The Spider-Man reboot cast is shaping up great, but one very important character remains uncast, Peter Parker's best friend; Harry Osborn. Previously played by James Franco in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man films, it makes you wonder who Marc Webb will cast in the role, or if he will even be in the film at all. I have some suggestions of my own for the next Harry Osborn.
Well as we all know, the Spider-Man reboot will take place in high school. Now, in the comic books, Peter Parker meets Harry Osborn (The son of Oscorp CEO Norman Osborn) in college when they share a dorm.
My theory is that anyone that can play Peter Parker, can play Harry. He's not very different from Peter other than his bratty side, neglecting father, and jealousy at first. but the problem in this case is, who can play Harry opposite Andrew Garfield's Peter. Andrew is 27, so we can't just get some small fry 18 year old to play his best friend.
I always thought, from the Spider-Man short list, that Anton Yelchin and Alden Ehrenreich were better fit for the role of Harry. But the only way it would've worked is if you'd casted a young actor like Logan Lerman or Josh Hutcherson as Peter.
I know you're probably thinking that these two look nothing like James Franco, but if you see the actual comic book version of Harry, these guys look a lot more like him than Franco ever would.
See what I mean?
Actually, if you wanted Harry to be more like Franco's version of the character, Garfield himself would have been perfect. I can actually picture in my head Andrew as Harry opposite someone like Aaron Johnson (Kick-Ass) as Peter. But if you want someone similar to Franco as Harry for the current reboot cast, than there's no one better than Hayden Christensen. If you don't know who he is, he played Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars 2 and 3.
After the death of his father, Harry is full of revenge and rage. After seeing Revenge of the Sith, I think Hayden can pull that off. But in the comics, Harry becomes the next Green Goblin, and I just can't imagine Christensen as that.
And that's what brings me to my final conclusion as to who should be the next Harry Osborn. He's got the look (The comic book one), the age, the experience, and the acting chops to join the reboot cast. And he's the most likely choice as well.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt is just the perfect Harry for this film. He would be believable as the rich jealous friend of Andrew Garfield's Peter, and he's even worked with Marc Webb before (500 Days of Summer).
So who do you think would be a good Harry? What do you think of my choice?