How Did Electro Show Up in ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’? (SPOILERS WITHIN)

 

IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME, STOP READING!!!

Spider-Man: No Way Home is among the most exhilarating, satisfying and emotionally exhausting films I have ever experienced. The highs are incredibly high in Spidey’s eighth live-action solo outing, which not only elevates the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Peter Parker (Tom Holland’s best MCU performance to date), but also wraps a bow around 20 years of The Wall-Crawler on the silver screen.

But no film is perfect, especially one as ambitious as this one. Director Jon Watts and writers Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers spun a tale that brings different cinematic universes together in a bombastically satisfying way, but there’s one detail that continues to captivate and confuse moviegoers, sparking much debate on social media.

Here’s a refresher. To undo Mysterio’s Far from Home revelation that Peter Parker is Spider-Man, our hero enlists the aid of Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) to make the world forget The Web-Slinger’s identity. Peter tries to change the parameters of the spell a few times during its casting, drawing people who know Peter’s identity from other universes into his. Prior Sony Spidey villains Doctor Octopus (Alfred Molina), Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe), Sandman (Thomas Haden Church), The Lizard (Rhys Ifans) and Electro (Jamie Foxx) against their will, united in the fact that they all know Peter Parker is Spider-Man (albeit versions played by Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield in the Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy and the Marc Webb Amazing Spider-Man films, respectively).

But there’s just one problem: Electro never knew Peter Parker was Spider-Man.

This issue has been on my mind since a friend brought it to my attention a mere two days after the film’s release, and based on the collective complaining of the internet, I’m not alone. But there are several explanations for the apparent inconsistency – two being that we’re overthinking it and that any way to get Foxx back to knock it out of the park as Electro is worth it whether or not it really makes sense. 

Rational thinking aside, though, let’s dive into three theories as to how Electro could have known Spidey’s identity, even though he had never seen The Wall-Crawler with his mask off (as evidenced via dialog near the end of the film) or heard his full name.

FIRST-NAME BASIS
Near the conclusion of The Amazing Spider-Man 2, moments before Spidey defeats Electro, Gwen calls our hero “Peter” out loud as they are devising a plan to defeat the super-charged villain. The exact rules for Doctor Strange’s spell aren’t exactly clear, and he himself states that the Multiverse is still something no one fully understands. Assuming Electro heard Gwen, was that knowledge enough to cross over?

IDENTITY THEFT
Moments before his apparent “death,” Electro was absorbing an immense amount of data from the grid, which would presumably give him access to all kinds of information stored on the internet and digital devices. Could Electro have perhaps gained access to text messages, Oscorp files or other encrypted information that would grant him knowledge of who his “best friend” Spidey truly is?

VARIANT EDITION
The Multiverse is host to a seemingly limitless number of realities, many of which could be like ones we’ve seen but with slight differences. What if this Electro is from an adjacent reality from the one we witnessed in The Amazing Spider-Man 2?

In any event, until we get an official answer from the director, writers or Sony itself, theories will continue to abound. Until then, I guess I’ll keep crawling up the walls … metaphorically, of course.