Spider-Man: No Way Home is finally approaching its home release after a record-shattering run in theaters, which kicked off in December. Featuring a handful of players in the villain department alongside three generations of web-slingers, this threequel became the blockbuster of all blockbusters in 2021. Now, nearly three months after its debut, the film still remains a hot topic.
The marketing campaign for No Way Home largely focused on its villain team, as Marvel and Sony worked to keep Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire's returns a secret by any means necessary. The first of those rumored appearances was Jamie Foxx's Electro, who made his return from 2014's The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and integrated into the MCU almost seamlessly.
Part of the excitement behind Electro in No Way Home was seeing him steal an old arc reactor and using it to become immensely more powerful in the final battle. Now, a new piece of concept art is showing another look that the villain almost utilized in the threequel's theatrical release thanks to a scrapped scene idea.
New Electro Concept Art for Spider-Man 3
Concept artist Phil Saunders took to Instagram to share an alternate design for Jamie Foxx's Electro in Spider-Man: No Way Home.
The image showcases Foxx in a mostly green suit with some black going down the middle of his shirt, paying tribute to the green outfit Electro often wore in the comics:
This art also includes the lightning-shaped star on his face, which fans saw for a few seconds during the final battle as Electro used his powers against all three Spideys:
Saunders revealed that an early version of the script featured the villains looting through a Damage Control container filled with Stark technology, all looking for upgrades to their abilities. This included Max Dillon stringing together a bunch of Mark 50 arc reactors to add more power, with Peter Parker making the suit underneath it to try to contain Dillon's energy:
Below is Saunders' full caption, which even confirmed that the star design on Max's face made it all the way from initial concept to final design:
“Finally able to post at least one concept image from Spider-Man: No Way Home. This was a concept for Electro. An earlier version of the script had the villains raiding a Damage Control container of Stark tech to upgrade themselves, so I had Max hot-wire a daisy-chain of Mk50 arc reactors as a power-up. Peter Parker would have made the suit underneath as a kind of Faraday cage to contain Electro’s energy and keep him corporeal. As with any mcu design, I tried to interpret the yellow lightning and green suit of the original comic costume in a practical way. Having the lightning form the star on the face was the brilliant idea of my friend and colleague Jerad Marantz, and it stuck through every iteration including Josh Nizzi's final design."
Electro Meets Iron Man on Bigger Scale?
Upon his introduction into the MCU, Jamie Foxx's Electro found himself wielding an insane amount of power compared to his time in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Incredibly, this scrapped scene teases that there was a chance he could have been even more powerful by raiding the MCU's Department of Damage Control.
The DODC took possession of Tony Stark's tech in the mayhem of Spider-Man's identity being revealed, leading to them likely having a huge number of arc reactors and other tech. While Max Dillon only ended up with the one in Happy's apartment, this scene would have let him be something like a kid in a candy store with his pick of immensely powerful tech to upgrade himself.
The scene appeared set to come in between May's death and the team-up between all three Peter Parkers, allowing the Lizard, Sandman, and Green Goblin to also sift through Stark's old tech. Electro would have also gotten to show more of his intellectual genius by working his magic with the arc reactors, also going back on Peter's goodwill with the suit helping contain his energy.
As for the suit itself, it was clear from the beginning that Marvel and Sony wanted to give Foxx the comic-based look that his character deserved, filled with green and yellow tones throughout. While it turned out a little bit different in the final cut, Max Dillon's outfit still came straight from the comic pages, complete with the electric star that covered his face when he used his powers.
In the end, while this look had plenty of changes before it came to the big screen, Foxx still got to redeem himself and deliver a performance that was truly memorable.
Spider-Man: No Way Home is playing in theaters. The movie will be available to watch via digital release on March 22, and its Blu-ray will arrive on April 12.
