Okay, we have some new SPIDER-MAN reboot news. There aren’t too many details so I need you to just follow me here for a bit. I know it’s scary. I’ll hold your hand. Also note that you can chime in if I’m missing something in the story.
So as of right now, Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) has a dad. Campbell Scott (SINGLES) will take on the role of Richard Parker. Julianne Nicholson is currently in talks to play Peter’s mother, Mary. The webslinger’s parents rarely make appearances in the comics and have never graced the big screen. No word on if they will be there in the flesh or in flashbacks.
Now here’s where it gets a bit interesting. Irrfan Khan (SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE) will be playing a villain called “Van Atter”. I think this is either a typo from Heat Vision or a horrible code name. There is a villain called “Nels Van Adder”, also know as Proto-Goblin. Before I go into what I dug up, Annie Parisse (RUBICON) will play the villain’s wife.
Okay, so when I realized it was most likely “Van Adder” a bell rang in my head. The issue Adder appears in came out around the time that I was watching the SPIDER-MAN animated series on FOX and lusting after Parker. This year was 1997, the comic was titled, “Peter Parker: Spider-Man”. It was the first issue.
Here’s what I found about Adder courtesy of the awesome comic boys who contribute their knowledge that no one can keep up with on the internet:
“It was revealed that soon after Norman had Stromm arrested for embezzlement, he had found only a portion of the notes detailing his partner’s serum. Norman tests the incomplete version of the serum on an Oscorp employee named Nels Van Adder, driving Van Adder slowly insane and beginning his transformation into a red, demon-like being known as the “Proto-Goblin”. Killing several people and blaming Norman for what has happened to him, Adder proceeds to harass and later attempts to kill him before being knocked out a window in Oscorp by Arthur and George Stacy and fleeing into the wild. In order to escape conviction for what he had done to Van Adder, Norman convinces the police that Van Adder had been experimenting on himself, and that he had secretly been trying to help him. Van Adder’s current fate remains unrevealed. As well as endowing Adder with super strength and agility, the Goblin Serum also gave him large claws, talons, fangs, glowing green eyes, and near impenetrable skin (capable of withstanding several close range bullet shots).”
If you want the more detailed version, go here.
I’ve also provided a pic of Adder which looks nothing like Khan.