Electro (Marvel Comics)

Electro (Maxwell "Max" Dillon) is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Debuting in The Amazing Spider-Man #9 (Feb. 1964) as an adversary to the superhero Spider-Man, he has since endured becoming one of the web slinger's most common foes, making him part of the hero's rogues' gallery. He has come into conflict with other heroes, most notably Daredevil. In the comics, Electro is a former lineman for an electric company that turned to a life of crime after being struck by lightning while working on a power line and becoming a living electric capacitor. Electro is one of the founding members of the supervillain team Sinister Six, and the leader of the first incarnation of the Emissaries of Evil. Francine Frye also adopted the Electro alias after Max Dillon's death in The Amazing Spider-Man vol. 4 #17 (Oct. 2016).

The character has been substantially adapted from comics into various forms of media, including films, television series, and video games. Electro made his cinematic debut in 2014's The Amazing Spider-Man 2, where he was portrayed by Jamie Foxx, who will reprise the role as a different incarnation in the third Spider-Man film set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In 2009, he was ranked as IGN's 87th Greatest Comic Book Villain of All Time.

Publication history
The Maxwell 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 and Humberto Ramos, and first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man vol. 3 #2 (July 2014), though she did not become Electro until The Amazing Spider-Man vol. 4 #17 (October 2016).

Maxwell Dillon
While Maxwell Dillon, an electrical engineer and lineman, was repairing a power line, a freak lightning accident caused a mutagenic change that transformed him into a living electrical capacitor. His powers were initially weak, so he spent some time stealing electrical equipment from Stark Industries to charge himself. During this time, he was approached by Magneto, who considered him a potential recruit for his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, claiming that Dillon's power rivaled his own, but Dillon refused. The following day, Dillon was confronted by a small-time thug from whom he had been borrowing money to pay for the machinery he had needed. When the thug drew a gun on him because he had not paid back the money yet, he responded by shooting a blast of lightning through the thug's chest—the first time Dillon ever killed anybody. Soon taking the name "Electro", he turned to a life of a professional criminal, his first victim being J. Jonah Jameson. Electro broke into the Daily Bugle Building and stole from Jameson's safe right in front of him. Jameson accused Spider-Man of being an alternate identity of Electro, prompting Spider-Man to prove the publisher wrong. During their first ever confrontation, Spider-Man was nearly killed after touching the electrically charged villain. Spider-Man eventually used a fire hose to short-circuit Electro while wearing rubber gloves to protect himself.

Electro next confronted Daredevil for the first time when trying to break into the Baxter Building. He was again defeated. Electro later joined the original Sinister Six led by Doctor Octopus, and was the first member of the group to fight Spider-Man, battling him at a Stark plant, when Spider-Man dodged a bolt of electricity he realized his powers had returned. Electro lost his power when the power was cut off by Spider-Man. Spider-Man got a card from him that led him to fight Kraven the Hunter. Electro attacked the Fantastic Four at the wedding of Sue Storm and Reed Richards, under the control of Doctor Doom's mind-control machine, but due to Mister Fantastic he, like the other villains, has no memory of the incident. He later recruited the second Emissaries of Evil in a plot of revenge against Daredevil for previous defeats. This group consisted of Gladiator, Stilt-Man, Leap-Frog, and the Matador.

Electro was later hired by J. Jonah Jameson to defeat Spider-Man on national television. He encountered Daredevil again in San Francisco, at which time he temporarily donned a modified costume. He then took control of a Protarian android seeking the destruction of Omega. Electro then teamed with Blizzard against Spider-Man and Daredevil. Electro then attempted to aid a band of criminals escaping the Defenders.

Electro later joined the Frightful Four. As part of the Frightful Four, he used Spider-Man as bait to trap the Fantastic Four. Subsequently, he battled the Falcon but was defeated, partly because he did not consider the Falcon to be a serious threat. Electro later learned that he can electro-statically disrupt Spider-Man's wall-crawling ability. Chameleon and Hammerhead then sent the Shocker to try to recruit Electro into their organization. Instead, he later accepted Doctor Octopus' invitation to rejoin the Sinister Six, and battled Spider-Man.

Electro has fought Spider-Man countless times, either on his own or as part of a group such as the Sinister Six. He has also fought such other heroes as Daredevil, the Fantastic Four, and the New Avengers. Despite his immense power, he has almost always been 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 tried to take over New York City's power supply in an attempt at glory and respect. Spider-Man thwarted this plan, however, and convinced Electro to quit his criminal career. When Kaine (Spider-Man's insane clone) started killing enemies of Spider-Man, Electro began to fear for his life and temporarily joined Mysterio's Sinister Seven, which had been formed to combat Kaine. This group was quickly disbanded, and following Kaine's subsequent disappearance, Electro returned to retirement.

This changed when the Rose agreed to fund an experimental technique that would 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 had made up so much of his life, Electro underwent the procedure. After paying off his debt to the Rose by defeating several members of The True Believers (an offshoot of the famous ninja sect called the Hand), a group of ninja assassins who had been interfering in the Rose's operations, Electro attempted 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 stopped him. Electro, in an effort to make a final grand gesture, threw himself into the Hudson River while his body was highly charged, seemingly killing himself in an explosion.

Somehow surviving, Electro resurfaced 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 now hated due to his arrogance). His powers had seemingly reverted to their pre-amplification level, and he wore a new blue-and-white costume. When Venom betrayed his fellow Sinister Six members, attempting to kill them one by one, he attacked Electro and left him for dead. Once again, Electro survived, and when he next appeared had returned to his yellow-and green-costume.

Electro was working with the Vulture when they were attacked by Spider-Man who thought they had kidnapped his Aunt May. Electro managed 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 defeated him by fighting him to a gas refinery. The badly wounded Electro recovered fairly quickly, and shortly afterwards joined the Sinister Twelve, assembled by the Green Goblin, though he and the rest of the team was defeated thanks to the intervention of the Fantastic Four, Daredevil, Captain America, Iron Man and Yellowjacket.

Later, separately, he was 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. After causing a riot, Electro tried to run away with his waitress girlfriend, but was 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.

Later, Electro joined Chameleon's "Exterminators", seeking to take advantage of Peter Parker and his loved ones.

During the "Civil War" storyline, Electro was among the villains in Hammerhead's unnamed villain army when Iron Man and S.H.I.E.L.D. raided the hideout.

In "Secret Invasion," Electro appears as member of Hood's crime syndicate and attacked 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.

Electro returns in The Gauntlet, with a new look as his face is now scarred with lightning bolts. 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 Guantlet", 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. Electro's duplicitous nature causes him to betray his followers in order to align with the amoral Bennett in exchange for help finding a way to restore his powers to a controllable level. The Mad Thinker is able to come up with a process to cure Electro, but Spider-Man interferes with the process, turning Electro into an artificial electrical thunderbolt. Furious, Electro double-crosses Bennett and ultimately uses his new powers to destroy The DB building, crippling Bennett in the process. In doing so, Electro uses up so much of his newfound power that Spider-Man is able to neutralize him with his webbing. In the epilogue, Electro runs into Sasha Kravinoff and Chameleon in his new jail cell. In the following issue involving Sandman, it is revealed that Electro has escaped. Under the orders of the Kravinoffs, he breaks the fourth Vulture out of prison.

During the "Heroic Age" storyline, it is suspected by the Young Allies that Electro had a discarded and disavowed daughter named Aftershock (similar to the MC2 Universe version) who is a member of the Bastards of Evil. When Young Allies members Firestar and Gravity fight Electro, he defeats them and lets them live so that they can spread the message that he does not endorse Aftershock and the Bastards of Evil's terrorism. He also says they can look up how and when he got his powers on the internet and there was no way a girl of Aftershock's age could have been conceived after he got his powers: It's impossible for him to be Aftershock's father.

Electro is later present at the scene where Mattie Franklin is sacrificed by Sasha Kravinoff as part of a ritual that resurrects Vladimir Kravinoff as a large humanoid lion creature.

During the "Origin of the Species" storyline, Electro is among the supervillains invited by Doctor Octopus to join his supervillain team where they are promised that they will receive a reward in exchange for securing some specific items. Electro goes after Spider-Man for Menace's infant. Anticipating Spider-Man's plan to deliver the infant to a hospital, Electro waits at the nearest hospital in Spider-Man's area until Spider-Man shows up. The two begin to battle until Sandman interferes and Spider-Man tricks Electro into electrocuting Sandman, turning him into glass. Flying shards of glass hit Electro, temporarily stunning him and allowing Spider-Man to escape. Spider-Man goes on an angry rampage against all the villains after the Chameleon tricks him into thinking the infant is dead. He defeats Electro in Vinegar Hill, Brooklyn.

In the Big Time storyline, Electro becomes a member of Doctor Octopus' new Sinister Six and helps Chameleon break into an air force base in New Jersey. Electro was with the Sinister Six when it came to fighting Intelligencia. During a conflict between the Intelligencia and the Sinister Six, Mad Thinker was able to briefly deactivate Electro's powers, but was caught off-guard when Electro physically attacked him instead, the surprise of the attack allowed Electro to defeat Mad Thinker. During the "'Ends of the Earth" storyline despite the Sinister Six being prepared for a fight with the Avengers, Electro was the first of the team to be defeated, being hurled into the upper atmosphere by Thor while distracted by his inability to attack Spider-Man's new hi-tech armor.

Electro returns to Earth and attempts to avenge himself on Thor by forcing an A.I.M. scientist to convert him to generate protons instead of electrons, but he is defeated when Superior Spider-Man (Doctor Octopus' mind in Spider-Man's body) manages to convert him into a stream of protons and traps him. Superior Spider-Man places Electro in containment next to Sandman in his hidden underwater lab. Electro, Chameleon, Sandman, Mysterion, and the Vulture are later seen as part of a team led by Superior Spider-Man called the "Superior Six". Superior Spider-Man has been temporarily controlling their minds in order to redeem them for their crimes. He does this by forcing them to do heroic deeds against their will, some of which almost get them killed. Every time he is done controlling them, he puts them back in their containment cells. They eventually break free of Superior Spider-Man's control and attempt to exact revenge on the wall-crawler, nearly destroying New York in order to do so. With the help of Sun Girl, Superior Spider-Man is barely able to stop the Superior Six.

Electro was seen battling the Punisher in Los Angeles, California.

Sometime after Spider-Man regained his body, Electro comes into the Bar With No Name and is introduced to the Hobgoblin's servants by his friend and bartender, Deke. The villains start joking about the gloomy Electro. One mentions how Thor launched him into space, another about how "Spider-Man" made him part of the Superior Six, and yet another about how Electro was taken out by the Punisher, despite the latter's lack of powers. Electro gets angry and starts sparking, but the bartender gets the situation under control by commenting on how bad the Punisher is and with compliments like breaking so many villains out of the Raft, which earned him the respect of Crossbones and Count Nefaria. This does not stop the others, however. Determined to get respect, Electro heads back over to the Raft, ready for another breakout despite the Green Goblin having done the same just recently and the fact that it was re-christened as Spider-Island II. Electro sends a blot of electricity around, but it grows excessively big and he cannot turn it off. He finally exhausts all of his power but when this happens, he passes out and many of the villains he tried to break out are now dead. Vowing revenge, Electro soon realizes what caused this to happen to him: experiments conducted by "Spider-Man". Electro later visits his friend, Francine Frye, and keeps his distance because of his uncontrollable powers. Francine starts to kiss Electro, only to end up dying from electrocution. At Peter Parker's behest, Parker Industries is testing out an anti-Electro netting that can capture Electro. Electro is later seen with Black Cat when they raid Eel's hideout where Electro defeats Eel. Electro and Black Cat later crash the meeting between Mister Negative and Phil Urich (who is leading the remnants of the Goblin Underground as the self-proclaimed Goblin King) where they throw Eel's body into the area where the meeting is. During Peter Parker's interview on the Fact Channel, Electro attacks the security team on the channel and the Black Cat arrives, announcing her demand that if Spider-Man does not show up in 15 minutes, Peter Parker will be dead. Electro complains about the plan but Black Cat stays determined that Spider-Man will show up, but then Silk arrives to confront them both, giving Peter the time to change into Spider-Man and jump into action, aiding Silk. As she battles against Electro and Spider-Man deals with Black Cat, J. Jonah Jameson remains on the channel forcing the cameraman to film the action. Electro fails to stop Silk, but the Black Cat redirects one of Electro's bolts into hitting Spider-Man, knocking him down in the process. Electro pressures Sajani into telling him how effective the anti-Electro traps will be in removing his powers, but the Black Cat interrupts their talk in order to ask her how the device works. They both infiltrate the demonstration, suiting Electro into the "Fake Electro" costume while Black Cat disguises herself as one of the operators. Black Cat starts the machine, further enhancing Electro's power, only to be interrupted by Spider-Man and Silk. Electro tries to escape but his insulated webbing protects him by allowing Silk to cover Electro with her webbing. Black Cat changes the plan, using the wiring to overload Electro by putting his powers way out of control, shooting his lightning bolts against the helicopter. Silk saves the helicopter and Spider-Man jumps into the machine, using his webbing to cover Electro in order to take him out of there. Electro asks to let go, but Spider-Man remains determined to hold him until they are both saved by Silk who pulls them out of the machine and away from the explosion which failed to kill Spider-Man as Black Cat wanted and she escapes. However, Electro was apparently de-powered and taken into custody.

As part of the "All-New, All-Different Marvel", a de-powered Maxwell Dillon was shown as an inmate at Andry Corrections Facility alongside Lizard. Upon being sprung out of the prison by Rhino, he meets a mysterious red-suited man who offers to restore Electro's powers in exchange for his services. Jackal and Lizard work on the procedure that would re-power Maxwell Dillon. When Dillon was reluctant to go through with the procedure, Jackal brings in a woman who Dillon recognizes as Francine Frye minus the piercings and tattoos that are on her body. Dillon agrees to go ahead with the procedure. The Jackal cloned Francine from DNA taken from her charred cheek. Francine observes the Jackal's attempt to restore Dillon's powers, but the experiment fails, charging his suit but not his body. Unexpectedly, the DNA in Dillon's saliva that was mixed in with Francine's own DNA attracts the electrical energy to Francine. Desiring more, Francine leans in to kiss Dillon and kills him in the process while absorbing his powers as the resulting action burns Dillon's body.

Francine Frye
Debuting in The Amazing Spider-Man vol. 3 #2 (July 2014) Francine Frye is a woman who is a fan of supervillains. At some point, she befriended Electro. At the time when Electro was losing control of his abilities, she was visited by him. When attempting to kiss Electro, Francine died from electrocution.

Jackal later revived her as a clone, lacking her piercings and tattoos. She was summoned by the new Jackal to help persuade Electro to go through with the procedure that would repower him.

It turned out that Electro's saliva was mixed in with Francine's DNA, which led to her kissing Dillon enough to kill him and becoming the second Electro. She later encountered Prowler, at the time when he infiltrated New U Technologies. During the chase, Electro accidentally caused the apparent death of Prowler causing Jackal to make a clone of him.

During the "Dead No More: The Clone Conspiracy" storyline, Francine assists Rhino into attacking Spider-Man when he infiltrates New U Technologies. Both of them are defeated. When Prowler has not returned from his mission to Alcatraz, the villains he cloned start fighting again enough for Jackal to send Francine to have Madame Web's clone find Prowler. Francine shocks the answers out of Madame Web's clone as Julia Carpenter feels it on her end. After Julia Carpenter escapes, Francine confronts Prowler as his body starts failing. Prowler tries to escape Francine's wrath in Alcatraz, which proves difficult with her powers and his dying body. Using his weapons, the gift shop, and his strategic thinking, Prowler manages to defeat the simple-minded Francine. When Jackal's police contact Chief Anderson tells him about where the clone of Gwen Stacy is, Jackal sends Rhino and Electro to Horizon University. When they retrieve the Gwen Stacy clone, she tells them to bring Kaine due to his encounter with the Carrion virus that might help in Jackal's research. Anna Marie Marconi persuades them to bring her along too since she also studied Kaine and the drug. Both villains agree to the terms. Electro later assists Doctor Octopus into fighting Spectro, following his failed attempt to make off with a test subject, where she is able to knock him out. Alongside Kaine, Electro was being studied by Doctor Octopus in order to find out how to perfect the "Proto Clone". When Spider-Woman of Earth-65 tries to free Kaine, she is attacked by Electro. When Spider-Woman of Earth-65 leaves Prowler in an alley when he proves too weak to continue, he is found by Electro. Julia Carpenter arrives and fends Electro off as she tells Prowler that Spider-Man has stabilized the human and clone cells. When Electro gets the upper hand on Julia, Prowler sacrifices himself to stop Electro and dies in Julia's arms. Electro is one of the few clones that was able to survive the inverse frequency and got away.

Electro later appears as a member of the Sinister Six (consisting of Hobgoblin, Bombshell, Spot and Sandman) led by Aaron Davis in a recolored Iron Spider armor. She accompanied them in their mission to steal a decommissioned S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier.

During the "Hunted" storyline, Electro was seen as a patron at the Pop-Up with No Name.

Mayor Wilson Fisk's operatives later freed Electro and she was recruited to join an all-female incarnation of the Sinister Syndicate. When Francine recaps to Janice how she got her powers, she learns that Janice is Tombstone's daughter. After meeting its members, Electro was reluctant to join with them until she hears from Janice that their first mission given to them by Mayor Wilson Fisk to target Boomerang. This is enough to convince Electro to join as she asks them to put her down for two vegan cheeseburgers. The Sinister Syndicate begins their mission where they attack the F.E.A.S.T. building that Boomerang is volunteering at. Boomerang tries to reason with Beetle and Electro who are still made at him for betraying him. After getting Aunt May to safety, Peter Parker changes into Spider-Man and helps Boomerang fight the Syndicate. The Syndicate starts doing their formation until Spider-Man accidentally sets off Boomerang's gaserang which knocks out Spider-Man enough for the Syndicate to make off with Boomerang. As Beetle has Electro write a proposal on how the Syndicate can use Boomerang as an example to the criminal underworld, Beetle leave while calling Wilson Fisk that they caught Boomerang as she is given the information on where the exchange can happen. When Beetle returns to the headquarters, Electro is present when Mayor Wilson Fisk brings the full force of New York City to their headquarters demanding that they surrender Boomerang to him. When Spider-Man arrives to reason with Mayor Fisk, Electro claims that Spider-Man is buying them some time. The Syndicate then assists Spider-Man against Mayor Fisk's forces. After Spider-Man evacuates Boomerang, the Syndicate fights Mayor Fisk's forces while not killing them. The Syndicate is defeated and arrested by the police. Their transport is then attacked by an unknown assailant who frees them.

Powers and abilities
An unusually configured magnetic field was created when Max Dillon was struck by lightning while holding live, high-tension wires and a wound reel of one-inch cable, granting him superhuman powers. Electro can generate massive quantities of electricity, theoretically up to approximately one million volts. He can employ this electrostatic energy as lightning arcs from his fingertips, and his maximum charge is more than enough to kill a normal human.

When his body is charged to high levels, he becomes superhumanly strong and fast. He can also glide over power lines by using the electricity contained therein for propulsion, and he has on occasion been shown to actually ride on lightning bolts. During a stint in prison, Doctor Octopus gave him the ideas of ionizing metals and sparking the petroleum in the fuel tanks of vehicles as a way to generate explosions. He can charge himself up to make himself more powerful. He can also absorb the energy of electrical equipment such as a power plant to increase his powers further.

In New Avengers, he was shown to fly and manipulate large amounts of electricity and machinery, when he freed all the prisoners at Ryker's Island.

An experimental procedure heightened his powers, allowing Electro to store and absorb a seemingly limitless amount of electricity. He also seemed to gain the power over magnetism to a certain degree, allowing him to manipulate magnetic fields and move objects in a manner similar to that of Magneto, and could overcome his old weakness to water by using the electromagnetic fields around him to vaporize water before it could touch him. He made Spider-Man beg by stimulating the bioelectric currents in his brain, and was able to defeat Nate Grey by manipulating said currents in Nate's brain to turn his own psionic powers against him.

Electro can override any electrically powered device and manipulate it according to his mental commands.

By using an external electrical power source to recharge his body's energy reserves, Electro could expend electricity indefinitely without diminishing his personal reserves. When he is fully charged, Electro is extremely sensitive to anything that may "short circuit" him, such as water.

Electro propels himself along magnetic lines of force in objects that have great electrical potential, such as high-tension electrical lines. He can also create electrostatic bridges to traverse upon, at the cost of a great expenditure of energy.

During the events of the storyline "The Gauntlet", Electro became a living artificial thunderbolt, allowing him to travel through electrical appliances such as going through a light bulb and exiting through any other electronic device connected to the power source. He was also able to transmit himself over Spider-Man's web line.

Reception
During an interview with Newsarama about The Gauntlet and Grim Hunt, Mark Waid claimed that the character of Electro is "one of the smart criminals who was saving what he's been stealing from banks and savings and loans". He also described Electro as the "anti-bailout guy".

A Comics Bulletin review published by Ray Tate of Young Allies #2 described Electro's appearance in that issue as "a punk with a gimmick". He also claimed that the character "never harbored a pathological hatred of Spider-Man", and that he instead "developed a healthy loathing for Spidey because the Wall Crawler frequently interfered with his sole goal of larceny". Ray believes that Electro "isn't a wanton psychopath", but a "bank robber with electrical powers", and that he is "not nuts" but "a felon". These remarks show that Electro's character is received not as being mentally ill, but simply a thieving villain.

House of M
In the House of M reality, Electro is one of Rhino's friends (along with Vulture and Ox) who helped him attack and detain the Green Goblin for ruining the best chance at a good life Rhino ever had.

Marvel 1602
This Electro is a member of the Sinister Sextet, the dimension's Sinister Six. The Web Warriors (alternate versions of Spider-Man) visited the 1602 Universe to deal with the Sinister Sextet. After apprehending the villains, they noticed the dimension's Electro has escaped, unbeknownst to the heroes, followed them back to the Great Web.

Marvel Zombies Return
Another Electro appears as a member of the Sinister Six that battles the reality-jumping zombie Spider-Man. When the zombified Spider Man is behind him, he was bitten on the hand. Then Electro becomes headless and infected, later helping his fellow members devour Peter Parker's friends. Angered and devastated, the zombie Spider-Man then obliterates his body for what he and the team has done when his arm is snapped off and Spider-Man uses his powers against him.

MC2
In the MC2 alternate future, Electro has a daughter, Allison Dillon, who is emotionally troubled over never having had a stable father-figure in her life and becomes the supervillain Aftershock. She had inherited her father's powers, but because Dillon and Allison's electrical auras are different, the slightest touch causes them intense pain. When Dillon discovers his daughter is following in his footsteps, he asks Spider-Man for help. Spider-Man, Spider-Girl, and the Avengers help subdue Aftershock. When Dillon shows up, father and daughter vow to overcome their pain, and Max promises to be a better father.

Old Man Logan
In the pages of Old Man Logan, Electro was among the villains that came together to eliminate every superhero. He accompanied Enchantress in fighting She-Hulk, Daredevil, and Moon Knight in Manhattan. Electro shocked Moon Knight into unconsciousness before being shot in the head by Punisher. Kraven the Hunter later stabbed Punisher in the back and avenged Electro.

When the villains have won, an area of Amerika was named after Electro called Electroville.

Spider-Man: Reign
In the Spider-Man: Reign reality, Electro is one of the villains released by Edward to destroy Spider-Man; he is killed by Spider-Man after being knocked into Hydro-Man (who also dies) causing him to short circuit.

Spider-Man: The Manga
Electro is Shiraishi, a mechanic who falls into massive debt after he accidentally hits a child with his car, leaving the boy permanently disabled. Desperate for money, Shiraishi takes on a number of odd jobs (the last of which he robs) before being contacted by the handicapped boy's father, a professor researching high-voltage emission technology. Shiraishi agrees to be a test subject for the professor's experiments, and is given superhuman abilities through "electrification devices" he is implanted with. The professor convinces Shiraishi, who is dubbed "Electro" by the media, to use his electrokinesis to rob banks, but the professor begins to have second thoughts when Shiraishi's greed proves insatiable, and he begins to murder people who get in his way.

While robbing a department store, due to the banks now being too heavily guarded, Electro is challenged by the new hero Spider-Man. During his battle with Spider-Man, Electro accidentally kills the professor, the only person who knows how to remove his powers, which leave him unable to touch any living thing without shocking them. The distraught and enraged Electro is then fatally punched by Spider-Man, and before dying explains his origin, and has his mask removed to reveal that he is the missing brother of Spider-Man's friend, Rumiko, who Spider-Man was trying to get money for by claiming the reward offered to anyone who could defeat Electro.

Spider-Verse
A version of Electro is a member of the Six Men of Sinestry of the dimension Earth-803. He caused a blackout to enable the group to execute their move in stealing the mayor's plan and after a battle with Lady Spider, was forced to retreat after they were overwhelmed yet they were able to accomplish their mission.

This Electro went on to start a chain of events that led to an army of Electros attempting to traverse the multiverse in opposition to the Spider-Army, led by a Max Dillon from a world where he used his command of electricity to become a major world leader. This Electro attempted to control the others by transforming himself into an electricity-based life-form, absorbing the power of one in ten of the other Electros gathered by his army, while using assorted dimensionally displaced Doctor Octopuses as his 'think tank'. However, the Spider-Army were eventually able to trick the Electros into attacking them in Earth-803 – a 'steampunk' Earth with no available electricity for them to draw on – and containing them in a vast Farraday cage made of specially treated webbing.

Ultimate Marvel
The Ultimate Marvel incarnation of Electro has been reimagined with powers as a product of bioengineering. Unlike his mainstream counterpart, this version is bald, wears a black leather outfit and has some grotesque burn scars. As a result of experimentation by Justin Hammer, Max Dillon is given the power to control and create electricity. He is sold by Hammer to the Kingpin in exchange for a real estate development contract. When Spider-Man breaks into Kingpin's office, Electro electrocutes him and he, the Enforcers, and Kingpin unmask him, revealing him to be a teenager. They decide to throw him out a window but Spider-Man returns and defeats him. Electro later escapes from federal custody, murdering several people in the process. The Ultimates re-apprehend him and place him in S.H.I.E.L.D. custody along with Sandman, Kraven the Hunter, Doctor Octopus and Norman Osborn but the five supervillains escape and become the Ultimate Six. They attack S.H.I.E.L.D. and manage to capture Spider-Man. They tie him to a chair, torture and humiliate him, and force him to join them. In a battle with the Ultimates on the White House lawn, Thor defeats Electro. He eventually escapes and is hired by Bolivar Trask to gauge Venom's power. Electro leads Venom on a chase throughout Manhattan when Spider-Man appears. Electro knocks Spider-Man out and tries to kill him, but Venom attacks Electro, trying to take Electro's opportunity to kill the fallen hero. Venom defeats Electro by destroying the neon signs that Electro is feeding on. When S.H.I.E.L.D. arrives Venom flees, and Electro is once again brought into S.H.I.E.L.D. custody. The Green Goblin later breaks Electro out of the supervillain prison within the Ultimates' headquarters, the Triskelion, in exchange for Electro's alliance when needed. Electro goes to Osborn's penthouse to wait for instructions where he is disturbed by Spider-Man. He attempts to flee and gets involved in a fight both with Spider-Man and S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. He is eventually brought down and is assumed to be back in custody.

Alongside the rest of the Ultimate Six, Electro plays a role in the "Death of Spider-Man" storyline. Norman breaks him and the rest out of the Triskelion and wishes for them to kill Peter Parker. After Doctor Octopus tries to leave the group and is killed by Green Goblin, the remaining five (Electro, Green Goblin, Sandman, Kraven and Vulture) go to Parker's home in Queens. There a fight ensues between the Five and both Johnny Storm and Bobby Drake. The two heroes are defeated, with Electro himself defeating Iceman by sending a jolt of electricity through his ice, but not before Johnny manages to knock Osborn out. Peter then arrives, wearing his Spider-Man costume but no mask, and proceeds to fight the four remaining members. After a pitched battle, Electro is about to deliver the killing shot on the beaten and exhausted Peter. But before he can strike, Electro is shot three times from behind by Aunt May. He 'short circuits' in a massive electrical surge, taking out Kraven, Sandman and Vulture.

Later, Electro is shown to have survived the shooting, and is being held in S.H.I.E.L.D. custody. Electro is able to power up and attempt an escape after being improperly sedated by a S.H.I.E.L.D. nurse. After taking down the Ultimates, Electro fights Nick Fury and the new Spider-Man (Miles Morales), thinking Miles is the original and angry that he is still alive. Morales stuns Electro by hitting him with a hurled crate, then Fury shoots him to end the threat.

Electro later resurfaces, fighting Sabretooth over something relating to Norman Osborn. The two are broken up and defeated by Miles, with help from Cloak and Dagger.

Marvel 2099
When Miguel O'Hara finds himself in an alternate version of 2099 after being trapped in the past, he encounters a 2099 version of the Sinister Six, which includes an android that calls itself 'Electro' after it gained sentience and electromagnetic powers in a lightning strike.

Marvel Noir
The Marvel Noir version of Electro is introduced in the second issue of Spider-Man Noir (2020). Unlike his Earth-616 counterpart, this version of Electro is stocky and muscular with a thick mustache, and his namesake, however, comes from a circular pattern of dense Tesla coils strapped to his back. He also wields a lightning rod like a lightsaber, with blinding bolts of electricity coursing through both it and the aforementioned Tesla coils.

Television

 * Electro makes a cameo appearance in the episode "Dr. Doom's Day", as part of the Namor segment of the The Marvel Super Heroes.
 * Electro makes three appearances in the 1960s Spider-Man animated series, voiced by Tom Harvey. Debuting in the episode, "Electro the Human Lightning Bolt", he robs J. Jonah Jameson's house, for which Spider-Man receives the blame. After the hero defeats Electro, he leaves the villain outside of Jameson's office window. In "Killowatt Kaper", Electro breaks out of jail using a metal kite during a storm to recharge himself before cutting off the city's electricity to demand a large ransom until Spider-Man defeats him once more. In "To Catch a Spider", Dr. Noah Boddy breaks Electro, the Green Goblin and Vulture out of prison to kill Spider-Man, who uses ventriloquism to trick them into fighting and defeating each other.
 * Electro appears in Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, voiced by Allan Melvin. In the episode "Videoman", he creates the titular villain to help him defeat Spider-Man, Iceman, and Firestar. Electro later makes a cameo appearance in "Attack of the Arachnoid" as an inmate at Ryker's Island.
 * A variation of Electro appears in the "Six Forgotten Warriors" storyline of the 1990s Spider-Man animated series, voiced by Philip Proctor. This version is Rheinholt Schmidt, a German Nazi who has masqueraded as Russian police chief Rheinholt Kragov for most of his life. He spent several years searching for his father, the Red Skull, and impersonating him in an attempt to gain control of his doomsday weapon. Once Spider-Man, the Kingpin, and the Insidious Six retrieve the keys and box needed to access it, Rheinholt traps them except for his step-brother, the Chameleon, who betrays the Kingpin to help him access the doomsday weapon and free the Red Skull from his energy vortex prison. Freed, Red Skull uses the weapon on Rheinholt, turning him into Electro. Angry at his father for risking his life, he decides to take over the world for himself, but Spider-Man tricks Electro into trapping himself in the energy vortex before destroying the machine.
 * A Counter-Earth version of Electro appears in the Spider-Man Unlimited animated series episode "Ill-Met By Moonlight", voiced by Dale Wilson. This version is a Bestial electric eel who possesses electrokinesis and serves the High Evolutionary by guarding his base until he is defeated by Spider-Man.
 * Electro appears in Spider-Man: The New Animated Series, voiced by Ethan Embry. This version of Max Dillon is a geeky teenager and Peter Parker's friend who attends Empire State University. He becomes Electro in the episode "The Party" after being covered in an unknown substance and struck by lightning. Electro immediately pursues revenge on the students who bullied him, killing their leader before Spider-Man weakens him and forces him to retreat into an underground electrical system. Electro returns in "When Sparks Fly", having regained his powers and plotting to transform his crush, Sally Thompson, into an energy being like himself. However, Spider-Man and his allies trap him in an HVSC (High Voltage Storage Container) battery before throwing it to the bottom of the Hudson River.
 * Electro appears in The Spectacular Spider-Man animated series, voiced by Crispin Freeman. Debuting in the episode "Interactions", Max Dillon is transformed into a living electric capacitor after a freak accident involving genetically altered electric eels. Afterwards, he is placed in an insulated body suit to contain the bio-electricity his body now produces and attempts to lead a normal life again. After an encounter with Spider-Man, who mistakes him for a supervillain, he turns to crime and adopts the name "Electro". He attacks Dr. Curt Connors, demanding he cure him of his condition, but Spider-Man interferes and defeats Electro. In "Group Therapy", Electro breaks five other supervillains out of jail and joins them to form the Sinister Six and exact revenge on Spider-Man, though they are ultimately defeated by him in his symbiote suit. In "Reinforcement". Electro joins the reassembled Sinister Six under the Master Planner and continues to work for him until Spider-Man defeats him and he is taken into police custody in the following episode, "Shear Strength".
 * Electro appears in the Ultimate Spider-Man animated series, voiced by Christopher Daniel Barnes. This version is an old enemy of Spider-Man's from before the series began who the web-slinger views as incompetent. Debuting in his self-titled episode, Electro is defeated by Spider-Man and thrown against a large screen in Times Square that transforms him into a hyper-electrified form. Electro cuts off the city's power and demands a significant ransom, but Spider-Man and his fellow S.H.I.E.L.D. trainees are able to defeat him. He returns in "The Sinister Six" and "Return of the Sinister Six" as a member of the titular team to seek revenge against Spider-Man, only to be defeated by the web-slinger and his allies in both episodes. In the four-part episode "Spider-Verse", the Green Goblin traps Electro in the Siege Perilous to power an interdimensional travel device and collect DNA from various alternate reality Spider-Men. However, the original Spider-Man uses Electro to bring his counterparts to his Earth to help him defeat the Goblin. Though Electro escapes the Siege Perilous and gains control of a damaged Helicarrier, the assembled Spider-Men are able to defeat him as well. In the "The New Sinister Six" Pt. 1, Electro joins up with a HYDRA-backed version of the titular team to attack the Triskelion, only to be defeated by Squirrel Girl.
 * A female version of Electro appears in the 2017 Spider-Man animated series, voiced by Daisy Lightfoot. This version is an unnamed African-American teenager who uses an exoskeleton to acquire electrical powers, which she needs to constantly recharge. In the episode "Bring on the Bad Guys" Pt. 4, Electro ambushes Spider-Man in an attempt to collect a bounty on his head. After using a power amplifier, she transforms herself into an electrical energy being, but is eventually defeated by Spider-Man, who restores her and leaves her for the police. In "The Living Brain", Electro joins the Beetle in fighting Spider-Man and Police Chief Yuri Watanabe inside a supervillain holding facility, but they are defeated and re-incarcerated. In "Brand New Day", Electro is transferred to a new supervillain prison called the Cellar. In "Goblin War" Pt. 3, Electro became the leader of a Goblin Nation faction called the Electro Goblins, but is tricked into attacking and being defeated by Crossbones.

Film

 * Jamie Foxx portrays Maxwell "Max" Dillon / Electro in the 2014 film, The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Foxx revealed that the character was redesigned to be more grounded and that the villain's classic yellow and green suit would be omitted in favor of a modern look. This incarnation of the character is also African-American as opposed to being Caucasian in the comics. In the film, Max Dillon is an electrical engineer at Oscorp and a "nobody" who idolizes Spider-Man after the hero saved him during a battle against Aleksei Sytsevich. While fixing a power line, he was electrocuted and fell into a tank of genetically-engineered electric eels, which granted him his powers. Having become mentally unstable, he heads to Times Square to achieve fame, but is confronted by Spider-Man. Believing the latter wants to steal his fame, Dillon attacks him before being subdued and sent to Ravencroft for study. Taking the name "Electro", he is broken out by Harry Osborn, who requires his help in breaking into Oscorp to find a cure for his terminal illness. Electro agrees and is given a new suit to control his powers. After they successfully break in, Harry allows Electro to take over the electrical grid he designed and take control of New York's electricity. After magnetizing his web-shooters to protect them from Electro's powers, Spider-Man once again confronts Dillon and reconnects the damaged electrical grid so Gwen Stacy can reactivate it; allowing him to overload Electro with his own electricity.
 * Foxx will reprise his role as Electro in the third Spider-Man film, set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, he will be portraying a different incarnation and thus will not retain his previous appearance.

Video games

 * Electro appears as a boss in the arcade game Spider-Man: The Video Game, the Game Boy Advance game Spider-Man: Mysterio's Menace, and in the home games Spider-Man: Return of the Sinister Six and The Amazing Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin.
 * Electro appears in the game Spider-Man and Captain America in Doctor Doom's Revenge.
 * Electro appears in The Amazing Spider-Man 3: Invasion of the Spider-Slayers.
 * Electro appears in the Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro video game, voiced by Dee Bradley Baker. His goal is to use the "Bio-Nexus Device", a mechanism that can enhance a person's bioelectric field, to become a god. Working with Shocker, Sandman, Beetle and Hammerhead, he abducts Dr. Watts, the creator of the device, and fights Spider-Man over its possession. Electro eventually powers up the device to become a being of pure energy dubbed "Hyper-Electro", but is ultimately de-powered and defeated by Spider-Man and imprisoned.
 * The Ultimate Marvel incarnation of Electro appears as a boss in the Ultimate Spider-Man video game, voiced by James Arnold Taylor. He is hired by Bolivar Trask to test the Venom symbiote in combat. When Spider-Man interferes in their fight, Electro knocks him unconscious, forcing Venom to protect him while defeating Electro. Afterwards, he is seen being arrested by S.H.I.E.L.D.
 * Electro appears as a boss in the Game Boy Advance version of the Spider-Man 3 video game. He kidnaps a senator, but is defeated by Spider-Man wearing his black suit.
 * Electro appears as a boss and playable character in the PSP version of Spider-Man: Friend or Foe, voiced by David Kaye. He is one of many villains who Mysterio captured and placed under mind control before sending him to an island in the Mediterranean Sea to retrieve a meteor shard. After Spider-Man defeats him and destroys his mind-control device, Electro joins forces with him to exact revenge on Mysterio.
 * Electro appears in Spider-Man: Web of Shadows, voiced by Liam O'Brien. Electro first appears rampaging through quarantine camps S.H.I.E.L.D. established for symbiote-infected people while searching for his sister. After Spider-Man defeats him, Electro is shot by Black Widow, though his infected sister approaches and infects him with her symbiote to heal him. While the symbiote-infected Electro escapes, he reemerges during the symbiote invasion before he is defeated by Spider-Man, who frees him from his symbiote's control. Afterwards, Electro becomes an ally character who can be summoned to help the player fight enemies.
 * Electro appears as a boss in most versions of Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2, voiced by Kirk Thornton.
 * The Ultimate Marvel incarnation of Electro appears as a boss in Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions, voiced by Thomas F. Wilson. He uses a fragment of the Tablet of Order and Chaos to increase his powers and take over a hydroelectric dam, becoming larger and more powerful as he absorbs more energy. He also gains the ability to create minions to attack Spider-Man, who eventually defeats Electro by tricking him into destroying the dam while Spider-Man claims his tablet fragment. In the Nintendo DS version, the original incarnation of Electro appears as a boss for the Amazing Spider-Man.
 * Electro appears in Marvel Heroes, voiced again by Liam O'Brien.
 * Both the classic and Ultimate Marvel incarnations of Electro appear as playable characters in Lego Marvel Super Heroes, voiced by David Sobolov. In a bonus mission, Electro and Shocker collaborate to rob a bank, but are foiled by Spider-Man, Captain America, and Iron Man.
 * Electro appears as a boss in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 video game, voiced by Michael A. Shepperd. Max Dillon starts out as an Oscorp engineer who is rescued by Spider-Man during an attack on the company by two rival gangs. He also helps Spider-Man prevent a potentially catastrophic incident, which causes him to develop an unhealthy attraction to the hero. After failing to report an Oscorp employee who took credit for his power grid to Donald Menken, Dillon suffers a freak accident that transforms him into Electro. Realizing that Spider-Man will not recognize him in his current state and for fear of being arrested, he becomes the criminal Electro. He is subsequently arrested and sent to Ravencroft, where he becomes one of several test subjects for experiments funded by the Kingpin and overseen by Menken. Max eventually escapes and drains the city's power, causing a blackout. When Spider-Man confronts him, Electro reveals the experiments he was subjected to and blames the web-slinger for not being there to save him. After a battle with Spider-Man, Electro is defeated and his body explodes.
 * Various incarnations of Electro appear as bosses in the Spider-Man Unlimited video game, voiced by Christopher Daniel Barnes.
 * Electro appears as a playable character in Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2. His Marvel 2099 counterpart is also playable and serves as a minor boss in the game's story, attacking Spider-Man, She-Hulk, and Ms. Marvel when they arrive in Nueva York.
 * Electro appears in Marvel's Spider-Man voiced by Josh Keaton. While he has a similar origin story to his comics counterpart, this version of the character is bald and has star-shaped facial scars. As one of Spider-Man's oldest enemies, Electro has fought him multiple times during the hero's eight year career. At the beginning of the game's storyline, Electro is imprisoned at the maximum security supervillain prison, the Raft. Later in the game, Otto Octavius breaks Electro out during a prison break so he can join his Sinister Six in exchange for armor that enhances his powers and the promise of helping him achieve his ultimate goal of becoming a being of pure energy. After the Sinister Six easily defeat Spider-Man, they split up to attack different Oscorp-owned properties, with Electro being sent to cripple the city's power supply. He later teams up with Vulture to kill Spider-Man, but both are ultimately defeated and re-incarcerated.
 * Electro appears as a boss in Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order, with Christopher Daniel Barnes reprising the role. He is a member of the Sinister Six and fights the heroes during a prison break at the Raft before being defeated and re-incarcerated.

Live performances

 * Electro is one of several villains who appear as part of the The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man ride at the Islands of Adventure theme park at Universal Orlando Resort, voiced by Jim Wise. He is a member of the Sinister Syndicate who attacks guests with an electrical power cable. During the climax on New York's rooftops, he attempts to attack Spider-Man, but hits Hydro-Man instead, accidentally knocking himself out in the process. He is last seen webbed up with the rest of the Syndicate.
 * Electro appears as a member of the Sinister Six in Julie Taymor's Broadway theatre show based on the Spider-Man comics, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, in which he was originally played by actor Emmanuel Brown.
 * Electro appears in the Marvel Universe: LIVE! stage show.