Mysterio: Path To Redemption

Mysterio: Path To Redemption is a 2021 American superhero film directed by Christopher Nolan. It is the first installment in his Mysterio film series. The film is based on the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man, and was co-produced by Sony Pictures. In this film, Mysterio/Quentin Beck (Gyllenhaal) intends to go straight, but Boris Vadim/Crimson Dynamo (Ehrenreich) has plans to convince everyone that Beck is still a villain and lying about going straight. Filming took place from January 2019 until early Feburary 2020. After the film was delayed three times due to the pandemic, it was finally released on December 7th, 2021. The film recieved mostly positive reviews for it's direction, cast performances, plot, and emotional tone, with the runtime drawing divided opinions. A sequel, titled Mysterio Forever, was released on January 16th, 2023, with a third film confirmed to be in development, and is planned to be released on January 18th, 2025.

Plot
After faking his death, Quentin Beck is apprehended in France and taken to La Santé Prison. Shortly after arrival, he starts to cry as he reflects on what he had done. Then, Peter Parker arrives, and asks Beck about what happened. He replies by explaining what he did, and apologizes. After that, he tells him that he indends on making a suit that has real superpowers. Peter agrees, and responds by telling him "With great power, comes great responsibillity" before leaving. After that, he meets his cellmate, Boris Vadim, a former member of the Winter Guard, and killed his commanding officer for threatning to court-martial him shorlty after the Soviet Union's fall, resulting in his arrest, cryogenic freezing, and transfer to France, where he was brought to La Santé Prison.

A prison guard arrives at the cell and informs Beck that he is free to go, much to his delight. This infuriates Boris, who is reminded that he has 9 years left of his prison sentence. There, he formulates a plan for revenge. The next day, he throws his food tray at the other prisoners, instigating a riot, giving Boris the opportunity to escape, which he takes. After this, he decides on the perfect revenge by tricking the public into thinking Mysterio is still a villain. Meanwhile, Quentin Beck settles into Manhattan, New York, where he sets up all his equipment that he was granted after his release. Before he can get started, he sees a newspaper with a headline saying "Mysterio lies his way out of jail time", much to his frustration. He makes a suit that has real superpowers, and tests it. Beck flies around in the suit, saving anyone in danger, restoring the public's love for him.

Boris, who was infuriated, uses a payphone to call Christopher Colchiss and Lancaster Sneed. Once they arrive at Boris's lair, he explains his plan to the both of them, and they agree to it. Beck decides on the name of Mysterio as his superhero name, and puts on the suit after hearing about a bank robbery. After stopping the theives, he is confronted by a cop, who asks him if he robbed the bank, where he replies that he did no such thing, but is arrested anyway. While at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, he reveals that what he was saying is true, and Beck seizes the chance to prove Boris wrong by taking the disc that he burned the explanation of his plan to. Warden James Carson realizes his mistake and agrees to release Beck. After reclaiming his suit and returning to his apartment, Beck turns on his computer and places the disc into the optical drive, then saw that Boris was ready to make his speech, and jammed his frequency. In the middle of Boris's speech, a new audio plays, and his entire plan is revealed to the whole crowd causing them to boo at him and pelt him with food.

Infuriated, Boris, Lancaster, and Christopher escape, and Beck is pleased with revealing Boris's true intentions. Meanwhile, Boris throws a table at the wall in frustration, only for Christopher to have finished the Crimson Dynamo suit, and Lancaster to have informed him of it. After putting it on, Boris uses the suit's electric blast to knock the two out cold, then bury them next to his lair. After that, he assumes the identity of Crimson Dynamo, and flies off, looking for Mysterio. In Manhattan, Beck hears on his police scanner about a bomb threat being made by Dynamo if he doesn't come in 3 hours, causing Beck to put on the suit and fly to the rescue as Mysterio. After arriving at the Empire State Building, Mysterio offers Dynamo a truce, but refuses, and their big fight starts. After several blows using their suit's powers and abilities, Mysterio is injured, his suit is damaged, and Dynamo's suit is scratched as they land on the top of the Empire State Building. While gloating about his plan, Mysterio uses green smoke to restrain Dynamo, and uses green lightning to critically damage Dynamo's suit, causing him to be flung into the abandoned Renwick Smallpox Hospital, causing the suit to explode upon impact, killing him.

After waking up at Bellevue Hospital, Beck sees he is in a hospital gown, and thanks the doctor for helping him. He is aware that his paitent is Mysterio, now being branded a hero for real, feels that he's no hero because he doesn't have his suit and powers that came with it. The doctor reminds him that it’s not the costume and powers that make Beck a hero, it's his heart that makes him a hero. Matt Murdock arrives and informs Beck that he had been pardoned of all of his prior crimes, much to his happiness. After being discharged by the doctor, Beck walks outside, and hears a crowd happily screaming "MYSTERIO FOREVER!"

Mid-credits scene: Lancaster and Christopher escape from their graves, and swear revenge on Beck before hiding in a nearby log cabin.

Cast
Jake Gyllenhaal as Quentin Beck/Mysterio, who intends to go straight after faking his death.

Alden Ehrenreich as Boris Vadim/Crimson Dynamo, who intends to convince everyone that Beck is lying about going straight

Seth Green as Lancaster Sneed, one of two teamates of Boris Vadim

Tommy Lee Jones as Christopher Colchiss, another of the two teammated of Boris Vadim

Tom Holland as Peter Parker/Spider-Man, who makes a cameo in the jail scene

Joaquin Phoenix as James Carson, warden of the Metropolitan Correctional Center

Robert De Niro as the doctor, who gets Quentin Beck back to health

Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock, the lawyer that informs Quentin Beck that he had been pardoned of all his prior crimes

Development
Shortly after the release of Far From Home, Jake Gyllenhaal expressed interest in a Mysterio-centered movie. Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios agreed to work on the film. Marvel was intending to use Black Cat as the main antagonist of the film, but was dropped due to Ted Raimi disapproving of the idea, and asked Christopher Nolan, director of the film is Crimson Dynamo could be used as the main antagonist instead. After Alden Ehrenreich overheard the conversation, he signed onto the film, and had fun playing Boris Vadim, who assumed the Crimson Dynamo identity before the climax of the film. Filming took place from January 2019 until early Feburary 2020. Sony Pictures agreed to use the Joe Williams version of Jingle Bells while Beck makes his suit, It's Tricky by D.M.C for the end credits, and Hound Dog by Elvis Presley after returning to the end credits. The film was granted a PG-13 rating for sequences of heavy sci-fi violence. The first official trailer was released during Super Bowl LV.

Theatrical
The film was first set to be released on June 4th, 2020, but was delayed until August 17th, and for a third time from January 17th, 2021, until it was finally released on December 7th, 2021. The film's release coincided with the 80th anniversiary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. It scored $3.291 billion at the box office against a 209 million dollar production budget.

Home video
The film was released on DVD and Blu-Ray on April 8th, 2022. The Blu-Ray release contains several bonus features.

1: Making Dynamo, where Alden Ehrenreich is being interviewed about his role as Boris Vadim/Crimson Dynamo, where behind the scenes footage is shown of him.

2: How Mysterio Reformed, where Jake Gyllenhaal talks about Mysterio's journey to redemption.

3: 4 deleted scenes.

4: Commentary with Christopher Nolan, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Alden Ehrenreich.

The film was released on Digital, 4K Ultra HD, and Disney+ on May 27th, 2022.

Box office
The film grossed $3.291 billion against a 209 million dollar production budget. It was the highest-grossing MCU film until it was outgrossed by Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. It held strong at #1 during it's theatrical run. It had the biggest international release in every country.

Critical response
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 96%, with an average rating of 9.3/10. Critics stated that this "was the best film for Mysterio's redemption." Kambole Campbell at Empire Online gave the film 5 out of 5 stars, stating that the film "takes the part of Mysterio that pretends to be a hero, throws that out the window, and inserts a part of Mysterio that makes him an actual hero by genuinely doing good things for other people."

Soundtrack
Elliot Goldenthal signed on for scoring the entire film. He felt that it was "satisfying for everyone." He even used a hint of Ramin Djawadi's soundtrack score on Iron Man after meeting him at the Sony Pictures studio.

Sequels
A sequel, titled Mysterio Forever, was released on January 16, 2023, to positive box-office returns. 4 days after the films release, a third film was confirmed to be in development, and is planned to be released on January 18th, 2025. Christopher Nolan has stated that he would "make Mysterio 3" in a heartbeat.