It’s been a week of crazy big news for geeks. First it was announced that George Lucas is going to be selling Lucasfilm to Disney and that Star Wars Episode VII is now in development. Then it revealed that Bryan Singer had officially signed on to replace Matthew Vaughn on the X-Men: First Class sequel Days of Future Past. But the hits just keep on coming and today we found out the identity of the villain in one of the biggest upcoming superhero sequels and the name of the actor who could very well end up playing him.
Just a little while ago it was announced that Jamie Foxx is now in talks to star as the villainous Electro in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (or whatever it ends up being called). And while I’m sure there are many comic book fans out there, like myself, who are excited about what this could mean for the movie, there are far more people who are probably saying to themselves, “Who the hell is Electro?” Well, I’m here to help.
To take you back to the beginning, Electro was first introduced as a Spider-Man villain very early on, appearing in “The Amazing Spider-Man #9,” which was released in February 1964 (Spider-Man was introduced in 1962). The villain was originally an electrical engineer named Maxwell Dillon – traditionally drawn as a white guy – who was involved in a lightning accident that caused his body to turn into an electrical capacitor. Though his powers were initially weak after the accident, needing to steal electrical equipment to make himself stronger, eventually he grew stronger and quickly gained full control over his awesome powers to control electricity.
Over the course of his long run in the comics the character has been able to do a number of impressive things with his power. These abilities include being able to fire lightning bolts, electrocute people through simple contact, expand his electrical energy through recharging (which can make him grow to enormous size and look like pure energy), create localized electrical storms, ionize metal and even shut down the wall-crawler’s wall-crawling ability. As for weaknesses, water isn’t exactly his friend.
It’s also worth noting that Electro was one of the original members of the Sinister Six, the team organized by Doctor Octopus to try and kill Spider-Man. In addition to Electro and Doc Ock, the group also included Vulture, Kraven The Hunter, Mysterio and Sandman.
But how does Electro fit into the world created in Marc Webb’s The Amazing Spider-Man?
For starters, it’s clear that the mystery man in the shadows at the end of the first movie was definitely not Electro - Michael Massee, who played the mysterious figure, likely won’t be returning to the part once the character’s identity is finally revealed, but there’s no way that was Jamie Foxx in some kind of disguise. But that doesn’t mean there weren’t hints about Electro in that final scene. Remember the flashes of lightning that appeared behind the cell walls? It seems as though that wasn’t just being used for dramatic effect. After all, when I talked to director Marc Webb earlier this year he confirmed to me that The Amazing Spider-Man would have a hint about the villain in the sequel. Looks like we found out what he was talking about.
So now let’s have a discussion, shall we? Obviously there are hundreds of ways that Electro can be used in the movie – we’ve seen multiple variations in comics, television shows, video games and so on – but which version of the character would you like to see? Are you excited to see the charged antagonist on the big screen? Do you think Jamie Foxx is the proper actor to play him? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section!
