There’s a lot that didn’t make sense in Spider-Man: Far From Home, and now Sony and Marvel are going to double down on that. Recently, it was revealed that Jamie Foxx will return as Electro in the third entry of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's (MCU) Spider-Man series. Though it's unclear if Foxx will reprise his previous role or play the same character in a new way, this was still something literally no one saw coming.
The last time Foxx played Electro was in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, an entirely different universe to the MCU's Spidey. That, and it's the sequel that was received so poorly that Sony had to sell Spider-Man back to Marvel. This announcement caused a frenzy amongst fans of the web slinger. It has unsurprisingly inspired dozens 0f memes aimed at the confusing reveal, but it has also seen a pocket of fans cautiously optimistic to see Foxx back.
Bring Back Willem Dafoe, Now!
Of all of the rogues in the five Spider-Man movies released outside of Tom Holland’s MCU run, the studio picks Jamie Foxx’s bizarre take on Electro. Casting Foxx as a goofy loner who turns into electricity after he falls into a vat of eels didn’t even make any sense in the first place, as the actor is effortlessly cool by all accounts.
Electro is a fun and zany choice, granted, but why didn't the filmmakers look to a fan favorite like Willem Dafoe instead? Dafoe’s performance as Norman Osborn is equally as hammy as Foxx’s villain, but he's entertaining and menacing in a similar way to The Emperor in Star Wars, and that’s why people want -- no, need -- him back.
Old Man Spidey?
Since it seems like the studio head over at Sony just spun a wheel filled with characters from previous movies and whoever it landed on got thrown in to the next movie, absolutely anything can happen. Case in point, the return of Tobey Maguire is now a major possibility although he might come back as someone else entirely.
Though casting Tobey Maguire was one of the things Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy got right, he was already much older than the character he was playing (Peter Parker is a teenager and Maguire was 27 when he first portrayed him). Now 13 years removed from Spider-Man 3 and with Sony spinning the wheel again, Maguire's dangerously close to being cast as Uncle Ben.
Electro Over Doc Ock?! Really?
There might be a lot of Spider-Man villains fans wish appeared in Raimi’s trilogy who didn’t (for example, John Malkovich's Vulture) but as a consolation, it’s possible that the villains who were in those movies could return.
As this announcement has caused a stir amongst fans, all bets are now off and it has encouraged film buffs to campaign for their personal favorite villains to be recast. Right now, the popular vote picked Doctor Octopus (played by Alfred Molina in Spider-Man 2), and a fan has hilariously used one of the villain's famous quotes to prove their point that getting Electro over Doc Ock was just dumb.
Electro Makes JJJ Feel Nauseous
It’s no secret that Electro was one of the many things The Amazing Spider-Man 2 got wrong. Not only was it a strange casting choice, but the visual effects used for the character were anything but electrifying. That, and Electro's villainous dubstep theme that played whenever he appeared was just nauseating.
This is why J. Jonah Jameson’s response to Electro’s induction in to the MCU is both hilarious and spot on. It's short and straight to the point. Also, this is probably how the real JJJ would react if someone barged into his office to say that New York's masked menace's electric foe did in fact come back.
So About That Potential Crossover...
Though the reaction to the news of Electro returning to the big screen has been outright negative, it has instilled a lot of hope - and maybe delusion - in a lot of fans.
The prospect of Tom Holland, Andrew Garfield, and Tobey Maguire all crossing paths as their respective versions of Spider-Man just got a little more realistic, and it’s something that would break the internet even more than the Electro announcement.
It All Went According To Jamie Foxx's Plan
It’s more than possible that negotiations for Foxx to enter the MCU have been going on for more than a year. In fact, it's also possible that Foxx's return was a done deal more than a year ago and it’s just that Sony was waiting for the perfect time to announce it.
Whatever the reason, through a bit of investigative journalism, one fan recycled an old Instagram post on Foxx’s account that had Holland and Sony's Electro posing together with the ominous caption “Caught a spider.”
Sony’s Fan (Dis)service
If Sony had announced that a Spidey villain was returning without telling who it was, it would have sent fans crazy and excitedly guessing who'd be coming back. That being said, there’s a 99% chance that literary nobody would have guessed Electro since he's not exactly a fan favorite like Willem Dafoe's Green Goblin.
Though he’s by no means a bad villain, the approach Marc Webb took with Electro was (ahem) shockingly bad, which makes the decision a heartbreaking and massively disappointing choice for some.
Live-Action Spider-Verse, When?
With a lot of ridiculous and extreme fan theories out there, this one actually makes sense. Admittedly it's still pretty extreme but with the next Dr. Strange movie tackling the multiverse head-on, a multi-franchise crossover for the Spider-Man movies doesn't seem too outlandish anymore.
With J.K. Simmons appearing as J. Jonah Jameson at the end of Spider-Man: Far From Home, Michael Keaton featuring as Vulture in Morbius (though no on knows the exact extent of how much the movie is related to Spider-Man just yet), and now Foxx returning as Electro, there really is a fair chance we could see a live-action Spider-Verse.
Kevin Feige's Intellectual Cinematic Tastes
Though he may just have been trying to save face with Sony, Kevin Feige, the super producer pulling the strings of the MCU, has been pretty vocal about his love of The Amazing Spider-Man 2. It's not a stretch to say that his adoration for the sequel led to the return of Foxx's Electro.
This has spawned hilarious memes where Feige's weird tastes and apparent preference for universally panned superhero films informs big casting decisions. Case in point, this bit of made-up news claims that Feige cast Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan (aka Ms. Marvel) for the upcoming Disney+ show because she “unironically” loves Spider-Man 3, which was considered to be Spidey's worst movie before The Amazing movies came out.
Live-Action Spider-Verse Sinister Six, When?
Though leaving the MCU would have had devastating effects for both the web slinger and that particular cinematic universe, it’s no longer a problem bringing characters from the other Sony movies to the MCU, which now bears some eye-watering possibilities.
It has been no secret that forming The Sinister Six (and even giving them a movie) was one of the things that Sony had planned for the third Amazing Spider-Man that never came to pass. Though this didn’t come to light, one fan excitedly pitched the idea of combining six villains from the three different Spider-Man series to date. Most hilariously, it groups together Sandman and Electro, arguably the two worst villains the movies have seen.