Summary

Spider-Man: No Way Home almost featured a more comic-accurate suit for Electro, as revealed by concept art shared by MCU artist Jerad S.Marantz. The film still managed to reference Electro’s traditional comic book look with a “starfish”-like mask that would appear around his eyes when he used his powers. Having Electro wear a mask throughout the film would have been unnecessary, as he didn’t need to hide his identity from the other characters in the movie. Overall, the film redeemed the character and gave him a second chance.

New Spider-Man: No Way Home concept art reveals an alternative costume for Electro, as the Marvel Cinematic Universe was close to giving him a comic-accurate suit. It has been nearly two years since Spider-Man’s movie legacy reached a new high as Spider-Man: No Way Home became the ultimate movie to celebrate the web-crawler’s entire cinematic history. Spider-Man: No Way Home served as a trilogy finale while also tapping into the multiverse by bringing in Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire’s Peter Parkers to share the screen with Tom Holland.

However, the three Spider-Man variants weren’t the only ones to be highlighted in the movie as Spider-Man: No Way Home’s cast also saw the return of numerous villains from the respective franchises. One of them was Jamie Foxx as Max Dillion, a.k.a. Electro, from The Amazing Spider-Man 2, as he got another shot at playing the iconic Spider-Man foe after the mixed reception of his betrayal in the 2014 movie.

Despite getting a better look in Spider-Man: No Way Home, it turns out that Electro almost had a far more comic-accurate design. Long-time MCU concept artist Jerad S.Marantz, who also worked on Spider-Man: No Way Home, shared an Instagram reel of several unused Electro suit designs that they had been working on for the film. One of the key details Marantz brought up was that “since we were never going to do a comic accurate, electro bolt mask, I wanted his powers to surge around his face, creating that lightning bolt star pattern when he powers up,” prior to the finished look that Electro had in the 2021 cut.

How Spider-Man: No Way Home Still Referenced Classic Electro

Despite not going with the early designs for Electro, Spider-Man: No Way Home still did manage to sneak in a clever reference to Max’s traditional comic book look. While moving away from Electro’s Ultimate design in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, whenever Max was using his powers, a “starfish”-like mask would emerge around his eyes. How he learned to do that is unclear, but it is likely something he learned in between Electro’s mysterious disappearance in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 to the point where he lands in the MCU during Spider-Man: No Way Home.

Having Max be masked the entire time during Spider-Man: No Way Home would have been redundant as he wasn’t really in need of hiding his secret identity. Since The Lizard from The Amazing Spider-Man universe was also sent to the MCU, Curt Connors already knew who he was and would have likely outed Electro’s real identity if Max had tried to hide it. By the time Garfield’s Spider-Man got involved, it would have also been pointless to have Max try to disguise himself since that version of Peter already knew him, too.

Related: Spider-Man No Way Home Secretly Set Up Maguire & Garfield’s Avengers 6 Return – Theory Explained

In the end, with or without his classic mask, Spider-Man: No Way Home was able to redeem Electro, who was definitely one of the bigger disappointments with The Amazing Spider-Man 2, both in terms of story and how they visually designed him. Thanks to the Phase 4 adventure, Max was able to be properly saved and get another shot at life after everything that went down in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. While Electro’s story may be done, fans can relive Spider-Man: No Way Home through streaming or on Blu-Ray/DVD.

Source: Jerad S.Marantz/Instagram

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