The Daily Bugle Tumblr has posted another fictional news story, and like the last viral article for THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2, it contains references to several characters who become villains in the comics. Are all of these characters going to appear in Marc Webb's sequel? No (at least not in costume, anyway), but it does hint at which ones could make an appearance in future films. The article was written by Ned Leeds (I'll get to that in a moment) and is about the upcoming trial of Dr. Curt Connors.
A trial date has been set in the New York Appellate Court for alleged bio-terrorist Dr. Curt Connors. The former Oscorp biogenetics scientist has been indicted on twenty city and state counts, including trespassing, malicious destruction of property, theft of private property, aggravated assault, and using a weapon of mass destruction. Connors has pleaded “not guilty” to all counts. It is expected his defense attorney, Anne Weying, will claim Connors was not responsible for the actions of his genetically transformed alter ego, the Lizard.
Connors claimed that pressure placed on him by his employer, Oscorp, led him to rush his bio-restorative formula and test it on himself. He further stipulated to the grand jury that his decision to use the untested compound was made in an effort to protect the company from experimenting on innocent civilians, as directed by his superiors. Connors’ immediate supervisor at Oscorp, Dr. Rajit Ratha, has been missing since the day before the Lizard’s attack.
Oscorp spokesman, Donald Menken, responded, “We can’t corroborate or deny Dr. Connor’s claims. Dr. Ratha’s abrupt departure from Oscorp has left us with far more questions than answers. Needless to say, Oscorp has always complied with the most stringent local, state and federal regulations for all of our research and development.”
In the comics Ned Leeds battled with Peter Parker for the affection of Betty Brant, secretary for The Daily Bugle. Leeds was also the Hobgoblin for a while after he was brainwashed into thinking he was the villain by Roderick Kingsley, the real Hobgoblin. Anne Weying (Connor's attorney in the article) was married to Eddie Brock at one point, but she was also She-Venom for some time after she was shot and had to join with the symbiote in order to save her life. Donald Menken might not sound incredibly familiar, but he was a very loyal employee of Norman Osborn, and one of his first appearances in the comics was at the beginning of the first full Hobgoblin story.
Like I said, this doesn't mean these characters will definitely show up in THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 or the planned sequels, but I do find it interesting that there are two Hobgoblin references in the article. Maybe Sony is seriously considering using him in one of the future films?
THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 stars Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx, Paul Giamatti, Chris Cooper, Colm Feore, Martin Sheen, Sally Field, Felicity Jones and B.J. Novak, and will be released on May 2nd, 2014.