Electro

"I will cut the light and soon, everyone in this city will know how it feels to live in my world...A world without power...a world without mercy...a world without Spider-Man. They will see me for who I truly am...I'm Electro."

- Electro

Maxwell "Max" Dillon was an electrical engineer formerly employed at Oscorp Industries.  He was seen as a "nobody" before being saved and acknowledged by Spider-Man, who he became obsessed with.

After having to stay behind at work on his birthday, Max had to fix a broken power line. He climbed all of the way up to the line and balanced on a railing. He was able to successfully plug the line back in, fixing the circuit. However, before he could get down, Max was shocked with electricity, making him fall down in to a tank of genetically-modified electric eels. He was attacked by the eels, before finally breaking the entire tank. Following this accident, Max was made of pure electrical energy, was given a suit by Harry Osborn, and dubbed himself Electro.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2
Max Dillon lived his whole life without anybody merely acknowledging his existence. One time, the Manhattan hero Spider-Man saved him from a taxi hurtling through the air. Being the "nobody" that Dillon was, he was thrilled to have been acknowledged by somebody, let alone the very famous Spider-Man.

As Spider-Man leaves, Dillon starts to believe that he is the hero's friend. He goes mad with "love" for Spider-Man and obsesses over him, sticking pictures of him all over his bedroom wall.

After he finds out that hardly anyone has remembered his birthday and his ideas for a new power grid were stolen by his colleagues at Oscorp, Max is forced by Alistair Smythe to fix an electrical problem in one of Oscorp's genetics labs. A cable has come loose in a vent. Max climbs into the vent and attempts to reconnect the cable, but he is unable to stop the electrical current going into it and it malfunctions in his hands. He looses his balance and falls into a large tank of electric eels being used for experiments. They sting him multiple times until the tank shatters.

Max awakens in a morgue. Donning a black hoodie, he escapes and makes his way to Times Square, where he accidentally causes a scene whilst trying to charge up himself with a power cable. Spider-Man arrives but doesn't remember Max's name. Angered that his hero forgot his name, things get worse for Max when he is fired at by the police after Spider-Man assured him that he would not be shot at. Feeling betrayed and lied to by his hero, Max destroys Times Square in anger with his newfound electrical powers. Luckily, his reign of terror is stopped by Spider-Man and the fire department.

Max, now naming himself Electro, is sent to Ravencroft Institute where he is placed in a large harness that contains his energy. He is soon broken out by Harry Osborn who forms an alliance with the man to kill Spider-Man.

Electro causes a citywide blackout and challenges Spider-Man to a fight at the Oscorp Power Plant. After a lengthy battle, Spider-Man, with the help of Gwen Stacy, defeats Electro by overloading his power supply, causing the villain to vanish into thin air and explodes.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (video game)
Max first appeared when he was taken hostage by the Shocker's Men until Spider-Man rescued him and says that Max is his eyes and ears and he helps Spider-Man stop the Shocker and his men along with the Russian Gang.

Powers

 * Electrostatic Energy Generation: Electro possesses the ability to bodily generate electrostatic energy which he can release or harness for a number of effects. He is powered by the micro-fine rhythmic muscle contractions that normally regulate body temperature. His body can generate electricity at a rate of about 10,000 volts per minute, up to his maximum storage capacity of 10,000,000 volts. At that point, his body automatically stops producing electricity. As he expends his electrostatic energy, his body automatically begins to recharge the stores. Electro can mentally control the amount of electricity he discharges, anywhere from a single volt to his full 10,000,000 volt charge at once. At ten to thirty feet, his maximum charge is more than enough to kill a man. Electro can also use his body as a transformer, touching an outside power source (such as a generator) and channeling it through his body for use. The amount of electricity he can transform above his body's maximum storage capacity is unknown.


 * Endurance and Stamina: He have shown that he can take attacks from Spider-Man and extreme force from impacts to hard surfaces with no affect to himself. He was able to get up to keep fighting Spider-Man for a long period of time.


 * Lighting Bolt Projection: The simplest manifestation is the emission of a lightning-like electric arc from his fingertips, which can propagate through air or other conducting mediums. This discharge, whose total voltage can be regulated within certain limits, travels at the speed of lightning, about 150,000 feet per second. The course of the electrostatic bolt, like lightning, does not always follow a straight line since it may be influenced by conducting substances like metal or other electrical fields. If his target is not grounded, his electrostatic bolt will have little effect. The maximum effective range of his bolts is about 100 feet.


 * Electromagnetic Propulsion via Electrical Lines and Bridges: Electro can propel himself along the accompanying magnetic lines of force in objects that have great electrical potential, such as high-tension electrical lines. He generates light, eddying electrical fields around his legs, which develops an intense, opposing magnetic field that can support him above the electric cable's magnetic field. By creating imbalances in his field, he can ride along on magnetic ripples at speeds of up to 140 miles per hour, the maximum speed at which he can still breathe unaided. He can sometimes create electrostatic bridges to traverse upon, although the expenditure of energy is enormous. To a limited degree, he can also mimic Spider-Man's wall-crawling ability, using his electromagnetic field to become attracted to the fields of iron bars in buildings.


 * Electrical Detection: Electro's electrical powers also grant him certain sensory and manipulative abilities. By "feeling" the course of electricity through the circuitry of any electrically-powered device, Electro can override the system and make the device obey his mental commands. Electro can disconnect alarm systems, control computers in a limited way, or overload any electrically controlled system that is insufficiently shielded.


 * Electrocution: The electric flux of Electro's skin is such that when his electric charge is at a maximum, a person touching him is in danger of being electrocuted.


 * Recharging: By using an external electrical power source to recharge his body's energy reserves, he could expend electrical energy indefinitely without diminishing his personal reserves.


 * Electrical Conversion into Enhanced Physical Attributions: The electricity coursing through his altered body augments his strength, speed, and recuperative powers.


 * Immunity to Electricity: Electro's body is immune to the effects of its electricity and that of other sources as well. Hence, Electro cannot be electrocuted no matter how great the voltage.


 * Charging: Electro can charge himself up to reach high maximum voltage. Here he can grow in height to an enormous humanoid looking creature made up of nothing but electricity.

Trivia

 * In a 2012 Twitter post, Jamie Foxx teased that he "dressed up as Electro for Halloween" and that the "costume fit well".
 * Foxx also stated that the costume for the movie would not be green and yellow, like it is in mainstream comics. Instead, it would have been a sleek black, similar to the "Ultimate Marvel" comics.
 * After being chosen for the role, Foxx stated to Entertainment Tonight that he likes Electro as a character and was excited to play him.
 * In an interview, Foxx states that Max is 42 years old.
 * His appearance is based off of his Ultimate Marvel Incarnation.
 * Electro, Rhino and Felicia Hardy are the only villains that don't know Spider-Man's secret identity.
 * Electro seemingly disappears in to nothing near the end of The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Whether he truly died or not is unknown. However, actor Jamie Foxx, when asked on the topic, replied that "electricity can't die", fueling the idea that Electro may make a return.
 * In the scene where Harry enters inside Ravencroft Institute, it's most likely that he actually got Electro's suit from one of the two men that were wearing black leather suits with lightning bolts on the side.