Electro
- Debut: The Amazing Spider-Man #9 (February 1964)
- Created By: Stan Lee & Steve Ditko
Electro has always been one of the more intriguing Spider-Man villains, considering his abilities more than over-power him. Thus, one would assume he should be able to put Spider-Man away pretty easily. Yet what always held him back from doing so is that he can only use his powers when he has the charge to do so. There are now a few different stories surrounding Electro’s origin. But the original is that Max Dillion worked as a lineman for the electric company before he was struck by lightning as he was working on a power line. This lightning strike itself was not really what gave him powers.
Rather, Dillion seems to be a mutant that had dormant mutant powers that allow him to manipulate electricity. The lightning hit him with a burst of energy, thus causing his mutant power to spark within him. Effectively, he is now a living electric capacitor that must absorb immense amounts of electricity to charge himself up. The more energy he absorbs, the more powerful he will be. On top of this, extra energy allows him to fly and use superhuman strength and speed. Most energy sources only have small amounts of energy to absorb, and Electro works through quite a lot of it. This is why Spidey just has to force Max to use his power to tire himself out.