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In Amazing Spider-Man #71, Mysterio returns to his most dangerous identity, in a revelation with major implications for Spider-Man.
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Amazing Spider-Man #71, on sale now from Marvel.
As a master of illusion, Mysterio has a wide variety of tricks up his sleeve. Quentin Beck’s cunning and realistic special effects have made him a formidable foe for Spider-Man over the years. In Amazing Spider-Man #71, by Nick Spencer, Federico Vicentini, Federico Sabbatini, Alex Sinclair and VC’s Joe Caramagna, Mysterio’s dangerous identity as Doctor Ludwig Rinehart makes a shocking comeback through an insidious flashback to Mary Jane’s past.
During the latest chapter of “Sinister War,” Mysterio takes Mary Jane to a sound stage, where Mysterio claims he was born. One of the sets on this sound stage is rather familiar to MJ: the therapist’s office where she went after Gwen Stacy died. Mysterio reminds MJ that she returned to this office years later after Harry Osborn died, but her old therapist had retired. In his place, MJ’s new therapist was Ludwig Rinehart, an old alias used by Mysterio.
Mysterio first used this deceptively dangerous identity back in 1965’s Amazing Spider-Man #24, by Stan Lee, Steve Ditko and Sam Rosen. As Doctor Rinehart, Mysterio spoke to the Daily Bugle, claiming that Spider-Man was due for a mental breakdown any day. To support his claims, Mysterio started projecting images of villains such as the Sandman and the Vulture to make Spider-Man believe he was hallucinating. These tricks convinced Spider-Man to come into Doctor Rinehart’s office, where he saw furniture bolted to the ceiling, believing he was losing his mind. Additionally, the “hallucinations” returned in Doctor Rinehart’s office. In reality, this was all a trick by Mysterio to learn Spider-Man’s secret identity.
Surprisingly, Spider-Man was saved by the timely intervention of J. Jonah Jameson and Flash Thompson, before Mysterio went back to jail. Mysterio’s identity of Doctor Rinehart returned in 1979’s Amazing Spider-Man #193, by Marv Wolfman, Keith Pollard, Jim Mooney, Ben Sean and John Costanza. This time, Doctor Rinehart acted as a psychiatrist at a rest home, where he swindled senior citizens out of their savings. Coincidentally, Mysterio later encountered the burglar who killed Peter Parker’s Uncle Ben, who was after Aunt May this time. Deciding to help the burglar, Mysterio faked Aunt May’s death, a convincing ruse which nearly broke Peter. Eventually, however, Spider-Man learned the truth and saved his aunt from the burglar while Mysterio fled.
Doctor Rinehart’s most recent appearance was in 2019’s Amazing Spider-Man #24, by Nick Spencer, Ryan Ottley, Mark Morales, Cliff Rathburn, Nathan Fairbairn and Joe Caramagna. In a most impressive trick, Mysterio became Doctor Rinehart and brainwashed his therapist at Ravencroft into believing that he was Mysterio. Kindred ended up killing this therapist, which allowed the real Mysterio to escape custody. Doctor Rinehart’s return has some major implications for both Spider-Man and Mary Jane.
Mysterio’s role as Ludwig Rinehart is probably his most dangerous trick, driving Spider-Man to the breaking point on two separate occasions. Peter was seconds away from revealing his secret identity to Mysterio the first time, and he actually believed that Aunt May was dead for a while when “Doctor Rinehart” returned. His success in brainwashing his therapist is also quite impressive, showing his immense powers of suggestion on others. Considering all of these acts, Doctor Rinehart could have made some major impacts on Mary Jane’s psyche during their sessions.
It’s not clear exactly how Mysterio influenced MJ, especially given his association with Kindred. MJ didn’t even remember meeting with Doctor Rinehart before this, a fact that was understandably concerning for her. It’s likely that Doctor Rinehart’s sessions with MJ were part of a much larger plot, especially since she barely remembers the ordeal. With this kind of mental manipulation, it’s probable that Doctor Rinehart was another piece of Kindred’s plans. In the future, Kindred will probably shed some light on this ploy. The villain will likely attempt to mess with Peter and Mary Jane’s memories, as he’s often done in the recent Amazing Spider-Man run.
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