Chris Cooper teases Norman Osborn as Green Goblin in 'The Amazing Spider-Man' 2 and 3

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is still more than five months away from a theatrical release in the United States, but news trickles out almost every day about a potential plot point or other spoiler for the film. More than that, the news often reveals a bit of information about the future of The Amazing Spider-Man franchise, which we now know includes two more Spidey films, a Venom movie and a Sinister Six movie. This latest quote from Chris Cooper, who plays Norman Osborn in TASM2, falls into the latter category.

We know that Electro (Jamie Foxx), Rhino (Paul Giamatti) and the Green Goblin will be the three villains in the film, but debate has raged for months whether Norman Osborn or his son, Harry (Dane DeHaan), would put on the Goblin suit. The trailer for the film and subsequent tidbits seemed to heavily indicate that Harry would be the Goblin, but then Cooper dropped this quote on Moviefone:

"Um, well, when you see [laughs], when you see Spider-Man 2, you'll realize this is the introduction to Norman Osborn, and apparently it's going to lead to other things down the road."

The site then asked if his character embraces "his full villainy, his full Green Goblin side in this sequel."

All I can is this is a very strange introduction for Norman Osborn. I just can't reveal why it's that way, but this is not the beginning of Norman. It is the introduction, but it's not the beginning, and I think that's as far as I can go.

Cooper then says that he did not do any green screen for this movie, but "maybe in the Spider-Man 3, that'll be, that'll be a big part."

This is far from confirmation that Norman is the Green Goblin, but it definitely clouds the situation again. The first Amazing Spider-Man revealed that Norman was sick, possibly dying, and he looks to be in dire straits in the trailer for the sequel. So how could the character stick around for the third movie unless he becomes the villain?

We'll (maybe) find out when The Amazing Spider-Man 2 hits theaters on May 2, 2014.