Electro (Marvel Comics)

Electro (/ɪˈlɛktroʊ/) 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 Max, absorbing his powers as a side effect of Reilly's resurrection method. Over the follow years from 2016 to 2021, Francine served as a solo Electro in a green-and-yellow costume; on Dillon's revival, the two independently continued to serve as Electro, before eventually in The Spectacular Spider-Men going to war over the name, culminating in the two falling in love and vowing to be wed as Mr. and Mrs. Electro.

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).

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). 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.

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.

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 right 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 ever confrontation, Spider-Man is nearly killed after touching the electrically charged villain. Spider-Man eventually uses a fire hose to short-circuit Electro while wearing rubber gloves to protect himself.