Is the dawning of the Sinister Six finally upon us?
Of all the recent casting announcements out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this one is the most — ahem — shocking: Jamie Foxx, who previously portrayed Electro opposite Andrew Garfield’s webslinger in 2014’s The Amazing Spider-Man 2, will reprise the role opposite Tom Holland’s Spidey in the untitled Spider-Man: Far From Home sequel.
The Hollywood Reporter broke the news on Thursday — reporting the actor was “in final talks” for Marvel Studios and Sony’s third Spider-Man collaboration — and Foxx seemingly confirm it on Friday, resharing a congratulatory message from Django Unchained co-star Keith Jefferson on Instagram Stories.
Most perplexing about the news is that Amazing Spider-Man 2 flopping was what led Sony to hatch an unprecedented deal with Marvel to share the character. What was not immediately clear was whether Foxx would be playing the same version of Electro he did in that movie or getting a do-over with the character.
He seemed to tease the latter in a since-deleted Instagram post, writing, “Tell Spidey let’s run it back! Super excited to part of the new marvel Spider-Man new installment. And i won’t be blue in this one!! but a thousand percent badass!!!”
This would mark the second time the Spider-Man franchise has tapped an actor to put a new twist on a past character, following J.K. Simmons’ return as J. Jonah Jameson in Far From Home. (Simmons previously played JJJ in the Tobey Maguire-starring trilogy.)
Electro’s arrival on the Spidey scene would also clock yet another Sinister Six member in the MCU, alongside Michael Keaton’s Vulture, Jake Gyllenhaal’s Mysterio and Michael Mando’s Scorpion now canon.
In addition to Holland, Zendaya, Marisa Tomei, Jacob Batalon and Tony Revolori are expected to return to complete the trilogy, which will be helmed by Spider-Man: Homecoming and Far From Homedirector Jon Watts.
The next Spider-Man movie will swing into theaters on Dec. 17, 2021.
