Vulture and Mysterio

For the most part, the two Spider-Man films at Marvel Studios have been well received. The latest film, 2019's Spider-Man: Far From Home, became the first Spidey film to ever cross the $1 billion dollar mark, earning a grand total of $1.132 billion worldwide. With these movies, Marvel and Sony Pictures have focused on villains audiences have never seen in a live-action movie before, such as Michael Keaton's sinister Vulture and Jake Gyllenhaal's bizarre Mysterio. Today, I want to have a look at the first appearances of both characters, and decipher how they are holding up a few years after their cinematic debut. So, without further ado: Let's revisit the Vulture and Mysterio.

When Marvel Studios announced that it was going to reboot the Spider-Man franchise into the MCU, fans went ballistic. While losing Andrew Garfield was a tough pill to swallow, the cinematic potential of a Spider-Man who gets to interact with other Marvel heroes was enough to make the medicine go down. Two movies in and audiences are not tired of this iteration yet. The third and, as of right now, untitled Spider-Man movie was meant to begin production later this year, but with the Coronavirus shutting down most major productions, we will have to wait a little while longer to see Tom Holland suit up as the wall-crawler once more.

Let's Revisit The Vulture and Mysterio

The Vulture:

Vulture and Mysterio

In 2017, the world was graced with the marvelous live-action debut of Adrian Toombes/The Vulture. Portrayed to perfection by former Batman, Michael Keaton, the MCU version of the character was charming, sinister and a little funny. Since then, we had not really heard much about the character coming back. At the end of the film, we see Toomes still alive and well in prison. A few months before Spider-Man: Far From Home started shooting, a rumor hit the trades that the character would return in the film, but that was shot down by director Jon Watts. Time passed and we just assumed that Toomes would pop up again, with little to no idea when.

Suddenly, we knew. On January 13, the official teaser trailer for Jared Leto's Morbius film dropped revealing Keaton back in the role of Toomes. Now, not much is known about his role in the film, but if Reddit and 4Chan leaks are to be believed, he will serve a fundamental purpose to the film, instead of simply being a fun, little cameo.

So, how is Vulture's comic book debut - The Amazing Spider-Man #2 holding up? In March of this year, a 7.0 copy of the book sold for $3,800 (USD). In the last month alone, 10 copies of the book (grades ranging from 3.0 - 7.0) sold. For a character who hasn't appeared on a movie screen since 2017 (Morbius doesn't count yet, as it hasn't been released) that is somewhat surprising, wouldn't you say? Of course, this renewed interest in the character, in my opinion, solely stems from the reveal in the final seconds of that Morbius trailer. Not only does it confirm that Keaton will return to the role, but it definitely hints at his possibility as a member of the much-anticipated, Sinister Six.

Mysterio:

Vulture and Mysterio

Jake Gyllenhaal's Mysterio is, in my humble opinion, one of the best things to happen to the MCU. His version of the character perfectly parodies the insane and silly comic book villains we have had over the years, and the actor is clearly having the time of his life here. Audiences were smitten with Gyllenhaal's performance the second he was cast in the role, and more than 9 months later, nothing has changed. At the end of Far From Home (spoilers, but come on) it appears as if Mysterio is killed by his own weapon. However, considering that he really is the Master of Illusion, I don't believe this for one second. Mysterio, in the comics, is known to cheat death literally all the time.

It appears as if someone at Sony has read some of these Mysterio comic books, as according to The Illuminerdi, the studio is heavily pushing for a Mysterio spin-off movie with Gyllenhaal back in the role. I assume this film would confirm his survival, further building towards his role in the Sinister Six, much like the Vulture.

So, how is his debut comic - The Amazing Spider-Man #13- going? A few weeks ago, a 9.0 copy of the book sold for $6,250. Since that solo-film rumor hit the internet, 26 graded copies of the book have sold, 21 of which have been over the last 2 weeks. Much like Vulture, despite the character having already appeared on screen, the renewed interest is palpable and interesting to watch.

In summary, it appears as if the renewed interest in both of these characters is real, and that these first appearances are selling significantly well despite The Vulture and Mysterio debuting on screen before. This situation is completely different from the Thanos ordeal, in which following his appearance (and death) in Avengers: Endgame, Thanos #1s declined like never seen before. For investors of both The Amazing Spider-Man #2 and #13, the future is looking good.

 

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