The Untold Truth Of Marvel's Electro

Electro first appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #9 by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. Electro wasn't a mad scientist or a Shakespearean villain with vengeance in his heart — he was just a regular guy named Max Dillon, a former lineman for the electric company who'd accidentally been given electric powers and figured it would be good for robbing some banks. Meanwhile, Spider-Man was too distracted by Aunt May's illness to even notice the beginning of Electro's crime spree. However, Spidey and Electro would be inextricably linked by the one man who hated them both equally.

J. Jonah Jameson, editor of The Daily Bugle, happened to be in a bank when Electro showed up to rob the place. His power, confidence, and the fact that he recognized Jonah convinced the newspaperman that Electro must be Spider-Man in a new disguise. Naturally, Jameson immediately printed this assumption — "Electro is Really Spider-Man!" — in his newspaper as a fact because that's how tabloid journalism works. Peter Parker even complicated matters. Because he was so desperate for money to help Aunt May, he faked some photos of Electro becoming Spider-Man to sell to the Bugle. Naturally, Spider-Man was eventually left with no choice but to catch Electro, thus proving they weren't the same guy.

Comic book science is an iffy thing, and something like "electrical powers" can be defined so loosely as to be almost meaningless. Still, here are some things Electro has been able to do over the years. He can shoot lightning bolts and even create localized electrical storms. He can travel by propelling himself along magnetic lines of force. He can use the electric power within his body to increase his strength, speed, and ability to recuperate.

Electro can even imitate Spider-Man's wall-crawling ability by forming a magnetic bond with the metals in a building. Because Spider-Man's own power is (sometime) electromagnetic in nature, Electro can disrupt it, causing Spider-Man to fall off walls. He can also feel electricity moving through any electrical device and even manipulate that electricity to control the device. At peak power, he can electrocute someone who just touches his skin, although Electro himself is immune to electrocution. He can draw power from a battery or other electric power sources, so that his own stores of energy are never depleted. 

Crazier still, when an experimental procedure increased Electro's powers, he was able to fly by manipulating electromagnetic fields. He also gained magnetic powers similar to Magneto's, and he could even paralyze or manipulate other people by affecting the electrical impulses in their brains.

In the early 2000s, Marvel launched the "Ultimate" line, in which new versions of their heroes and villains existed in a new modernized continuity. That world's version of Max Dillon first appeared in Ultimate Spider-Man #12 by Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley. This Electro was way too cool for green and yellow spandex or a mask. He was bald and scarred, with a solid black outfit and only a lightning-shaped cutout at his neckline to identify him as Electro.

Unlike his more colorful counterpart, this Electro was given his powers on purpose by the villain Justin Hammer. Hammer then traded Electro to the Kingpin in exchange for a real estate contract, and Electro first encountered Spider-Man as a henchman to the Kingpin. He also joined this reality's version of the Sinister Six, which had the on-the-nose name of the Ultimate Six.

As a member of that team, he was also involved in Peter Parker's death (in the story that introduced Miles Morales). In fact, Electro was at that final battle, and he was about to deliver the killing blow on Peter himself when Aunt May shot him three times. He was later revealed to have survived, but the Ultimate Universe was phased out too soon for it to matter very much.

Over the years, Marvel has made various efforts to keep the original version of Electro updated and modern in his aesthetic and sensibilities. Inevitably, that led to the loss of the big yellow lightning bolt mask in favor of a bald head and lightning-shaped facial scars, similar to his Ultimate Universe counterpart.

However, there's an inevitable conflict created by certain characters like Electro. Many modern comics creators and fans see the bright green and yellow costume as old-fashioned and embarrassing. However, that costume is what makes Electro recognizable, and it's a major part of what makes him fun and memorable. So there's this constant push and pull between the impulse to modernize and update and the need to retain what's appealing about the character, even if it's in conflict with the first impulse.

So basically, Max Dillon spent years putting on and taking off that mask, and Marvel artists have continually redesigned that mask, trying to find a way to make it "cool."

Possessing all the electrical powers that had once belonged to Max Dillon, Francine Frye became the new Electro, complete with her own version of the green and yellow costume, lightning bolt mask and all. This was in 2014, and she's remained Marvel's Electro in the comics ever since, even as Max Dillon continues to appear in movies and TV (although Francine is Electro, and voiced by Daisy Lightfoot, in the current Spider-Man animated series, which began in 2017).

Frye even took over Dillon's spot as a mainstay of the Sinister Six, joining a version of the team led by Iron Spider, alongside Hobgoblin, Bombshell, Spot, and Sandman. Later, she also joined an all-female version of the Sinister Syndicate led by the second Beetle, which also included Lady Octopus, Scorpia, Trapstr, and White Rabbit.

Although she's a clone, Francine retains the memories of her previous life, including how she died by kissing the original Electro. But then she killed him by kissing him in turn, so things do balance out with time. She was heavily involved in the "Dead No More: The Clone Conspiracy" storyline, in which she was established as a more durable and resilient clone than the many who tend to degenerate whenever it's convenient for the storyline.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 wasn't a success, but it seems that Jamie Foxx made an impression as Electro. Despite the fact that the recent series of Spider-Man movies under the MCU banner, directed by Jon Watts and starring Tom Holland, are completely unrelated to the Webb/Garfield movies, Foxx is returning to the role of Max Dillon/Electro.

Interestingly, this follows the reveal at the very end of Spider-Man: Far From Home that the MCU's J. Jonah Jameson is played by J.K. Simmons, the same actor who played the part in the Sam Raimi/Toby Maguire Spider-Man movies. At the time, most fans assumed Marvel had hired Simmons again because he was such a perfect Jonah that nobody else could play the part. However, as talented as Jamie Foxx is, no one came out of Amazing Spider-Man 2 declaring that nobody else could play Electro.

So, what if these casting trends hint at something bigger? All the MCU movies are connected, after all, and there's an upcoming one titled Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. So if the idea of a multiverse is coming to the MCU (in fact, the concept came up in Spider-Man: Far From Home but only as a lie told by Mysterio), and we're seeing that certain characters in the MCU look just like they did in other Spider-Man movies ... is it possible this is all heading toward some kind of live-action Into the Spider-Verse situation? Time will tell.

In the meantime, it will be interesting to see Jamie Foxx put a fresh spin on Electro, and with Vulture, Scorpion, and Mysterio already established, can the Sinister Six be far behind?