Maxwell "Max" Dillon was a movie special effects artist, whom fell to poverty after his movie studio stopped financing his work in favor of newer technologies. Don't knowing what to do anymore, he became a petty criminal, stealing valuables and selling them in Brooklyn's black markets. However, one day, while he invaded a electrical factory, an explosion occurred which bombarded him, transforming him into a being of pure electricity, and also giving him insanity. Calling himself Electro he became obsessed with electrocuting New York City and got into the way of Daredevil and Spider-Man.