You may not have heard, but we recently got to preview almost a half-hour of 3D footage from The Amazing Spider-Man 2 on the big screen - and the results were more impressive than we predicted they would be. A final trailer for the film showed off some fully rendered visuals and action sequences, causing fans to slowly-but-surely get more enthused about director Marc Webb's sequel to his Spider-Man reboot - but there are still some valid concerns being expressed by a very vocal group of skeptics.

One of the biggest criticisms of Amazing Spider-Man 2 has been character design - specifically, the designs of the film's three villains, Electro (Jamie Foxx), Rhino (Paul Giamatti) and Harry Osborn/Green Goblin (Dane DeHaan). As usual, comic book character costumes are one major artery of a superhero movie, and the deviations from canon (Electro is now African-American; The Rhino is now a guy in a metal suit) have not yet been proven as justified or worthwhile for the hardcore fanbase to get behind.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Previews Trailers

Well, having seen the full sequence of Spider-Man battling Electro in Times Square, I can vouch that Jamie Foxx's version of the character is an effective adaptation - despite the changes to race or origin. Awhile back, the filmmakers also put out a video about the Rhino to (once again) explain why the character is no longer a big guy in a spandex Rhino suit. However, the new Green Goblin has not won over many fans - primarily because previously released photos of the character have given off the impression that he looks like an unkempt David Bowie. Some people originally thought that a tiny image of the character looked like a frazzled clone of Andrew Garfield's Peter Parker. Neither description is all that flattering.

....Which is probably why, today, Sony has released a hi-res image of DeHaan as the Goblin, avoiding the ridiculous secrecy about the character they tried to maintain early on, and allowing fans to better scrutinize (and hopefully approve of) the finished product:

Amazing SPider-Man 2 Green Goblin (Dane DeHaan)

A scene previewed during the Amazing Spider-Man 2 footage event seemed to suggest that Harry experiences some kind of Jekyll/Hyde transformation at multiple points in the film - much like the Curt Connors/Lizard transformations in the first film. There's no way to tell if the picture above is just one sort of transformation, or the finished form of this new Goblin character; what I do know is that the character looks better up close in hi-res. In detail he looks like something out of a horror movie, and if you're not going the rubber mask or suit of armor route, then this isn't a half-bad adaptation of the gene-spliced Goblin from the Ultimate Spider-Man continuity.

________________________________________________________________

MORE: Amazing Spider-Man 2 Preview Footage Recap

________________________________________________________________

Now take a look at previous images, which reveal Harry's full Goblin armor and the stages of transformation the character experiences during the film:

[gallery link="file" columns="1" ids="302009,403831,403832,436927,423682,415147"]

Finally, this oldie from the Raimi Spider-Man film for comparison:

Spider-Man Movie Green Goblin Armor

[poll id="778"]

-

FINAL TRAILER

____________________________________________________

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 will be in theaters on May 2, 2014.

Source: Sony (Via SHH Forums)