Spider-Man: 5 Things Marvel Will Miss From The Amazing Series

4. Webb's Willingness To Take Chances

During his turn at the helm, Marc Webb oversaw a number of bold casting calls, and not just placing the man responsible for unleashing Charlie Sheen on the world as the father-figure who guides Peter Parker into becoming the great hero Spider-Man! Putting Dane DeHaan into The Amazing Spider-Man 2 as Peter's longtime friend Harry Osborn was a surprise, given how Raimi's previous trilogy went with a safer, more traditional option in James Franco. For Webb's series, however, the rich and varied personalities these major characters were exploited to achieve a distinct tone and direction. That is to say that DeHaan was perfectly cast as a version of Harry who is already unwell, unstable and more than a little creepy. So even though his transformation into the Green Goblin occurs so early on, it's convincing based on what the viewer has seen. Compare this to Marvel's major franchises, and the picture is far more conservative. Pitting a bulky, handsome dude like Chris Hemsworth as Thor or a sarcastic, complex individual like Robert Downey, Jr as Tony Stark offered no real risk to Marvel at any point. While it could be argued this is a good thing for the security of the franchises, it's also never going to see the films attempt to do anything particularly daring. The chances taken by Webb's Spidey work were building something great, but we won't see such chances risked with Marvel at the helm.