Whilst Marc Webb’s THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN divided audiences, there was never any doubt of a sequel (particularly considering Sony had announced it before the first film even hit theatres). As with all superhero sequels, the big question is – ‘Which character will be taking on villain duties?’
With hints toward an appearance from Norman Osborn, some assumed his alter-ego the Green Goblin was set to appear (THN suspects he’ll be saved fot the three-quel), but what seemed more significant was the ‘Man in the Shadows’, who taunted Dr Curt Connors in the closing moments, and was most likely to reappear, reveal himself as a well-known baddie, and cause trouble for Spidey. Speculation was that the mysterious character was Electro – a villain yet to appear on-screen – and with reports surfacing today that Jamie Foxx is in talks to play the character, it seems the speculation could be correct.
Electro – real name Max Dillon – gained the ability to control electricity after being struck by lightning (classic supervillain stuff), and appeared very early in Spider-Man’s comic run, debuting in issue #9. Perhaps most interesting is that Electro belongs to a collection of 1960s-flavoured Spider-Man villains who look great in the pages of the comics, but would look slightly ludicrous in live-action (we can count the likes of The Vulture, Mysterio, Kraven the Hunter, and Scorpion in this group). As we know, the Sam Raimi SPIDER-MAN movies had varied success reinterpreting comic villains for the big screen, which ranged from brilliant, such as Alfred Molina’s Doc Ock, to the downright awful, such as Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe’s stellar performance aside).
With that in mind it would be fascinating to see how an actor such as Jamie Foxx – best known these days for hard hitting, grittier roles – would approach the character, and how the production team will reinvent him for THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2. THN is excited to see how this one turns out.
Jamie Foxx will be seen next in Quentin Tarantino’s DJANGO UNCHAINED, due early next year.
THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 will be directed by Marc Webb and stars Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, and Shailene Woodley. It arrives April 2014.
Source: Variety
John Taylor
Jul 28, 2013 at 4:41 am
Needed to change the character for a live action film. If it were an animated feature, I could see Eltro remaining in the green and yellow outfit.