what’s so enticing to me about Iron Man/Mysterio/Spider-Man is that this mess of a triangle with quentin beck at the center of it has the potential to be so complicated and pathetic and profoundly painful, it has the potential to be real life.
I imagine what Beck said about working on BARF and then getting fired for being emotionally unstable meant he and Tony had a thing back then.
It was good and hot and he perhaps loved Tony a little bit, all the late-night sushi-takeout workshops at Stark Industries and Tony telling him about memories of his dad, and the two of them testing the prototype for the first time and Beck witnessing the raw emotions Tony kept suppressed for all those years.
They could’ve had a therapeutic and entertaining little affair, and Beck truly thought that he would become a permanent part of Stark Industries some day, just right by Tony’s side, designing all the tech for him, and Beck did put in the years at his job, what he brought to Stark he thought was truly world-changing.
Like he said, the applications of the core tech behind BARF would be endless if you think about it, and it could possibly revolutionize modern industries. He thought he was there to change people’s lives, that his work came so close to advancing humanity, which is what ultimately unhinged him when he found out Tony only saw this as a pet project that was developed for personal use.
He wanted to be a good person, truly, all his life he worked towards it, but in the end Tony Stark’s ego failed him. All those time wasted, all his passion. Hard pill to swallow.
He was bitter after he got fired because he had to be, anyone in their right mind whose dream and career got destroyed like that had a right to be. And perhaps he was always unstable, perhaps he always had that psychological tendency, that weakness in him which triggered the instability amid all the stress and depression and anger. So anyways he started hating Stark after that, not only because the man ruined his life long passion but also for the fact that he used to be so obsessed with that genius playboy inventor. Maybe he had always wanted to work with the legendary Tony Stark, and it was why he wanted to work for Stark Industries in the first place, maybe his employment under Tony was the best time of his life, but Tony ruined all of it.
He can’t get over his obsessions, though, and he never got closure. He planned his revenge, he was going to make Tony remember him and repent for what he’d done, and he was so ready for his grand scheme, he was going to show him and the world just truly how powerful and life-changing the technology that he designed had the potential to be, until he heard the news of Iron Man’s death.
He must have grieved, oh the rabbit holes he went down in the days following Tony Stark’s death. Perhaps the only well-timed thing Disney has ever done for the MCU, because now Quentin Beck can never get closure.
He had obsessed over Tony Stark for most of his life, and at one point he was special in Tony’s eyes too, and that fleeting chapter of his life was bittersweet, and he refused to accept that Tony just kicked him to the curb like that and for this he hated him.
But he can’t help feeling that sense of entitlement, that he was the only one who truly deserved Stark Industries, he was devoted to the company, to Iron Man, he was clever, resourceful, ambitious, which is why he had such a hard time getting over the fact that Tony left everything, EDITH even, to a superhero kid who came out of nowhere that he’s never heard of.
And Spider-Man was so, so naive. I might be projecting onto this part a bit because I honestly felt Mysterio’s hatred for MCU’s version of Spider-Man, like yes Peter Parker (Tom Holland) what an adorable adorable little puppy every time he talks my heart melts a bit but he just painfully falls short of what I think Spider-Man should be. The immaturity, impulsivity, the lack of emotional depth, he was a Spider-Man not weighed down by the promise of responsibility from a dying loved one or the pain of loss from hiding a secret identity, even after Tony died I couldn’t see that quality in him, his character was so shallow, it was like the secret of his superhero identity meant nothing at all.
Quentin must have seen through it all, he was so vain and melodramatic, he met Peter and immediately thought less of him. He thought Peter was too young, too immature, naive, and inexperienced, and frankly he couldn’t believe this was Tony’s work. After all, how can Tony trust such a dumb young kid with the technology that should be in the hands of much more capable man? This was just like how Tony dismissed the potential in BARF, clearly it would be much more beneficial if someone who knew what they were doing got left with Iron Man’s legacy, but he had to go give it away to a child because his ego just couldn’t allow it.
And in his heart he felt a little vindictive because if he had been the boy’s mentor, he was sure he could do a much better job training Peter than Tony did. Just like he can do a much better job as the next Iron Man. He must have had thoughts like this on many occasions; if he had the kind of resources Tony Stark had, he can do a much better job improving the world.
He would look at Peter and feel jealousy and hatred and a messed-up sense of protective ownership, because everything Peter had should have been rightfully his, he’s the only qualified hero to be the next Iron Man, and if he was, he could do so much more to help Peter become the deserving Spider-Man he knew Peter can be.
He saw the potential in Peter, it just wasn’t enough to convince him to let go of his pathetic obsession with Tony Stark, and Peter was so quick to trust him implicitly, it was almost too easy. In the end he wanted to be Iron Man more than anything, because he just couldn’t stand losing the man he loved, even though he already lost him years before, he never got closure, and he was so hung up he was willing to kill Peter Parker to get it. Maybe in a different universe he could have loved Peter and it would be a simpler life, something he wanted at one point, because he did think Peter was lovable and had so much potential, but there was no way back for him.
The moment he lied to Peter about who he was, he lost any chance of ever being happy and starting a new life and letting go of his Tony Stark obsession. Perhaps during the time he spent with Peter he had just a brief moment of clarity where he understood what Tony saw in the boy, because Peter was just so pure with a heart of gold. But by the time he realized, it was too late, he also realized that he let go of any real chance at getting closure because his entire relationship with Peter was based on a lie he can’t save himself from. And it was a shame to him that Peter had to go out like that, but there was no way back. He already made too many sacrifices that led him to where he was, Peter just fell short of being good enough.
That’s what’s so beautiful about this ship. Maybe Quentin Beck knew that everything was messed up and wrong and it should never have been like this, but because Tony Stark died, life had to end this way for him. His passion began and ended with Tony Stark, and he never got over that.
