‘Spider-Man 3’ Jolt: Jamie Foxx Returning as Electro (Exclusive)

The next Spider-Man movie is getting a major jolt.

Jamie Foxx, who played classic Spidey villain Electro in the Andrew Garfield-starring The Amazing Spider-Man 2, is in final talks to reprise the role for the latest Spider-Man installment, starring Tom Holland and being made by Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures.

Jon Watts, the filmmaker behind Homecoming and last year’s Spider-Man: Far From Home, is in the director’s chair for the third installment, which Sony has dated for Dec. 17, 2021 — although moviegoers have now come to expect release dates to change amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Most of the supporting cast from the previous movies — including Zendaya, Marisa Tomei, Jacob Batalon and Tony Revolori  — are expected to be on the call sheet when cameras roll in Atlanta this fall. Kevin Feige and Amy Pascal are producing.

Marvel had no comment.

Story details are being kept under the mask, but having Foxx return is a stunner as it shows a further melding of the previous Spider-Man movies into the current Holland series, which is the first one that has Marvel running point on production.

Far From Home began that idea by bringing back J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson, the character he played in the Tobey Maguire-starring Spider-Man trilogy, a move that tickled audiences with glee.

Foxx played Electro in 2014’s The Amazing Spider-Man 2, which starred Garfield as Spider-Man. The film failed to impress critics and underperformed at the box office with $708.9 million globally. Those muted box-office returns — along with the 2014 Sony hack — paved the way for Sony to do the unthinkable and strike a deal with Marvel Studios to share the character, leading to Holland starring as the webslinger in the Avengers movies and Marvel talent such as Robert Downey Jr. appearing in Sony’s solo Spider-Man films.

Despite the performance of Amazing 2, Foxx remains one of the most in-demand players in Hollywood and his casting is certain to jazz up excitement amongst fans.  The actor is currently starring in Project Power, a Netflix superhero drama, and is one of the voice stars in Pixar’s upcoming feature, Soul. He is repped by CAA, LBI Entertainment, and Ziffren Brittenham.

A day after THR broke the news of Foxx’s casting, the actor confirmed on Instagram he was returning to the role.

“Super excited to part of the new marvel Spider-Man new installment,” Foxx wrote Friday. “And i won’t be blue in this one!! but a thousand percent badass!!!” He later deleted the post.

—Aaron Couch contributed to this story.

Oct. 1, 3:05 p.m. A previous version misstated the next Spider-Man movie’s release date. THR regrets the error.