It makes sense why FOX is airing Gotham and not the CW considering most DC shows are aired on the CW.
Actually we've currently got two on the CW (three once iZombie premieres), one on FOX, and one on NBC (Constantine), with pilot orders for a Supergirl series from CBS and a Titans series from TNT. DC Entertainment is casting a wide net.
When he paused, ever so slightly on the ELECTRO part...c'mon, how is it NOT a subtle shout out?
Maybe because it's a very common word? Heck, Max Dillon wasn't even the first comic-book character to be named Electro. He wasn't even the first villain created by Stan Lee to use that name. It's also the name of a character from Transformers, a genre of music, and just a general prefix for things that are electrical. It's way too generic to prove anything. I mean, if you heard someone use the word "thing" in a sentence, would you assume it had to be a Fantastic Four nod?
There's also the fact that the general public's primary exposure to Electro/Max Dillon is a movie that's generally regarded as a critical failure. Heck, I thought a lot of ASM2 was well-done but that they totally botched Electro. So why would the makers of Gotham want to remind people of that?