The mega-budget web-slingin’ sequel The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was crammed from one end of the 35mm film frame to the other with reimagined villains like Electro (Jamie Foxx), the Green Goblin (Dane DeHaan), and the Rhino (Paul Giamatti). Sony Pictures Entertainment has made crystal clear its intentions to expand their rights to Spider-Man and the various characters in his universe into a cornucopia of spin-offs, including films based on the villains Venom and the Sinister Six.
The studio and director Marc Webb embedded clues in Amazing Spider-Man 2 hinting at the future of the main franchise and its possible side-quels, but the comic book blockbuster’s end credits sequence was originally supposed to include a scene implying that yet another of Spidey’s adversaries could make a return to terrorize the superhero and the people of New York.
The posters and banners promoting the upcoming Amazing Spider-Man 2 have all but indicated that Green Goblin would be making an appearance in the film and there’s been speculation due to the trailers that Harry Osborn, not Norman, would become the film’s Goblin.
Now, via a video coming out of Toy Fair 2014 that shows off the details of a Green Goblin collectible bust, we’re getting some answers, visually anyway, as to what we might see in the film.
Aldous Huxley, author of Brave New World, stated that “experience is not what happens to you; it’s what you do with what happens to you.” This quote lingered within my thoughts for the majority of the 2013 movie year because there is a remarkable number of films that confirm Huxley’s statement with shocking clarity. During 2013 the majority of characters in cinema experienced a relentless assault of either irrepressible physical violence or emotional turmoil, resulting in each character clinging to their lives, praying that they won’t become defeated. Characters had to either sink or swim. No film provided for them a middle ground that would grant them an easy way out or provide a buoy for them. Characters had to act, and act fast.
In Gravity, becoming disconnected from her partner in the infinite void of space, Dr. Stone had to gain composure quickly or endure an onslaught of debris and isolation. In The Place Beyond the Pines, a cop had to rely on his survival instincts and the ramifications of his decision reverberated throughout generations. In Blue is the Warmest Color, a confused teenage woman, utterly love-sick, discovers the throes and pangs of first love and is left even more confused after the indelible experience. In Dallas Buyers Club, an AIDs victim with a guaranteed death-sentence uses his situation to give hope to thousands of other AIDs victims. And in The Counselor, a man’s experience overwhelms him and he is soon exposed to the most unsavory circumstances that are beyond his control and the most heinous individuals.
Without further hesitance, the best 2013 had to offer.
Students of the Unusual™ comic cover used with permission of 3BoysProductions
The Mercuri Bros.™ comic cover used with permission of Prodigal Son Press