In case you haven’t heard, Chris Cooper’s been officially selected to play Norman Osborn in the sequel to last year’s Spidey reboot, creatively titled The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Besides bringing some much needed depth to the role (I love Dafoe, but the guy was goofy as Goblin), Cooper’s addition to the cast all but confirms the Death of Gwen Stacy story arc that co-star Emma Stone’s alluded to in the past.

Although, I’m more interested in determining which version of the Green Goblin will appear onscreen (which probably won’t happen until the third flick). There have been so many iterations over the past few years, and Marc Webb’s new Spidey trilogy is such a melting pot of tales, that I can’t tell which version they’ll throw onto the big screen. Will we see Ultimate Goblin, in his Hulk-like bouts of rage? Or the classic sinister Osborn who wrecked Universe 616.

Ultimate Green Goblin

This universe’s version of the Green Goblin is every bit the mad man as the 616 Norman, but with a bit more power. He transforms into a Hulk wannabee whenever he craves a round or two with Spidey, and even managed to kill poor Peter Parker a year ago. BUT… we’ll just see how long that lasts.

As much as I’d love to see a giant, hulking Goblin in an IMAX theatre, I think the aesthetic will draw too close of a comparison to Bruce Banner’s latest outing in THE AVENGERS. Perhaps Marc Webb will emphasize the monstrous features and downplay the giant muscley muscles? A mixture of Lizard’s scaley form spliced with Rhino’s devilish face (cause of the horns and everything).

Classic Green Goblin

This is the glider riding baddie we’ve all come to know and love. He received a late start in Spider-Man’s first volume, arriving far after many of his colleagues in the Sinister Six, but he’s long since surpassed them as the greatest evil in Spidey’s rogues gallery. He knocked up Gwen Stacy, was directly responsible for her death (even though Pete kinda snapped her neck), destroyed the entire hero community in Dark Reign, and a whole lot of other douchey stuff. Suffice to say, Classic Goblin is one hell of a prick, and I hope he shows up in Webb’s movie.

Raimi Green Goblin

Now, this last one is a bit of a long shot, but I think we should still be wary. As much as Marc Webb and his Sony Fuhrers want us to believe this Spider-Man is a fresh start, it isn’t.

Not at all.

Toby, is that you?

We already knew as much when we saw the first flick last summer, which borrowed heavily from Raimi’s original trilogy. I know you’re thinking “Well, it was a retelling of the origin, they couldn’t help it!” But i disagree. They could’ve made their tale a bit more unique, but they yielded in favor of familiarity. If the most recent picture of Andrew Garfield’s new suit is any indication, then TASM 2 is leaning even farther towards Raimi’s trilogy.

So will Chris Cooper’s Norman Osborn bear any similarities to Willem Dafoe’s? Besides the obvious connection (playing the same role, and all) I don’t think anyone’s capable of emulating the crazy onscreen antics of Dafoe. But perhaps there’ll be superficial parallels… will Goblin still wear a suit of armor? Will he ride on a military glider?

Now, I know I’ve omitted dozens of different iterations of the character, but I wanted to focus on the 3 most popularized versions.

But I’ve already said my fill, I’ll leave it to you guys.  What do you guys think? What type of Goblin will we see?