According to a report from THR, Jamie Foxx will be reprising the role of Electro in the forthcoming and as-of-yet untitled third entry in the current Spider-Man series, which will indeed feature Tom Holland in the titular webslinging role. Could the Sinister Six be afoot?
Foxx first played the role in 2014’s The Amazing Spider-Man 2, the sequel to 2012’s The Amazing Spider-Man, both of which starred Andrew Garfield and are perhaps not-so-well regarded (especially when compared to the enduring devotion inspired by Sam Raimi’s 2000s Spider-trilogy, which featured Tobey Maguire as the ol’ thwipper).
You can imagine the reaction said devoted moviegoers had when 2019’s Spider-Man: Far From Home included a mid-credits scene revealing (spoilers for a movie that you’ve had all of quarantine to watch) J. K. Simmons had reprised the role of J. Jonah Jameson for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Primed by Mysterio’s deceptions within Far From Home (as well as by 2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, with its multiple-universe shenanigans), speculation immediately ran to the possibility that the appearance of Simmons as JJJ suggested the timelines had been crossed and the MCU was about to go into a Spider-Verse of its own (and possibly featuring the return of either Maguire, Garfield, or both as “alternative versions” of Holland’s Peter Parker).
The revelation that Foxx will be reprising the role of Electro from the Garfield-verse will surely do nothing to dispel wild speculation in this vein, especially when we already know that Sony is planning to exploit the idea of multiple Spider-Verses as far as that web can be spun.
With all that in mind, could an inter-dimensional Sinister Six be in the cards?
The Sinister Six first appeared in The Amazing Spider Man Annual Volume 1 #1 (1964) by Stan Lee, Steve Ditko, and Sam Rosen.
The team’s original lineup included Electro (Foxx), Vulture (played by Michael Keaton in 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming, the first entry in the Holland-Verse), and Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal in Far From Home), three characters who have already been cast in the series.
Rounding out the original lineup for the team was Sandman (who was played by Thomas Haden Church in 2007’s Spider-Man 3, the final entry in the Maguire-Verse), Kraven the Hunter (who has yet to appear onscreen in any of Spider-Verses discussed so far), and of course, the organizer of the Sinister Six, Doctor Otto Gunther Octavius (or “Doctor Octopus,” as he is known to his enemies).
Two incarnations of Doctor Octopus have already appeared on the big screen. In 2004’s Spider-Man 2, the Empire Strikes Back of the Maguire-Verse, the role was played by Alfred Molina.
And in 2018’s Into the Spider-Verse, Kathryn Hahn voiced a version of the character named Doctor Olivia Octavius (that’s “Liv” to her friends, which include Aunt May, but still “Doctor Octopus” to her enemies, which probably include you).
Could Hahn’s Moore-Verse Doc Ock be lurking behind the scenes, ready to unleash an inter-dimensional Sinister Six on an unsuspecting Holland-Verse?
There are details that could align with this wild speculation. For one, Hahn’s Doc Ock is MIA at the conclusion of Into the Spider-Verse, after having been incapacitated during a fight near an inter-dimensional portal.
Does the journey from animation to live action seem like a dimension too far? Perhaps – but perhaps it’s already happening, right in front of your eyes, as Hahn appears in a mysterious role in WandaVision, set to be released on Disney+ in December of this year (the show is clearly playing its realities fast and loose, after all – perhaps it’s also “no more narrative divisions”).
And Kevin Feige has insisted that the MCU Disney+ content would crossover with the big-screen MCU fare – so maybe this inter-dimensional Sinister Six is more plausible that it might at first seem.
Still, it would take some kind of eight-armed genius to pull a stunt involving this many timelines off, don’t you think?
Would you prefer Molina reprise the role of Doc Ock in the Holland-Verse? When will we get the glimpse of Donald Glover as Spider-Man that we all deserve? Will this movie actually be released in November of 2021? The Beat invites your baseless speculation in the comment section.
