Irrfan Khan to play second “Spider-Man” villain

Although it’s uncertain to what extent, Irrfan Khan, who played the investigator in “Slumdog Millionaire,” will play a second villain, Nels Van Adder, in 2012’s reboot of the “Spider-Man” franchise directed by Mark Webb. The barely known character becomes “Proto-Goblin” in the comics.

Our new and still untitled “Spider-Man” film began shooting on Monday, so Khan is part of the last wave of casting announcements, which also included Campbell Scott and Julianne Nicholson as Peter Parker’s parents, who are also barely mentioned in the story.

Thanks to Cinematical for doing the legwork and uncovering Van Adder as an employee of Oscorp, the weapons manufacturer that as many of you know, is run by Norman Osborn (The Green Goblin). Apparently, Osborn tested out trial runs of the “Goblin” serum on Van Adder, which drove him insane and turned him into a red beast-like goblin with talons, claws and impenetrable skin called “Proto-Goblin.”

If James Vanderbilt’s script plans to stick to this story line, Cinematical supposes Norman Osborn will need to be cast, and if there’s Norman Osborn, are we looking at a setup for an eventual Green Goblin story in the next film? Think about what Christopher Nolan did with his “Batman” film, waiting until the second movie to include one of the more iconic villains in The Joker and creating intense excitement for “The Dark Knight.”

This all seems good and well and cool, but knowing that Rhys Ifans will be appearing as Dr. Curt Connors/The Lizard makes this all the more confusing. Either way, our new-look franchise is shaping up to be quite interesting.