The Osborn family line was only hinted at in The Amazing Spider-Man, but now Chronicle actor Dane DeHaan will be joining the sequel as Harry Osborn.
When Marc Webb signed up to direct the sequel, talk of a new villain and other new characters quickly began to swirl, and before we knew it, Shailene Woodley was cast as the series’ new Mary Jane Watson, and Jamie Foxx was in talks to come into the series as Electro.
The casting choice was announced in a quick tweet from director Marc Webb, and although today’s confirmation of Jamie Foxx as Electro by Sony might have fans wondering if The Amazing Spider-Man will suffer from villain overload, there’s no confirmation that we’ll see Osborn become the Green Goblin, at least not yet.
Meet Harry Osborn.@danedehaan. twitter.com/MarcW/status/2…
— Marc Webb (@MarcW) December 3, 2012
DeHaan is best known from his turn as Andrew in this year’s Chronicle, but he’s also made recent appearances in Lincoln, Lawless, and True Blood.
Warning, spoilers may follow.
The casting of DeHaan may be an effective prediction as to how the character will be handled. Those that can remember James Franco’s turn as the character in all three of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man films might remember a confident yet sheepish Harry that eventually takes up his father’s reign as the Green Goblin.
We won’t spill the ending for those that wish to remain spoiler-free, but things in the comics turn way darker than they do in Sam Raimi’s films, and the casting of DeHaan might point to a slightly more disturbed version of the character, one who has become embittered by his father’s cold demeanor.
In Webb’s universe, Norman Osborn is on his deathbed, so we might be able to expect to actually see him if his son is introduced in the sequel. In either case, it might be safe to say that we’ll see DeHaan suit up as the Goblin either in this film, or the inevitable threequel.