When Jamie Foxx was announced to be returning as Electro in Marvel Studios' Spider-Man 3, it threw fans off. Why would Foxx's villain from The Amazing Spider-Man 2 be appearing in the MCU?
Foxx later confirmed and implied that his villain would have a completely different design, which only confused fans more. The confusion was heightened when news broke of Benedict Cumberbatch joining Spider-Man 3, leading fans to think that something big was happening with this next Spider-Man installment.
From there, rumors and then confirmation was shared of Alfred Molina playing Doctor Octopus again in the Tom Holland flick. Now, two confirmed returning actors were reprising the same villains in this MCU movie. However, both of them were seen dying in their respective films, and Electro accidentally spoiled that his Electro would have a different design. Hence, fans questioning if that would be the same for Molina and any other returning villains joining Spider-Man 3.
RUMOR
Entertainment insider Daniel Richtman has posted on his Twitter that “all the returning villains in Spider-Man 3 will have new designs.”
Not surprising but all the returning villains in Spider-Man 3 will have new designs. Not just Electro.
— Daniel Richtman #BlackLivesMatter (@DanielRPK) December 17, 2020
Richtman made a quick correction shortly after the initial tweet, saying that only “some” of them would have new designs, not all, but further emphasizing that Electro won't be the only villain with a new design.
Sorry my bad - *Some of them will get new designs. Not all of them. But it's not just Electro. https://t.co/2Q7ix32VrD
— Daniel Richtman #BlackLivesMatter (@DanielRPK) December 17, 2020
WHAT THIS MEANS
The returning villains confirmed and rumored to be joining Spider-Man 3 thus far are Electro, Doctor Octopus, Green Goblin, and Sandman.
The fact that, like Electro, others will be getting new designs point to them definitely not being the same bad guys audiences saw in theaters fighting Tobey Maguire or Andrew Garfield. For many of them, changing their designs would be quite easy and straightforward, which would be either making them more accurate to the comics or sampling a different variation designed by another comic artist.
Electro could be a man aided by a suit, similar to the comics, and might not be living off of energy like he was in the Ultimate Comics imprint incarnation. Marvel Studios could give Octopus his ridiculous bowl haircut and redesign his tentacles. Many fans have complained about Dafoe's “Power Ranger” suit from Raimi's Spider-Man for years, so Feige could have Norman transform like Dane DeHaan's Harry Osborn did in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, except actually putting effort into making Defoe look like his comic counterpart.
The odd one out is Thomas Haden Church's Sandman, who, frankly, looked 100% accurate to his comic counterpart—striped shirt and all. He could be one of the villains keeping their design. After all, why fix what isn't broken?
