Chris Cooper will play Norman Osborn in The Amazing Spider-Man 2

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 has signed another big name to its ever-expanding cast, with Chris Cooper joining the production as Norman Osborn.

Variety reports that Cooper has signed on to star as the CEO of Oscorp, who was made mention of several times in the first film without actually appearing on screen.

Osborn famously goes on to become the Green Goblin, one of Spidey’s most formidable foes in the comic-books, although with Electro and Rhino on antagonist duties in this sequel, it remains to be seen whether he’ll take a villainous turn at this stage.

What seems more likely is that Osborn will appear as a mentor to Peter Parker in this movie, before going full villain when the third film eventually comes along. Our money is already on a post-credits set-up…

This isn't Cooper's first brush with comic-book movies: he's reported to have turned down the role of Jim Gordon in Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins .

Directed by Marc Webb and co-starring Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx and Paul Giamatti, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 will open in the UK on 18 April 2014.

George Wales

George was once GamesRadar's resident movie news person, based out of London. He understands that all men must die, but he'd rather not think about it. But now he's working at Stylist Magazine.