Since San Diego Comic-Con this past summer, it's been pretty clear that The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is setting up the eventual appearance of the Sinister Six. In fact, the news has been all but confirmed by Paul Giamatti, who is playing the supervillain Rhino in the movie.

But if the movie's viral marketing is any indication, there may even more villains set to enter the Spider-Man movie universe, including some interesting lesser known characters.

A new article at the faux news website The Daily Bugle discusses the stock performance of Oscorp and a number of interesting developments at the company. Sharp-eyed Spidey fans will recognize several sly references to bad guys in the news.

Here's a snippet of the article:

Despite the assault on Oscorp Tower two weeks ago and the revelation that disgruntled Oscorp employee, Dr. Curt Connors, was responsible for the attack, Oscorp’s stock has climbed four points.

Oscorp spokesman Douglas Menken provided some details from the meeting, including that the construction on the prototype alternative energy power plant, complete with hydroelectric tower, is on schedule for completion within the next year.

Other highlights included a preview of a flight harness for the military and significant advancements in robotics by the head of the engineering division, Spencer Smythe.

Did you catch all of the references? If not, we can help. The most recognizable reference is probably the mention of a "flight harness." I don't know about you, but those words bring to mind one guy: The Vulture. The Vulture is one of the more memorable Spider-Man villains and was even going to be played by John Malkovich in Sam Raimi's aborted Spider-Man 4. Presumably, if The Vulture ever makes it into the ASM movie universe, he will either be an employee of Oscorp or steal the technology from the company.

Amazing Spider-Man - Vulture

The "prototype alternative energy power plant, complete with hydroelectric tower" could be talking about the villain Hydro-Man. Hydro-Man gained the power to turn into and manipulate water after he was accidentally knocked from a cargo ship by Spider-Man into the ocean during the test of a, you guessed it,  "powerful experimental generator."

Finally, there's Spencer Smyth, the head of Oscorp's engineering division. In the comics, Smyth is the creator of a series of robots called the "Spider-Slayers," which are designed specifically to hunt down Spider-Man.

Spider-Man versus All His Villains

It's unclear whether any of these characters will actually appear in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, though it isn't beyond the realm of possibility. One intriguing thought is that Office star B.J. Novak will play Smyth. After all, when Novak first joined the film, many fans speculated he'd be playing Alastair Smyth (the son of Spencer Smyth).

Colm Feore's role is still undefined, so it's possible that he could play The Vulture (as was rumored when he first joined the film). However, this conflicts somewhat with previous images that seem to suggest Feore's character will be involved with the Ravencroft Institute.

In any case, the continued references to villains both major and minor definitely gives credence to Marc Webb's comments that The Amazing Spider-Man 4 will be more than just a Spider-Man movie. At the current rate they're piling on bad guys, Spidey will have to team up with somebody to keep his head above water. Who will it be? I'll leave that for you to debate in the comments.

What do you think of these references? Will any of these characters actually end up in the movie or is this just some viral marketing fan for Spider-Man fanboys?

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The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is out in theaters on May 2nd, 2014.

Source: The Daily Bugle