Jamie Foxx is in negotiations to play a villain in the next installment of “The Amazing Spiderman,” according to various reports. Variety broke the news saying Foxx is in talks with Sony to portray Electro, the alter ego of Maxwell Dillon, an engineer who was struck by lightning and gained the ability to control electricity.
Electro has been thought to be the next “Spiderman” villain after a post-credits scene shows Dr. Curt Conners being asked if Peter Parker knows what happened to his parents by a shadowy figure. The lightning storm that was happening during the scene led many to believe Electro would appear in the sequel.
There hasn’t been any confirmation or denial about the role but a tweet from the “Django: Unchained” star made the Electro buzz stronger. “Dressed up as Electro for Halloween last night. Costume fits well,” he tweeted on Thursday.
Director Marc Webb couldn’t confirm that Foxx would be playing Electro but he raved about Foxx during a press event for “The Amazing Spiderman” DVD release. “I think Jamie Foxx is electrifying!” Webb said when asked about the rumors. “I think Jamie Foxx is one of the best actors around today. He’s such a great character actor and he’s a really brilliant guy. I would love to work with him and you’ll be hearing more on that shortly, I’m sure.”
Webb also revealed that he planned to take more artistic liberty with the sequel. “What’s exciting about moving forward is that, in the first movie, I had to still honor some of the important elements of the origin story. But I also wanted to redefine the context of it because I’m building a different universe than what we’ve seen before,” Webb said. “A lot of the nuance is quite different. Now, as we’re approaching the sequel, it’s really exciting because I feel quite liberated. I have a universe that’s my own. I don’t have an obligation to the origin story. It’s pretty fun and exciting and I can dig deeper into the parents.”
In addition to Foxx, Sony is reportedly talking to Shailene Woodley about playing Mary Jane Watson, Peter Parker’s love interest and they are looking for an actor to portray Harry Osborn, son of the Green Goblin. Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone are returning as Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy. The movie is set to be released in May 2014.
