Due to The Amazing Spider-Man 2‘s position as one of the most anticipated films of 2014, the film’s panel was one of the most anticipated of this year’s Comic-Con. While a ton of information has come from both the general panel and the press-only conference that happened beforehand, there’s perhaps nothing more interesting than everything Marc Webb and Jamie Foxx had to say about the film’s villain: Electro.
It was clear Webb wanted to move away from the campier aspects of the character when he ditched the green and yellow spandex and instead opted to craft his film’s Electro be the more serious, blue-skinned version, perhaps even without the trash-talking and banter while fighting that many comic villains are notorious for.
Foxx said his character isn’t one who is purely evil in a way that the audience won’t be able to relate to his motives. The writers wanted to craft a villain with a realistic arc, and Foxx said he thinks the audience will see where his character is coming from.
Check out what he had to say about the character’s intensity and journey below.
“We wanted Electro to be serious. I wanted him to be a formidable opponent […] I said, ‘I really want Electro to be angry.’ When Spider-Man says to Max ‘We’re partners’ (and he said it in passing), [Max] took it to heart, so when I turn into Electro, I don’t want to let [Spider-Man] off the hook. And I think that’s what works, that’s what makes the fight epic, the fact that Electro is not talking a lot. He’s just down to business, he wants to burn the city down and he wants to get rid of Spider-Man.”
“With Max, we wanted to have three things happen. We wanted him to be betrayed by love, he needed to be betrayed by family, and he needed to be betrayed by his work. We came up with the fact that as Max Dillon, it’s his birthday and even his mom doesn’t remember his birthday. See how you feel? Awe, right? But that sets it up, the fact that he says, ‘Mom, it’s a very special day to me. Is there anything you want to say to me?’ ‘I don’t want to say anything to you.’ It sets it up that when Max Dillon does turn into Electro, there’s a little bit of you saying ‘I understand where he’s coming from.’ So it wasn’t disturbing but it’s great to see that journey and the fact that we gave it more than one side. It’s three-to-four dimensional that when he turns into this person, you understand where he’s coming from.”
Marc Webb also shared his thoughts on the character, detailing his inspiration and discussing the process of taking Electro from the comics to the big screen.
Check out what he had to say on the topic below.
“There are a lot of different incarnations of Electro in the comics and I tried to think about how to do it with the yellow and green suit and I just couldn’t think any logical sense out of that. There are certain elements of his creation that I want to protect but I will say that when you look at a storm cloud coming over the horizon, I remember growing up in Wisconsin and seeing these terrifying storms coming over the plains, and the electricity on the inside of them would explode and you’d see these flashes of billowing light. That is a cue that we used to develop the internal workings of Electro. The other thing is I thought it was important to understand the visage, the face, the emotion, and preserve Jamie’s performance within the character itself – so we sort of stepped away from doing a mask and instead created a creature that felt human but also felt godlike. And that was something that was really important to present to Spider-Man as an antagonist. Something that is terrifying and a little bit creepy and immensely powerful.”
I’ll admit, when I first heard who the villain would be, both in terms of character and actor, I was hesitant. But as the process has moved along and more information has been revealed, it seems like Webb has a full handle on things. It may be too early to say for sure, but as of now, I’m excited to see Electro show up on screen.
What do you think of all this information about Electro in The Amazing Spider-Man 2? Is this a villain that you’re excited to see? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below.
