While promoting his new movie, White House Down, Jamie Foxx took a moment to discuss his role as Electro/Max Dillon, in next year’s Amazing Spider-Man 2. Speaking to Josh Horowitz from MTV, Foxx implies that his role was influenced by the Marvel “committee” but that he was free to contribute his own ideas, which he did when coining what he hopes will be a memorable catchphrase for his character.
He explained: “They would allow me to come up with things, because I think why you like going to see those types of movies, and that’s what I dig doing, you want to hear catchphrases. So at one point we were doing this green screen thing, and [director Marc Webb] says, ‘Just ad-lib something.’ And I said, “The itsy-bitsy spider went up the water spout, down came… Electro… and wiped the spider out.”
Check out the video below (the Spider-Man talk begins around 4:00):
Debuting in 1964’s “Amazing Spider-Man” #9, Electro has been one of Spider-Man’s most persistent foes, taking on the Webhead alone and alongside the super group the Sinister Six. However, perhaps due to his outlandish costume featuring a “lightning star” mask, the character hasn’t retained the same level of popularity in recent years. (The MTV article seems to express great disdain for the character.)
Jamie Foxx’s portrayal seems more closely based on the version of Electro from the Ultimate Universe with his inhuman-looking blue skin. As Foxx explained, “What I wanted to bring, we all decided was, we wanted to make Electro a formidable opponent, meaning we want him to really, really not like Spider-Man.”
Regarding his improvised lullaby/catchphrase, he stated, “I think it’s those types of things that people are really going to latch on to.”
What do you think? Cool or corny? How do you think Foxx will do as Max Dillon/Electro? Leave your feedback below!
