Congratulations Marc Webb and all the guys over at Sony. Just when I thought this week couldn’t get any more… shocking, shall we say, you guys go and pull this one. Nice.
Late last night, news broke that Django Unchained star Jamie Foxx will play the lead villain in the upcoming The Amazing Spider-Man 2. As to exactly which villain he’s going to play though… Well, you may just be a little shocked about that one.
OK, for those of you still recovering from Phuza Thursday and who haven’t picked up on all the clues yet, here it is plain english: Jamie Foxx will be Electro. Probably.
For those of you unfamiliar with the character, Max Dillon aka Electro was an electrician who got electricity based powers through a freak accident (don’t you just hate it when that happens?), and decided to use them to make a quick buck through a life of crime. Initially a pretty weak character (physically and depth-wise) he would eventually increase in ability and join the Sinister Six, a group of Spidey’s biggest arch-nemeses. Lately, the character has received a massive power upgrade and some attitudinal adjustment, putting him in the upper echelons of Spidey’s most powerful and deadliest enemies. More importantly though, he ditched that retarded “lightning bolt” mask.
Variety were the ones to break the news of Foxx donning the black (or is that yellow?) hat for the web-slinging sequel, but they were unable to confirm his character’s identity. Now speculation had been rife for a while already that the mysterious “man in shadows” at the end of The Amazing Spider-Man 1 was actually electricity powered villain, Electro. Most of this conjecture was based purely on how prevalent lightning was in that particular scene, which seemed like a bit of heavy handed foreshadowing.
At this point though, this would all probably have been dismissed as simple fan rumour….. And then Foxx goes and tweets this:
@iamjamiefoxx: “Dressed up as Electro for Halloween last night. Costume fits well.”
Even that could just have been put down to coincidence. But the plot thickened yesterday when director Marc Webb spoke at a press event about next week’s home release of the first film, and answered a question about Foxx’s involvement:
“I think Jamie Foxx is electrifying! [Laughs] I think Jamie Foxx is one of the best actors around today. He’s such a great character actor and he’s a really brilliant guy. I would love to work with him and you’ll be hearing more on that shortly, I’m sure.”
And then when asked as to who his favourite Spider-Man villains are, Webb again responded:
“I like Electro [Laughs]. I’m fascinated by Norman Osborn and the different inflections of him. And Harry. Mary Jane and Gwen are always interesting to me.”
“What makes villains interesting to me is what they bring out in Peter. What challenges they provide for him. What’s great about Marvel and other comics is that often there’s a pre-existing relationship… It’s not just about the physical conflict he has, but the emotional ones as well.”
Surely you don’t have to be Angela Langsbury to figure out where all of this is going. The only problem, of course, with Jamie Foxx taking on the role of Electro, and one that will surely set the internet forums alight today, is that little issue of pigmentation. If you haven’t noticed yet in the above pic, they kind of don’t look the same. At all. Now the very black Michael Clark Duncan of course played the very white Kingpin in Daredevil, but that was due to the fact that very few high caliber actors matched up to the physical stature of Kingpin as well as Duncan did. Here, not so much.
Personally, although I have no issue with a black Electro (Power to him!… Get it?) as his race is not intrinsic to his character, my issue is with the type of character he is. Jamie Foxx simply is not Electro. Well, at least not the Electro we know. I’ve yet to see Foxx play a role that required the type of unhinged, rage-fueled, sociopathic behaviour that Electro exhibits. I’m sure that Foxx is talented enough to pull it off, and with the praise that’s already being leveled at him for the soon to be released Django Unchained, his addition to the cast of ASM2 is sure to provide it with even more star power. I just can’t picture Foxx in the green and yellow pyjamas though.
What do you guys think? Good choice or are you a bit shocked?
Last Updated: November 2, 2012
DarthofZA
November 2, 2012 at 09:29
Completely shocked! Wow, so so so so shocked. No wait, don’t want to make puns… um… completed disappointed. I’ve said it before, I don’t care if the stories aren’t the same as they were in the comics. I don’t care if they change the race of a character. What I care about it being true to the spirit of that character. Electro never really influenced Peter in any way, and how could he. Gwen has to die, and I can’t see Electro being the guy to be able to carry that, never mind Jamie being the actor to carry Electro.
Why are they doing this. The only thing I can think of is that Jamie is going to be an Electro very unlike the one we currently know, and that is exactly what I was hoping Sony wasn’t going to do this time round. Did they not learn with their original series???
Off the top of my head, they can use any of the following to carry the weight of killing Gwen: Jackal, Morbius, HobGoblin, Carnage, Kraven, Morlun, Tombstone and Silvermane. Heck, Silverman and Silver Sable in one movie would of been awesome. Why Electro. More Importantly, why Electro at this stage in his career for what is needed (The death of Gwen). Wait, WHY JAMIE AS ELECTRO!!!
My day is ruined.
DarthofZA
November 2, 2012 at 15:29
After watching the interview, here’s me hoping that there is going to be another villain (I’m really hoping for Jackal) that will carry more weight and make sense of my misery from this news today.