Jamie Foxx Returns As Electro in Third MCU 'Spider-Man' Movie

In a surprising turn of events, THR broke the news that Jamie Foxx will reprise his role as Electro in the upcoming ‘Spider-Man’ film starring Tom Holland. For several reasons this comes as a shock to nerds everywhere. Spoilers for ‘Spider-Man: Far From Home.’

Andrew Garfield and Jamie Foxx in ‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2’

Jamie Foxx originally played the character of ‘Maxwell Dillion’ aka Electro in 2014’s ‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2,’ directed by Marc Webb. That movie’s web-head was played by Andrew Garfield however, the film and Foxx’s portrayal the villain were met with mixed reviews amongst both critics (51%) and general audiences (64%) according to Rotten Tomatoes. It was a success however, grossing approximately $709 million at the global box office.

The second reason this is an interesting bit of news is a little more in-story and requires a deeper knowledge of comic book lore and studio movie making. With each new live action Spider-Man incarnation from Tobey Maguire to Tom Holland, the studios (Sony and later, Disney) have made a point to recast all of the characters and put some sort of different spin on the world; resetting the continuity.

That was, until the recent release ‘Spider-Man: Far From Home’ blew audiences minds by the appearance of J.K. Simmons’ angry newsman J. Jonah Jameson. Simmons’ portrayal of the grumpy yet lovable Editor-In-Chief of The Daily Bugle that employs Tobey Maguire’s Spidey has been a fan favorite since the early 2000s Sam Raimi trilogy. However, having the same actor pop up as a reimagined version that now runs an ‘Info Wars’ style conspiracy theorist internet show started up the fan speculation engine.

Now, we have J. Jonah Jameson from the first Sam Raimi based “universe,” as well as Electro from the second Marc Webb “universe” both joining the the current Jon Watts based MCU “universe.” Spidey fans were amazed and confused because there can only be a few sc-fi explanations for bringing the villain of one franchise into another. Either Sony and Watts have concocted a multiverse storyline in which multiple realities are connected in a similar way to their animated hit ‘Spider-Man: Into The Spiderverse.’ Or they could simply be foregoing continuity in favor of celeb name power.

Regardless of how the actors returning to play roles from disparate franchises are explained, there are now half a dozen villains or a…. Sinister Six potentially at play.

According to THR, Foxx posted this on his Instagram account before later deleting it: "Super excited to part of the new marvel Spider-Man new installment," Foxx wrote Friday. "And i won't be blue in this one!! but a thousand percent badass!!!"

The third officially untitled ‘Spider-Man’ movie has a release date of Dec, 17 2021.