Chris Cooper Joins 'The Amazing Spider-Man 2' as Norman Osborn; Will We See the Green Goblin?

Looks like Chris Cooper is going to have to break out his maniacal laugh again — the actor has been cast as Norman Osborn in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. For anyone who's familiar with the Spider-Man mythos or Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy, Norman Osborn is the father of Peter Parker's best friend, Harry, and the alter ego of one of Spider-Man's greatest foes: The Green Goblin.

Cooper joins an already impressive cast, with Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Sally Field, Jamie Foxx, Shailene Woodley, Dane DeHaan, Paul Giamatti and Felicity Jones already on board for director Marc Webb's sequel to 2012's The Amazing Spider-Man.

Can we expect to see Cooper become Green Goblin in The Amazing Spider-Man 2?

So, I'm going to begin with a spoiler alert here in case you aren't aware of a certain Spider-Man/Gwen Stacy/Green Goblin storyline that's only one of the biggest in comic book history. OK, moving on.

With Webb's Spider-Man reboot choosing to begin with Stone's Gwen Stacy instead of Mary Jane Watson as Peter's girlfriend, it's long been believed that the films would eventually adapt the Death of Gwen Stacy storyline, and audiences would sadly see Garfield's Peter fail to save Gwen after the Green Goblin threw her off a bridge.

Now that Cooper is on board as Osborn, it should be expected that the film series will once again bring the Green Goblin on board. With The Amazing Spider-Man 2 introducing Woodley as Mary Jane, the franchise is already setting up a new love interest for Peter, making it likely that Gwen won't be around for the expected trilogy's completion.

Considering that Cooper has come on board later in the casting process and that The Amazing Spider-Man 2 already has Electro, the Rhino and possibly the Black Cat as villains, I highly doubt that the Green Goblin will be a major player in the film. That said, I wouldn't be surprised to see him make a brief appearance, possibly a the end of the film and possibly to set up the Sinister Six for The Amazing Spider-Man 3.