Spider-Man: No Way Home writer discusses cut Mysterio scene

gamesradar.com:

Spider-Man: No Way Home co-screenwriter Chris McKenna has spoken about the lack of Mysterio in the movie. 

The villain was originally an idea for the villain to appear – recently published concept art from the movie showcases a stand-off between him and Doctor Strange around the Statue of Liberty. Jake Gyllenhaal's character may not have survived Spider-Man: Far From Home, but anything is possible with the multiverse.

"We've worked on a few of these [movies] now and they'll bring you incredible concept art. You're like 'wow, someone thought this up, and now it's going to be a set piece,'" McKenna said during an interview at IGN Fan Fest (via The Direct) when asked about the concept art. 

"So when we didn't know what the movie was quite going to be, we were playing around with a lot of different ideas, you're dealing with the multiverse and a lot of different ideas get thrown around. Brilliant artists are taking their own ideas or taking inspiration from the director, the producers, and making incredible artwork."

"When it actually started coalescing, when feelers were put out and actors were like, 'Yeah, I'm game for that', then it became this overwhelming thing because you're like, 'Ok, this is the reality now'. You can't just be swimming in a million characters, you have to be choosing characters wisely and making sure that they don't overwhelm the story and Peter himself."

And there are certainly plenty of villains in No Way Home – Tom Holland, Andrew Garfield, and Tobey Maguire's versions of Spidey face off against Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe), Doctor Octopus (Alfred Molina), Electro (Jamie Foxx), Lizard (Rhys Ifans), and Sandman (Thomas Haden Church).

We can next see the web-slinger on-screen in Spider-Man: Across