Chris Cooper Will Play Norman Osborn (Green Goblin) In AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2

THR reports that Chris Cooper (American Beauty, Bourne Identity, The Town, Jarhead) will take the role of Oscorp founder Norman Osborn in Amazing Spider-Man 2. The character is best known as the identity of villain The Green Goblin, along with the father of Peter's best friend Harry (Dane DeHaan). Not to mention being yet another of Parker's tragic father figures.

We already know that Electro (Jamie Foxx) and Rhino (Paul Giamatti) will be in the film and it's starting to sound like the Sinister Six will be revealed in the sequel. Colm Feore and Felicity Jones recently joined the production it's likely they'v been hired for Daily Bugle roles J. Jonah Jameson and Betty Brant. However, it's very possible they could be taking a page from Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 4 script making them the Vulture and Black Cat.

Colm Feore And Paul Giamatti (Rhino) Officially Join AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2, Sinister Six Anyone?

It's official! Paul Giamatti, linked for the role of the Rhino (which he had campaigned for) is now confirmed as joining Amazing Spider-Man 2. Along with the official press release via Facebook is news of the addition of actor Colm Feore. The Canadian theater actor played villains in both Thor and Chronicles of Riddick.

The assumption is he's playing yet another villain. Vulture played by Ben Kingsley had been Sam Raimi's original villain choice for Spider-Man 4 before it was scrapped. It's not hard to assume they would take elements from that old script and incorporate into this sequel. Another option is the long rumored Norman Osborn who eventually becomes the Green Goblin. Oscorp plays a giant role in the trilogy and Norman is a strong possibility. The less likely parts could be J. Jonah or a new NYPD character. We might be one step closer to seeing the Sinister Six on screen which had been the rumored original plan for the reboot.

RUMOR: Damian Lewis To Play Norman Osborn/Green Goblin In SPIDER-MAN 2?

After it was revealed that Homeland actor Damian Lewis (Band of Brothers) had also been in talks with Sony for the role of baddie Electro in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. There are now rumblings online that Lewis could be looked at to play the villainous Norman Osborn/Green Goblin. Nothing concrete just yet but he'd be an excellent addition to the franchise. Plus, it could be interesting to see Jamie Foxx and Lewis playing off each other.

Amazing Spider-Man Gives Slight Hints To Sequel

The Spider-Man reboot seems to have it's share of secrets as it's a completely new take on the Spidey universe. In Amazing Spider-Man we get hints of the origins of Peter Parker's parents and their possible connection with Oscorp. There had been rumblings that the Parkers were spies for the government as seen in an issue of Marvel's What If line of comics. In the comic the pair were envisioned as SHIELD agents. At this point we have zero idea of who the Parkers were and what happened to them. FirstShowing was able to speak with direct Marc Webb about the project where he says the film while it's own thing does lay the ground work for the sequel.

Oscorp Technologies plays a rather large role in the film as it's where both Spider-Man and The Lizard are born. There had been speculation that Norman Osborn would be introduced in some way in the film. It seems like Webb is holding those reveals close to his chest but has stated the full story about the fate of the Parkers will be explored in the sequel. This brings back previous rumors that Green Goblin will be the villain of the sequel completing the Gwen Stacy saga.

What we do know is that Sony has already commissioned Amazing Spider-Man 2 to be outlined by James Vanderbilt last year. The studio also has set the release date for May 2nd 2014. Giving the impression the studio and Webb know where they want to go with the new franchise. One thing is that Webb's Spider-Man will first and foremost have a larger scope than the Raimi films. Something the Raimi films seemed to lack is a solid grounded world where these heroes and villains could inhabit. At times the Raimi films felt more like a live-action cartoon than a cinematic experience.