It's official: Jake Gyllenhaal has joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
After swirling rumors, fueled leaked set photos, the actor confirmed he will star in the sequel to 2017's Spider-Man: Homecoming as the villain Mysterio. Gyllenhaal shared the news Wednesday with his first Instagram post, in which he pretended to be shocked by his role.
The video shows the 37-year-old looking at The Amazing Spider-Man issue "The Return of the Man Called MYSTERIO!" Gyllenhaal then puts the comic down with a shocked look on his face. "I just realized I’m not playing Spider-Man," he wrote in the caption.
Gyllenhaal will star in Spider-Man: Far From Home alongside Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, Jon Favreau, and Zendaya. He expressed his appreciation for the franchise's first installment back in October, amid rumors he was joining the sequel's cast.
"I would say, with John Watts who directed the movie, what makes this installment of that franchise so great is that there is an intimacy to it," Gyllenhaal told Entertainment Weekly. "And there is a sense of the scenes, with the casting in particular and also the storytelling, that you feel that you’re actually in a movie with human beings in it. That’s what it feels like when you’re working."
Spider-Man: Far From Home will hit U.S. theaters July 5, 2019.
