Though the film he was a part of may have received generally mixed reviews and led to the cancellation of its series, Sony is in final talks to bring back Jamie Foxx as iconic Spider-Man villain Electro for the forthcoming third installment in the Tom Holland-starring franchise, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
While most of the original series cast are set to return for the threequel, Foxx’s casting further blurs the lines across Sony’s three webslinging franchises, with the previous installment bringing back J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson from Sam Raimi’s trilogy and the studio’s Sony Universe of Marvel Characters led by Venom expected to crossover into the Marvel Cinematic Universe series soon.
Foxx previously portrayed the role in 2014’s The Amazing Spider-Man 2 helmed by Marc Webb and starring Andrew Garfield in the titular role, but after it underperformed at the box office with $708.9 million worldwide on its estimated $200 million budget and received mixed reviews from critics and fans, Sony cancelled future plans including a third Garfield-led film and Sinister Six and Venom spin-offs.
Originally scheduled for a July 16, 2021 release, the film was first pushed back to November 5 and will now bow on December 17. The untitled third installment’s previous release date was recently given to Uncharted, with Holland revealing in an Instagram video that production on the webslinging title should begin around February 2021 after the conclusion of the filming for Nathan Drake’s long-awaited big-screen debut.
The news comes the same day as competitor studios Disney, Paramount and Warner Bros. all announced the delays of a number of their major releases including Christopher Nolan’s Tenet, the live-action adaptation of Mulan, John Krasinski’s A Quiet Place Part II, the long-awaited Tom Cruise sequel Top Gun: Maverick and James Cameron’s four Avatar sequels.
Tom Holland will return for the film as the titular wall-crawler, and it remains to be seen what villains he’ll go up against in the trilogy caper. Given the ending of Far From Home however, any number of his rogues gallery are likely eager for a fight. The third installment to the MCU’s Spider-Man films will also feature the return of Zendaya (Euphoria, Dune) as MJ. Holland’s Spider-Man is also set to appear in another Marvel Studios film per the new agreement.
RELATED: Shang-Chi to Resume Production in Australia By the End of the Month
Sony’s upcoming Spidey slate includes the Venom sequel, starring Tom Hardy and directed by Andy Serkis, as well as Jared Leto’s in-the-can Morbius, a Kraven the Hunter film, and a spinoff featuring Silver Sable and Black Cat. Should these films interact with the MCU and Tom Holland, it remains to be seen, but the door seems open.
