The Amazing Spider-Man 2 The Amazing Spider-Man 2 General Discussion - Part 5

[Joe_Kickass]

Hmmm. I don't remember Electro in a blue costume in the 90's. Do you mean Superman's disastrous white and blue costume when he was a, wait for it...being composed of electricity?

There was a fantastic Electro story in the late 90's though (the first one that he ditches his mask) where he gets his powers get amped up and he goes completely haywire.





But the Bane from TDKR maintained the same basic character and personality traits, even if there were superficial changes and he didn't resemble his comic book counterpart 100%. IN TASM2, they're completely re-tooling the character into something he never was.

The zero to hero (or villain) thing has been done a million and one times. I hope they can work some magic and make this the least bit unique.

But the "zero to hero" thing reflects Max Dillion, who was made out in the comics to be pathetic, which seems to definitely be a factor in this movie. His own mother doesn't remember his birthday, people rip off his ideas and he's unable to do anything about them, he gets asked for help by Spidey and becomes obsessive over him, convincing himself that he's his partner in crime (which is pretty pathetic lol), probably winds up getting rejected by Spidey for some reason, then in an unexplained accident gains powers and obviously those go to his head and he decides he's had enough of being pushed around and uses them for his own agenda. That sounds like a good, more in-depth version of Electro. Some of the things about him are changed around to fit more into this universe, and possibly to explain how he got his powers.

 

[Joe_Kickass]

around the time the clone saga ended when Electro was put on death row in an electric chair he got a new costume which lasted a couple of more years into the relaunch. It was white and blue and was like a giant spandex suit covering his whole body minus his eyes nose and mouth. And was Blue and white. It was god awful

personally i hate it when movies take a character and turn them into a hollow shell of who they are in the books... often times just for the sake of changing...


it's the only thing i didnt like about spider-man 2 ... Ock shouldn't have Kurt Connors story... and Sandman surely shouldn't have the burglars...

you can add "some" depth to the character but make it still have basis to the books which made them good in the first place. Otherwise they feel completely unfamiliar. It's my issue with some of the X-men characters on film as well.

when you make it just completely about there powers and "making a good movie" you also lose a little bit of the spirit that makes the characters great.

Electro is widely considered a second rate villian though. In order to make the character more appealing and complex enough to carry an entire movie, things will need to be added and changed around, which is impotant considering that this movie will be compared to movies like TDK and SM2 for being a sequel (and in another instance a Spider-Man movie) and both of those movies are considered of having the best villians in their respective franchises, so Electro will need to be changed up enough to be considered an A-lister, and Foxx will need to give a very convincing performance.

 

[GoldGoblin]

which is why i don't believe the report... i don't see how they'd be able to pull off rhino without CG..

^
Have the actor do all his scenes in a suit in front of green screen,then increase his scale to make him Hulk size.

 

[Vid Electricz]

But the "zero to hero" thing reflects Max Dillion, who was made out in the comics to be pathetic, which seems to definitely be a factor in this movie. His own mother doesn't remember his birthday, people rip off his ideas and he's unable to do anything about them, he gets asked for help by Spidey and becomes obsessive over him, convincing himself that he's his partner in crime (which is pretty pathetic lol), probably winds up getting rejected by Spidey for some reason, then in an unexplained accident gains powers and obviously those go to his head and he decides he's had enough of being pushed around and uses them for his own agenda. That sounds like a good, more in-depth version of Electro. Some of the things about him are changed around to fit more into this universe, and possibly to explain how he got his powers.

The zero to hero thing is fine, but it's an abused trope, especially in the comic book movie world, which is why I hope they've got something better or more creative up their sleeve than what Foxx let slip.

Personally, Electro would not even have been my 5th or 6th choice as far as Spidey's rogues. His story may be "true to the comics", but there are so many things in Foxxs' description alone that call to mind other characters in nearly the exact same scenarios. He's a Stanley Ipkiss level loser who can't catch a break and no one knows his name, etc...he's also a psychotic, obsessive stalker type like Robin Williams from One hour photo (the obsessive "pasting pictures on the wall" trope is also sorely abused) who is granted superpowers.

My question is, why choose a villain that you need to retool and add/change backstory to, to make interesting AND who has sort of generic powers when Spidey has so many more INTERESTING rogues with dynamic, visually arresting possibilities AND who wouldn't need their entire character re-written.

 

[Vid Electricz]

Electro is widely considered a second rate villian though. In order to make the character more appealing and complex enough to carry an entire movie, things will need to be added and changed around, which is impotant considering that this movie will be compared to movies like TDK and SM2 for being a sequel (and in another instance a Spider-Man movie) and both of those movies are considered of having the best villians in their respective franchises, so Electro will need to be changed up enough to be considered an A-lister, and Foxx will need to give a very convincing performance.

Why not pick any other of Spidey's interesting rogues who wouldn't need their character/backstory completely retooled? Good question!

Also, I'm guessing Foxx will turn in a performance very similar to his character in "Collateral".

 

[Johnny]

I know it's obviously too early to speculate, but when do you guys think we'll get a first trailer? Summer time?

 

[elsewhere]

I know it's obviously too early to speculate, but when do you guys think we'll get a first trailer? Summer time?

Small teaser at Comic Con maybe.

 

[Nicko-Ray]

I know it's obviously too early to speculate, but when do you guys think we'll get a first trailer? Summer time?

First teaser? Hopefully sometime during summer. First full official trailer, for sure before the end of the year. Maybe in front of Thor: The Dark World.

 

[Joe_Kickass]

Why not pick any other of Spidey's interesting rogues who wouldn't need their character/backstory completely retooled? Good question!

Also, I'm guessing Foxx will turn in a performance very similar to his character in "Collateral".

Maybe because Electro would be an interesting visual villian and since we haven't seen Spidey fight against anyone like him before in the films. They could very well have something interesting up the sleeve for Electro, and why are you comparing attributes of Electro to other people in other movies? He's not based off one single person from another movie, so at some point some attributes will be similar to other portrayls of different characters. There have been movies where a person considered to be friendly turns on the person who trusts them the most (Obidah Stone), villians who just want to rule the world and are greedy bastards (Red Skull), jealous of their siblings success (Loki), so why are you going to compare Electro to random people from other movies? Seriously, why can't you people have a bit of optimism.

 

[Nicko-Ray]

Maybe because Electro would be an interesting visual villian and since we haven't seen Spidey fight against anyone like him before in the films. They could very well have something interesting up the sleeve for Electro, and why are you comparing attributes of Electro to other people in other movies? He's not based off one single person from another movie, so at some point some attributes will be similar to other portrayls of different characters. There have been movies where a person considered to be friendly turns on the person who trusts them the most (Obidah Stone), villians who just want to rule the world and are greedy bastards (Red Skull), jealous of their siblings success (Loki), so why are you going to compare Electro to random people from other movies? Seriously, why can't you people have a bit of optimism.

Yeah I think that was a factor in choosing Electro..that he would be visually exciting. In 3D too. At the same time dangerous.
I think Marc Webb said something similar too haha.
Electro is actually my second favorite villain or so, so it was exciting to hear that he would be the guy.

 

[Joe_Kickass]

Also, Fox gave a very general overview, there's no telling how its going to be handled. We have Electro as the villian, let's see what they can do with him before being so judgemental based off next to nothing but a pretty general description. *

 

[Vid Electricz]

Maybe because Electro would be an interesting visual villian and since we haven't seen Spidey fight against anyone like him before in the films. They could very well have something interesting up the sleeve for Electro, and why are you comparing attributes of Electro to other people in other movies? He's not based off one single person from another movie, so at some point some attributes will be similar to other portrayls of different characters. There have been movies where a person considered to be friendly turns on the person who trusts them the most (Obidah Stone), villians who just want to rule the world and are greedy bastards (Red Skull), jealous of their siblings success (Loki), so why are you going to compare Electro to random people from other movies? Seriously, why can't you people have a bit of optimism.

I'm not comparing them at all- those instances I mentioned are the very first things that popped into my mind upon hearing the descrition of the character. other movies aside, I could name like 50 episodes of Law & Order or whatever where there are characters that become obsessed stalkers and paste pictures up all over their walls. It's just well-trod ground that seems all too familiar.

I am optimistic, but I'm also very wary- and I think that's completely fair given Webb's (mis)treatment of Dr. Connors in TASM (A character that deserved so much more). I want the movie to be good, but I'm also not going to fangasm at every decision they make. If something seems particularly lame/contrived, I'm going to question it.

 

[spideyboy_1111]

Electro is widely considered a second rate villian though. In order to make the character more appealing and complex enough to carry an entire movie, things will need to be added and changed around, which is impotant considering that this movie will be compared to movies like TDK and SM2 for being a sequel (and in another instance a Spider-Man movie) and both of those movies are considered of having the best villians in their respective franchises, so Electro will need to be changed up enough to be considered an A-lister, and Foxx will need to give a very convincing performance.

The thing is..... He's not carring an entire movie. Nor should he.... He shouldn't be pumped up to be a bigger villain than he is in the books.

He isn't carrying the entire film


There's Rhino , Norman, Harry, Mj, Aunt May, possibly Betty Brant and Jonah.... All on top of Gwen and Peter....

I think people over estimate electro's role in this film.... Its certainly not gonna be a Doc Ock type role

 

[spideyboy_1111]

Maybe because Electro would be an interesting visual villian and since we haven't seen Spidey fight against anyone like him before in the films. They could very well have something interesting up the sleeve for Electro, and why are you comparing attributes of Electro to other people in other movies? He's not based off one single person from another movie, so at some point some attributes will be similar to other portrayls of different characters. There have been movies where a person considered to be friendly turns on the person who trusts them the most (Obidah Stone), villians who just want to rule the world and are greedy bastards (Red Skull), jealous of their siblings success (Loki), so why are you going to compare Electro to random people from other movies? Seriously, why can't you people have a bit of optimism.

Black and Blue is far from visually interesting. Its expected.... And its been done to death. Star wars has been doing it for decades now....

 

[Joe_Kickass]

The thing is..... He's not carring an entire movie. Nor should he.... He shouldn't be pumped up to be a bigger villain than he is in the books.

He isn't carrying the entire film


There's Rhino , Norman, Harry, Mj, Aunt May, possibly Betty Brant and Jonah.... All on top of Gwen and Peter....

I think people over estimate electro's role in this film.... Its certainly not gonna be a Doc Ock type role

He's not carrying the movie no, but he's going to be the promoted antagonist of the movie, there'll need to be more to him than in the comics considering all the comparisons this movie will be getting, at least be interesting and memorable in the flesh.

 

[747]

I'm not at all bothered by them changing up and adding things to the character of Max Dillon as long as it's interesting and done well. Just keep the core of him as kind of pathetic and a bit of a loser.

Black costume I'm more meh about, not saying I want the classic costume in all it's glory either as that wouldn't really mesh with the world presented in TASM, or be ideal for an overall serious live-action take in general for that matter. But I don't get why they can't adapt the colors or feel of it. Like with a darker military green and having the electricity being yellow/gold running through his body and around his face, or something. I really liked what they did with his look in the TSSM cartoon.

 

[Anno_Domini]

There isn't a single villain in any CBM out nowadays who has a costume outside of Kickass. They either wear regular clothes from their homeland (Thor, Loki) or have armors that are there to supply their powers (Iron Monger, Whiplash). It makes more sense for Electro to NOT have a costume, considering he's a villain, so why does he care if people know his secret identity? He doesn't have any loved ones to exploit, so it doesn't matter. He'd wear whatever, makes more sense than him sitting down and sewing a funky costume for no reason. He'd look like freaking Jim Carrey's Riddler if he wore something resembling his costume suit (except for being black and not having pink hair). His costume is black, and his electricty is blue, because it fits. Why would he wear something that would get people to make fun of him, why wear a mask when he SHOULD be telling people "I'm Max Dillion, remember me!". He's not going to have green and yellow lightening, which would look stupid, and he's not going to have a green and yellow costume, because this isn't Batman Forever.

Spoiler

we all know you don't like the film, but why you find the need to have to say it every so often in the manner you do like your say is making a difference to anything i dunno but after a while its abit silly and does come across as trolling

Cool if you think so, but it's not meant to come off as "trolling". It just does when someone doesn't want to hear anything negative. Hell, when I talk about the new suit people call it "trolling" as I said...no one simply wants to hear anything negative these days.

Attention administrators/whoever gives warnings and infractions:

I want a warning/infraction slapped on whoever calls me a troll. It's degrading and mean.

Good luck.

but did Bane look anything like he did in the comics? Absolutely not, but the character worked!

Indeed it did work, but when the costume isn't some far-fetch luchador suit, then it can work on film such as the Ultimate Electro route looking just fine.

The most important thing, obviously, is how they get the character right in a film. The Nolans got Bane right(and that's going to be quoted very soon, I just know it, haha), and now the question is can Electro be done right?

 

[Joe_Kickass]

I'm not comparing them at all- those instances I mentioned are the very first things that popped into my mind upon hearing the descrition of the character. other movies aside, I could name like 50 episodes of Law & Order or whatever where there are characters that become obsessed stalkers and paste pictures up all over their walls. It's just well-trod ground that seems all too familiar.

I am optimistic, but I'm also very wary- and I think that's completely fair given Webb's (mis)treatment of Dr. Connors in TASM (A character that deserved so much more). I want the movie to be good, but I'm also not going to fangasm at every decision they make. If something seems particularly lame/contrived, I'm going to question it.

But not in the way Electro's doing it. The examples you give are serial killer type things, while Electro just wants to feel like he's making a difference, so he convinces himself he's Spidey's partner, he might not mean it in a negative way by any means, kind of like Syndrome at the very beginning of The Incredibles, just more in depth. He doesn't fully snap til afterwards, obviously when Spidey tells him something like "I can't bear the burden of you getting hurt" or something, after that rejection he goes off the deep end.

 

[Anno_Domini]

So Shailene has already dyed her hair and moved on to another film. MJ's role was very little indeed in TAS-M 2.

 

[spideyboy_1111]

He's not carrying the movie no, but he's going to be the promoted antagonist of the movie, there'll need to be more to him than in the comics considering all the comparisons this movie will be getting, at least be interesting and memorable in the flesh.

I think what Fox already described which is very much like 616 electro is quite enough. He doesn't need more depth than that

 

[Joe_Kickass]

Spoiler

Cool if you think so, but it's not meant to come off as "trolling". It just does when someone doesn't want to hear anything negative. Hell, when I talk about the new suit people call it "trolling" as I said...no one simply wants to hear anything negative these days.



Good luck.



Indeed it did work, but when the costume isn't some far-fetch luchador suit, then it can work on film such as the Ultimate Electro route looking just fine.

The most important thing, obviously, is how they get the character right in a film. The Nolans got Bane right(and that's going to be quoted very soon, I just know it, haha), and now the question is can Electro be done right?

I said nowadays, meaning movie franchises currently going on. Sandman's isn't a costume he made and Joker is a deranged psychopath. I'm talking about handmade costumes made by the villians, like they sat down and stitched and made the suit themselves.

 

[Anno_Domini]

Then Magneto still fits the bill

And no excuses for Sandman and Joker...they are wearing clothes that matches heavily on their comic counterparts, i.e., their costume.

 

[Joe_Kickass]

I think what Fox already described which is very much like 616 electro is quite enough. He doesn't need more depth than that

There's going to be things like where he works, his ambitions, things like that. Then the approach of the actual villian himself, what makes him unique outside of powers, then there's the way his orgin is general approached. Emotionally and serious or like "Sucks to be that guy".

 

[spideyboy_1111]

The whole "wants to be spideys partner" has me shaking my head.... On one hand its very "kick ass , do it yourself kinda hero thing... Where he's a loser and it pretty much screams for him to have a ridiculous costume and have spidey diss him and further piss him off


Then on the other.... Its also kinda cheesy in general and a bizarre thing to add to his character

 

[Vid Electricz]

But not in the way Electro's doing it. The examples you give are serial killer type things, while Electro just wants to feel like he's making a difference, so he convinces himself he's Spidey's partner, he might not mean it in a negative way by any means, kind of like Syndrome at the very beginning of The Incredibles, just more in depth. He doesn't fully snap til afterwards, obviously when Spidey tells him something like "I can't bear the burden of you getting hurt" or something, after that rejection he goes off the deep end.

I'm sure it won't be the worst thing ever and I am sure it won't ruin the movie- I'm just saying that moments and behaviours like that are understood in the collective conscience as a type of well worn trope.

The Robin Williams character in One hour photo, as I mentioned, did the same thing, pasting pictures up and all that, but it turns out that he ultimately meant well. When you see and hear things like Foxx's description of Electro, your brain can't help but go "Haven't I seen heard this before?".