3. Hobgoblin
Pros: This guy would allow Feige and company to have it both ways, in a manner of speaking. He’s not the Green Goblin, but he uses the Goblin’s gear to create his own villainous identity, so there would be a certain inherent comfort level from the general public. This might be blasphemous, but I prefer the Hobgoblin outfit to the Green Goblin suit from a visual standpoint. I also like the idea that the Hobgoblin’s identity is a secret, so you could work that angle into the movie as well. And if you want, Norman Osborn could even be included, angry that someone stole his stuff and ready to become a supervillain of his own in a later film.
Cons: It’s not hard to imagine casual fans thinking that the Hobgoblin is a cop out and demanding to see the “real” Goblin. I’ll also admit that maybe the mystery aspect isn’t appropriate for one movie and would need to play out over time to be most effective (too bad there’s no Spider-Man TV series …). No one has come up with a good movie look for the Green Goblin yet — let’s be honest, the armor from the first Tobey Maguire film was weak sauce — and I could envision the same thing happening with the Hobgoblin outfit. The glider is boss, though, so there shouldn’t be any problems there.
Next: The Man With the Wings