Electro () is the alias of two supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.
Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, the first and best-known version of Electro is Maxwell "Max" Dillon, who first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #9 (1964) and has since endured as one of the superhero Spider-Man's most recurring enemies, belonging to the collective of adversaries that make up his rogues gallery. In the Marvel Universe, Max Dillon is a lineman who gains the ability to generate and control electricity after being struck by lightning. He turns to crime as the self-proclaimed "Master of Electricity", and has undergone several design changes throughout his comic book appearances. Electro's original design comprised a green-and-yellow costume with a lightning bolt-shaped mask, while modern stories depict him with blue skin and a bald head. Electro is a founding member of the Sinister Six, and the leader of the original incarnation of the Emissaries of Evil, the first supervillain teams to oppose Spider-Man and Daredevil, respectively.
Created by Dan Slott, Humberto Ramos, and R.B. Silva, the second Electro is Francine Frye, who first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man vol. 3 #2 (2014). After being accidentally killed by Dillon, she is revived by Ben Reilly and similarly accidentally kills Dillon, absorbing his powers as a side effect of Reilly's resurrection method. Over the follow years from 2016 to 2021, Frye served as a solo Electro in a green-and-yellow costume; on Dillon's revival, the two independently continued to serve as Electro. In the series The Spectacular Spider-Man, Dillon and Frye battle over the name Electro, culminating in the two falling in love and vowing to marry.
Outside of comics, both Dillon and Frye have been featured in various media adaptations of Spider-Man, including feature films, television series, and video games. Most notably, Jamie Foxx portrayed Dillon in the live-action films The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014) and Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021).
Publication history
The Max Dillon incarnation of Electro was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, and first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #9 (Feb. 1964).DeFalco "1960s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 98 The character is also known as the member of the Frightful Four battling the Fantastic Four. He is also the first major Marvel villain to be written in publication history as battling Daredevil, even being the founder and leader of the supervillain team that oppose him, the Emissaries of Evil.
The second incarnation of Electro, Francine Frye, was created by Dan Slott, Humberto Ramos, and R.B. Silva, and first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man vol. 3 #2 (July 2014) by Slott and Ramos, though she did not become Electro until The Amazing Spider-Man vol. 4 #17 (October 2016) by Slott and Silva.
Fictional character biography Max Dillon
While Maxwell "Max" Dillon, an electrical engineer and lineman, is repairing a power line, a freak lightning accident causes a mutagenic change that transforms him into a living electrical capacitor. His powers are initially weak, so he spends some time stealing electrical equipment from Stark Industries to charge himself. During this time, he is approached by Magneto, who considers him a potential recruit for his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, claiming that Dillon's power rival his own, but Dillon refuses. The following day, Dillon is confronted by a small-time thug from whom he was borrowing money to pay for the machinery he needed. When the thug draws a gun on him because he did not pay back the money yet, he responds by shooting a blast of lightning through the thug's chest—the first time Dillon ever kills anybody.Web of Spider-Man vol. 2, #2
Soon taking the name "Electro", he turns to a life of a professional crime, his first victim being J. Jonah Jameson. Electro breaks into the Daily Bugle Building and steals from Jameson's safe in front of him. Jameson accuses Spider-Man of being an alternate identity of Electro, prompting Spider-Man to prove the publisher wrong. During their first confrontation, Spider-Man is nearly killed after touching Electro. Spider-Man eventually uses a fire hose to short-circuit Electro while wearing rubber gloves to protect himself.The Amazing Spider-Man #9 (Feb. 1964)
Electro next confronts Daredevil for the first time when trying to break into the Baxter Building. He is again defeated.Daredevil #2 Electro later joins the original Sinister Six led by Doctor Octopus, and is the first member of the group to fight Spider-Man, battling him at a Stark plant. Spider-Man enters the fight believing he lost his powers, however after dodging a bolt of electricity from Electro he realizes his powers returned. Electro loses his power when the power is cut off by Spider-Man, who gets a card from him that leads him to fight Kraven the Hunter.The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 Electro attacks the Fantastic Four at the wedding of Sue Storm and Reed Richards, under the influence of Doctor Doom's mind-control machine, but he has no memory of this due to the actions of Mister Fantastic.Fantastic Four Annual #3 He later recruits the Emissaries of Evil in a plot of revenge against Daredevil for previous defeats.Daredevil Annual #1
Electro is later hired by J. Jonah Jameson to defeat Spider-Man on national television.The Amazing Spider-Man #82 He encounters Daredevil again in San Francisco, at which time he temporarily dons a modified costume.Daredevil #87 Electro later joins the Frightful Four.Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #39 As part of the Frightful Four, he uses Spider-Man as bait to trap the Fantastic Four.Fantastic Four #218 Subsequently, he battles the Falcon but is defeated, partly because he does not consider the Falcon to be a serious threat.Falcon #3–4 Chameleon and Hammerhead then send the Shocker to try to recruit Electro into their organization.The Spectacular Spider-Man #157 Instead, he later accepts Doctor Octopus' invitation to rejoin the Sinister Six, and battles Spider-Man.The Amazing Spider-Man #334–339
Electro fights Spider-Man countless times, either on his own or as part of a group such as the Sinister Six. He also fights such other heroes as Daredevil, the Fantastic Four, and the New Avengers. Despite his immense power, he almost always is defeated, usually as a result of his foes outsmarting him or taking advantage of his weakness to water while charged. As a result of his frequent and often embarrassing defeats, Electro tries to take over New York City's power supply in an attempt at glory and respect. Spider-Man thwarts this plan, however, and convinces Electro to quit his criminal career. When Kaine (Spider-Man's clone) starts killing enemies of Spider-Man, Electro begins to fear for his life and temporarily joins Hobgoblin's Sinister Seven, which were formed to combat Kaine. This group is quickly disbanded, and following Kaine's subsequent disappearance, Electro returns to retirement.
This changes when the Rose agrees to fund an experimental technique that can amplify Electro's abilities, in exchange for Electro's services as an enforcer. Seeing this as a chance to rise above the string of failures that made up so much of his life, Electro undergoes the procedure. After paying off his debt to the Rose by defeating several members of The True Believers (an offshoot of the ninja sect called the Hand), a group of ninja assassins who was interfering in the Rose's operations, Electro attempts to demonstrate his newly amplified powers to the world, once again attempting to take control of New York City's power supply. Wearing an insulated suit, Spider-Man stops him. Electro, in an effort to make a final grand gesture, throws himself into the Hudson River while his body is highly charged, seemingly killing himself in an explosion.
Somehow surviving, Electro resurfaces later as part of the re-formed Sinister Six, formed to kill Senator Stewart Ward and Doctor Octopus (whom the other members of the Six hate due to his arrogance). His powers seemingly reverted to their pre-amplification level, and he wears a new blue-and-white costume. When Venom betrays his fellow Sinister Six members, attempting to kill them one by one, he attacks Electro and leaves him for dead. Once again, Electro survives, and returns to his yellow-and green-costume. Electro is working with the VultureMarvel Knights Spider-Man #2 when they are attacked by Spider-Man, who thinks they kidnapped his Aunt May. Electro manages to bring Spider-Man to the edge of defeat, using his powers in more intelligent ways and blowing up a large number of cars, including some with children in them. After a devastating battle, Spider-Man defeats him by fighting him to a gas refinery.Marvel Knights Spider-Man #3 The badly wounded Electro recovers and shortly afterwards joins the Sinister Twelve, assembled by the Green Goblin, though he and the rest of the team is defeated thanks to the intervention of the Fantastic Four, Daredevil, Captain America, Iron Man and Yellowjacket.Marvel Knights Spider-Man #10-11
Later, separately, he is hired by the Skrull Pagon (posing as Elektra) to free Karl Lykos (also known as Sauron) from the Raft, a maximum-security prison for supervillains.New Avengers #1 After causing a riot, Electro tries to run away with his waitress girlfriend, but is captured by the New Avengers, subsequently fainting when faced with the prospect of being beaten up by Luke Cage, using Spider-Man's webbing to protect himself from Electro.New Avengers #4 Later, Electro joins Chameleon's "Exterminators", seeking to take advantage of Peter Parker and his loved ones. During the "Civil War" storyline, Electro is among the villains in Hammerhead's unnamed villain army when Iron Man and S.H.I.E.L.D. raid the hideout.Civil War: War Crimes (February 2007) In "Secret Invasion," Electro appears as member of Hood's crime syndicate and attacks a Skrull force. After the Skrull posing as Edwin Jarvis kidnaps the baby of Luke Cage and Jessica Jones, the Avengers and the Fantastic Four begin going after everyone who is associated with the Skrulls. Because of this, Electro is confronted by Wolverine in an alley where, after a battle, he leaves Dillon beaten and unconscious.New Avengers #48
Electro returns in issue 612 starting The Gauntlet, with a new look as his face is now scarred with lightning bolts and sporting a trench coat. The revamp was explained by writer Mark Waid, stating that artist Paul Azaceta "tweaked the design a bit, adding some burn scars to reflect Electro's current situation. As Electro gets older, as his body chemistry starts to shift into middle age, his powers are becoming more erratic and less easy for him to control. So he turns to a surprise Marvel villain – someone rarely, if ever, seen in the pages of Amazing – to level up." During his appearance in "The Gauntlet", it is revealed that Electro has lost control over his powers: besides the physical disfigurement, his touch is now 100% lethal. Depressed and angry at the world because of this, Electro begins gathering other outcasts and misfits into a group known as "Power To The People", which targets right-wing newspaper baron Dexter Bennett and the New York Stock Exchange in the wake of the 2008 Financial Crisis. Electro's group manages to gain positive coverage in the media, hampering Spider-Man's ability to convince Electro's followers of his true evil nature.The Amazing Spider-Man #612