he’s curious to see how Quentin will spin this situation.
One consequence of his actions was obviously an effort to frame Spider-Man for the Elemental con job at the heart of Spider-Man: Far From Home. Beck knew what he was doing from that moment through to the end of the film, as there would be ample “evidence” of Spider-Man fighting the drones.
Through Quentin Beck’s narrative, that fight will look like nothing more than Spider-Man creating a menace to fight, in the name of making himself look like a hero. Meanwhile, through his own death at the hands of Spider-Man, Mysterio would become a martyr. All he had to do was lure our true hero into the right set of circumstances.
Beck’s Illusions Fooled Peter Right Up To The Very End
Spider-Man: Far From Home has some of the coolest fight scenes that involve Peter Parker getting to know his patented Spidey Senses, or “Peter Tingle” as the film has renamed it. It makes for fantastically shot scenes where Spider-Man is flinging himself through drone-projected illusions.
There’s just one problem with these scenes: the events depicted also the perfect cover for Quentin Beck’s illusions as Mysterio. We, the audience, see these scenes the exact way Beck wants us to see them play out. So we’re fooled right alongside Peter Parker when it comes to what is exactly the truth.
Already establishing that Beck had an endgame of his own in mind, it’s safe to assume that he prepared the narrative where he dies the hero in advance of his “showdown” with Peter on the Tower Bridge. All that had to happen was for the spider to wander into the web of his enemy, and it was showtime.
Even when we think we’re watching Mysterio die the first time around, it’s merely a drone-fed illusion, a fact that Peter catches up to in his own time. But by that moment in the course of events, Quentin Beck could have made himself up to look like he was dying, and convinced Peter that he had bought the big one.
It should also be noted that Peter asks E.D.I.T.H. if all illusions are offline. He doesn’t ask her if Mysterio/Quentin Beck is dead. While his questioning tentatively goes down that path, Peter ultimately asks about the presence of illusions, not his enemy’s vitals.
Putting it all together, the case can be made that Quentin Beck is very much alive and well. With the resources, and the cunning, to fool the world into thinking that Elementals from another dimension were attacking cities throughout the world, it’s not outside of the realm of possibility that this particular villain has survived to see another day.
Those thoughts lead to more questions that loom much larger than whether or not Beck is really dead. Most importantly, what’s Beck going to do, now that his supposed death will cloak him in secrecy? Also, could he be working with other, anti-Tony Stark factions to bring out a greater menace to the world?
A lot of mystery surrounds the ending of Spider-Man: Far From Home, both in what’s happened and what’s implied for the future. Phase 4 will probably give us those answers sooner than we think, so for now, the world will have to sit tight and wait for confirmation as to whether Mysterio is still alive, or if he’s waiting to make his next move from the shadows. We already know he’s got the camouflage skills to go unnoticed in a crowd, let’s see how, and if, he uses it.
Spider-Man: Far From Home is in theaters now. Should you have already taken that journey to your heart’s content, feel free to check out our 2019 release schedule in order to give yourself a better picture of what’s coming to theaters in the near future.
