With 52% on
Rotten Tomatoes,
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 should definitely be considered a "divisive" movie. There were some enjoyable moments, but a lot of disappointing ones too, especially as Jamie Foxx's Electro failed to live up to the potential of his comic book counterpart.
Cheesy, silly, and over the top, the villain was a major let-down, and visually, he sucked!
Now, though, we've rounded up some rarely seen concept art from the Sony Pictures movie which reveals just how different Max Dillon could have looked on the big screen. From unique ways of portraying his powers in a live-action setting to cool new costumes, it's amazing to see what might have been, and disappointing that
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 went the way it ultimately did.
The
Ultimate Spider-Man comic books were clearly always the main source of inspiration for the movie, and this concept art is definitely worth checking out. To do so, all you guys need to do is hit the "Next" button to take a look through each piece of artwork.
This looks an awful lot like the Electro we saw in
Spider-Man: The New Animated Series, and it's a rather striking take which could have worked well in a live-action setting.
Max's elongated and skinny frame is certainly a departure from how Jamie Foxx looked in the role, and the addition of his uniform points to this sequence taking place shortly after his transformation. Bizarrely, the sequel used electric eels to create Electro, but the less said about that, the better!
Sony's
Spider-Man movies made good use of their New York City setting, and placing Electro in Time Square was a smart move that definitely paid off from a visual standpoint.
Before Jamie Foxx was cast to play the fan-favourite comic book villain, it seems Sony considered using a Caucasian action and sticking a little closer to the source material.
This version of Max Dillon looks very much like the one from the aforementioned
Ultimate Spider-Man comic books, and while it's still a shame not to see him decked out in the familiar yellow and green costume from the 616 Universe, even Marvel Studios might struggle to pull that off.
The glowing lines - seemingly an indication of the power flowing through Electro - is a nice touch, though, and this looks considerably better than what Foxx had to wear.
Remember that cheesy German scientist who experimented on the newly transformed Electro at the behest of Oscorp? It was a horrible, cringe-worthy sequence which is only really memorable for how bad it was.
Strapped into some sort of harness, Dillon ranted and raved about wanting to find out how powerful he had become, and ultimately made his escape from his former employers. Well, that uninspired harness he was trapped in could have looked considerably more sinister if this is any indication.
It's also worth noting that Electro isn't completely blue here, an odd creative decision in
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 which saw the villain compared to a Smurf by many comic book fans!
Something had to be done in order to update Electro's origin story, but the fact electric eels clearly seemed like a good idea to Sony Pictures and director Marc Webb is beyond baffling.
Many of Spider-Man's villains are somehow tied to animals (Doctor Octopus, Rhino, and The Lizard, for example), but this was a disastrous and moronic decision, and one which came across as more comical than anything else. Honestly, we're surprised Avi Arad didn't suggest renaming Max Dillon the "Evil Eel." After all, it wouldn't be the dumbest decision the producer has ever made!
This is a nice piece of imagery, though, and an interesting take on Elector's birth in this world.
This would have potentially been a controversial decision among comic book fans, but giving Electro this sort of appearance (one of living electric energy) would have been something completely new, and arguably a much better way of explaining why he would need a containment suit.
As much fun as it would be to see an entirely comic accurate version of Electro - the
Spider-Man video game found a good mix of realism and faithfulness to the source material - there's a lot that can be done with the character which is new. In that respect, this film deserves
some credit.
However, it failed to take full advantage of that, and ended up being a disappointment as a result.
Something went seriously wrong with
The Amazing Spider-Man 2's costume department, as poor Jamie Foxx ended up being forced to wear a rubber costume which looked like it was a leftover from the
Batman and Robin movie released in the late 1990s.
This is a lot more interesting, though, especially as it clearly can't contain Electro's power. As his energy level rises, electricity starts flowing out from all over his body, and we're left with something which might have been an expensive visual effect, but certainly would have made him more memorable.
Of course, Sony Pictures spent way too much money on the sequel, hence why it was considered a financial disappointment and the studio decided to team up with Marvel Studios!
Another take on the harness trapping Electro, the blue skin works much better here as it looks like electricity flowing through his entire body rather than a completely new skin colour!
This might have been tricky to pull off, but it was surely a better option that covering Jamie Foxx in blue paint and making him look like a complete fool. There's a rawness to this which works wonderfully, and it really helps to emphasise how much power the villain has inside him.
Overall, Sony could have still come up with something better for Electro, but this isn't half bad.
This design is somewhat more sinister than some of the others included here, and it's a great shame Electro didn't look as formidable and threatening as this back in 2014.
The suit still isn't perfect, but it once again appears to pay homage to the
Ultimate Spider-Man comic books, and some of the additions to it (like the metal pieces around the neck) work better here than they did in the film itself. Again, that seemingly boils down to the material which was used, but by far the best decision here is not making Max Dillon blue!
While there are hints of that, his silvery, translucent skin is more realistic. Electro also looks quite terrifying here which is a big upgrade from coming across as comical.
A closer look at the version of Electro on the previous page, it's hard to not be impressed by the work which went into imagining this considerably more impressive version of the classic villain.
We see that his powers have essentially started burning through his containment suit, while he's wearing a device around his neck which is definitely pretty unique. That chip in the side of his head still looks mighty daft, though, and an argument could be that this is a little
too intricate in some ways.
What we do like is Electro's new, deformed appearance. His newfound powers have had quite the impact on Max Dillon, and those eyes are particularly haunting and definitely quite scary.
In
The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Electro donned a hoodie before suiting up and, well, it sucked!
The idea of him powering up and "eating" electricity is a fun one, though, and something the comic books often took advantage of during his early appearances. Ultimately, gaining more power became this version of Max's downfall as well, and his story arc wasn't handled too horribly in the sequel.
For the most part, though, he didn't make much of an impact, and certainly won't be remembered as an all-time great when it comes to superhero movies villain (he makes a lot of "worst" lists, though).
Many thanks to Joshua Min, Jonathan Bach, and Kevin Christensen for the artwork featured here.