Now that Jamie Foxx is official to play the villainous Electro in Marc Webb’s Amazing Spider-Man sequel, it only makes sense that he should start talking about the role in interviews. People are pretty crazy about superheroes, after all. Who could avoid trying to pry some information out of him?
From the sound of things though, getting info about his new role isn’t much of a challenge. Foxx seems to have pretty loose lips when it comes to all things superhero. And, more specifically, he seems to be doing everything he can to make sure that everyone knows he won’t be wearing Electro’s traditional (and awesome) green and yellow outfit in the upcoming film.
First off, in an interview with Black Film, Foxx made a point to address the outfit in the movie by saying, “It won’t be green and yellow. It will be a different color. They (the producers) want something for the future. They want to have it more grounded and not as comic book-y, so it won’t be green and yellow. They want to try new things, like a liquid rubber and things like that, and there are all these bolts and stuff in my arms when they are hanging me upside down and trying to figure out what happen. How did he become this way? So, it will be some new stuff.”
It doesn’t end there though. In an interview with MTV, the actor had similar comments regarding the suit. At the notion that he might be wearing green and yellow, he replied, “It won’t be like that. Marc Webb and all of those guys, they’re smart. They know that it has to make sense in 2013, so the suit is really slick. It’s actually black. It’s a new age.”
Is this a case of everyone working on this movie really, really hating green and yellow? Or is it possible that an actor who’s starting to become known for big-time dramatic work is having some second thoughts about playing a comic book villain, and is trying to do whatever he can to make sure he doesn’t look silly? I mean, who in the heck wouldn’t want to suit up in a green leotard with yellow lightning bolts on it? Especially if you’re getting paid for it!
Okay, probably sensational speculation about Foxx’s motivations is a little drastic. Other than the possibility of having to wear spandex, he actually seems pretty excited about the role. So much so that he even spilled some details to MTV about how the character is going to be portrayed in the upcoming film. It seems like this version of Electro is going to be less a straight villain, and more a misunderstood anti-hero. Foxx explained, “You’ll see that in his whole life, no one is talking to him. People have stolen his ideas at the big company. He’s a nobody. At a certain point, Spider-Man bumps into him and says, ‘You’re my guy. You’re my eyes and ears on the street. And he says his name — no one has ever said [Max] Dillon’s name.” According to Foxx, the encounter with the wall-crawler leaves his character idolizing Spider-Man a bit, and, “He sort of starts thinking that somehow, he’s Spider-Man’s partner.”
This all sounds pretty interesting, but hopefully he meant to say, “starts thinking he’s Spider-Man’s partner with deadly and disastrous results.” Who wants to watch a movie where Spider-Man ends up high-fiving his villains? We want to see him getting lightning bolts upside the head. Repeatedly.