Marc Webb’s The Amazing Spider-Man 2 shifted to Times Square in midtown Manhattan Monday to shoot fight scenes between Web head (Andrew Garfield) and one of his classic villains, Electro (played by Jamie Foxx). Several set photos started hitting the Web immediately after Foxx stepped on the scene. If you’d like to see them, try a Google search. We’re not that interested in spoiling the look for those who don’t want to see it. But we are interested in exploring what the look might mean for Spidey fans who are excited about the universe Webb is building.
We’re going to get spoilery, fans, so only proceed if you don’t mind analyzing a few things about The Amazing Spider-Man 2.
Still here? The jokes linking Foxx’s crystal-blue look in the Electro costume to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Mr. Freeze from Joel Schumacher’s Batman & Robin are funny, but off base. Up-close photographs of the actor’s made-up face reveal a crucial clue to what I think might reveal the secret of Electro’s origin. Look closely, and you see scales and tentacles that resemble an electric eel.
Most of Spider-Man's earliest villains have connections to the animal kingdom. The young Peter Parker stopped the Rhino, the Vulture, Doctor Octopus, the Scorpion and the Lizard from committing crimes. And I believe that Webb is leaning on that coincidence to build the rogue’s gallery of villains for his Spider-Man franchise. The link is the research being conducted at Oscorp, where Dr. Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans) experimented with the regenerative powers of a lizard to create a flawed, super-powered villain. I believe moving forward that foes Spidey faces will have a link to DNA merging, from Paul Giamatti’s Rhino to Foxx’s Electro. And I think these first set photos suggest that Foxx’s Electro will have roots in the DNA of an electric eel.
We have been told that the Tree of Life hologram in The Amazing Spider-Man is a crucial Easter Egg suggesting the direction of Webb’s franchise. And when I see Foxx in costume, I immediately think of an eel. Maybe I’m way off. Maybe Webb and his screenwriters have a different origin in mind for Max Dillon. But it’s important that Peter continues to feel that he has contributed to the creation of the villains spilling out of Oscorp – he did give Connors the lost algorithm that completed the DNA formula – and linking a destructive character like Electro to Spider-Man on that level will only make The Amazing Spider-Man 2 that much more compelling.
