10 Movie Sequels That Turn Wimps Into Total Badasses

2. Harry Osborn - Spider-Man 3

Harry Osborn Spider-Man 3
Sony

The Harry Osborn of Sam Raimi's Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2 was a charming, yet gutless character.

Sure, he was a good friend to Peter and a comfort to Mary-Jane, but he had a smarmy attitude about him, his relationship with his father feeling awfully reminiscent of the Draco/Lucius Malfoy dynamic in the Harry Potter series.

Plus, he never really did anything of note. He had Otto Octavius go out and capture Spider-Man since he wouldn't do it himself, and even when he did have the webslinger at his mercy, he found it difficult to act.

It wasn't until the closing moments of Spider-Man 2 and into Spider-Man 3 that he changed from a passer-by who just floated through the story to a man who goes out and physically makes things happen.

Partly influenced by the spirit of his dead father and partly driven by some good old fashioned vengeance, Harry dons the Green Goblin outfit, and - in what's presumably his first day on the job - almost takes down the mighty Spider-Man.

And then, after a massive change of heart during the third act, he sacrifices himself to ensure that Peter lives.

This new Harry was a million miles away from the harmless, juvenile rich-kid we met in Spider-Man, and his transformation was a welcome one, taking a flat character and injecting him with a healthy dose of drive and determination.

Contributor
Contributor

Danny has been with WhatCulture for over ten years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. In 2022, he took charge of WhoCulture and has grown it into the biggest Doctor Who channel on YouTube, and one of the biggest Doctor Who communities on the web full-stop. He has been writing and video editing since his early teens, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers, off the back of a burning obsession with the Matt Smith era of the show. Like many his age, he first got into Doctor Who with the 2005 revival, but has since gone back and fallen in love with the classic years too. If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order, or to give you a random factoid about the making of Gridlock, Danny is the person to ask!