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Electro In Spider-Man 3 Is Good News For Fox's Mutants In The MCU
Jamie Foxx's Electro being confirmed for Spider-Man 3 could pave the way for members of Fox's X-Men to make similar returns in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Predating Marvel Studio's output by nearly a decade, the first X-Men movie was released back in 2000. It went on to spawn thirteen interconnected installments. Unfortunately, the saga experienced diminishing returns and ultimately concluded with a whimper via X-Men: Dark Phoenix. Though many hoped that The New Mutants could breathe new life into the wider franchise, the results proved just as underwhelming.
After Disney officially acquired Fox, debates raged at how the MCU could incorporate mutants. Such discussions have only intensified in the wake of the aforementioned installments. The common expectation was that Marvel Studios would start fresh and reboot the characters. Foxx's return, however, could set-up some entirely different options altogether. The actor made his debut as Max Dillion (aka Electro) in the equally underwhelming Amazing Spider-Man 2. Despite the film's lack of critical and commercial success, Kevin Feige was a fan of Foxx's villainous portrayal. As such, the decision to let Foxx reprise the role made sense and proved surprising in equal measure. It remains unclear whether he will be the very same Electro from that film's universe or be a doppelgänger in the vain of the similarly returned J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmons). Given that Electro will have a different look, it'll likely be the latter. Whatever the case, though, it bodes well for the X-Men to be utilized in an identical fashion.
Despite the view of the X-Men franchise as a whole, there have been countless positives. For every misstep, there was Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, there was Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool, there was X-Men: Days of Future Past. The list could go on, and Feige can essentially take his pick of that proverbial toy chest. Furthermore, he can do so without having to make the previous films' events canonical to the official MCU timeline. If there are any characters that Feige liked from the X-Men, he can create an MCU counterpart. And if Feige felt like those characters were underserved in the previous franchise, they could be given the requisite upgrades to be turned into the quintessential versions. That looks set to be the intent for Electro and would make for a good approach to take with such overshadowed X-Men characters as Cyclops, Storm, Bishop, and Kitty Pryde.
Then again, with WandaVision set to kickstart Marvel's foray into the Multiverse, the MCU could bring some characters directly from the original universe. There were already rumors that Evan Peters could reprise his Quicksilver role — the idea of which has now been given more credence. While Electro will likely be a new counterpart, the MCU already had a version of Quicksilver in that vein. Played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Pietro Maximoff was tragically killed during Avengers: Age of Ultron. As a result, Peters' Quicksilver would need to crossover directly from the established universe of the X-Men movies. And if Quicksilver can make the trip, there's nothing to stop others from doing the same down the line.
Feige has also given the MCU a certain amount of leeway as well. For every J. Jonah Jameson and Electro, there is a Flash Thompson and an Aunt May. In the MCU, both are played by vastly different actors from those in The Amazing Spider-Man and, before that, Sam Raimi's original trilogy. Therefore, if there's a particular X-Men performance that didn't truly resonate, it could be recast. The same goes for if the original actor didn't want to reprise the role. Therefore, in essence, Feige has maneuvered Phase 4 into a pretty exciting position. He has given himself several options for furthering the quintessential Marvel universe. The films and shows could add X-Men characters and tell (or reiterate) their stories in either honorific ways, in completely fresh ways, or potentially a wholly unique blend of new and familiar. And they could do so on a case-by-case basis. Only time will tell what direction the MCU will ultimately go, however, in the lead-up to Spider-Man 3 and beyond.
