Today, news reports began surfacing of four more cast members being added to the cast of 2012's "Spider-Man" reboot, and probably the most interesting addition that was announced was a character named Van Atter that would be a villain in the film. Why is this so interesting? Because Van Atter is not a character from the comic books.
But users on the SuperHeroHype! boards have done some detective work, and has noticed an interesting tidbit from the comics: A character named Nels Van Adder was the assistant of Dr. Mendell Stromm (who is involved with Norman Osborn and OsCorp) that offered to be a test subject for the two to try out a new chemical developed. This chemical turned him into the Proto-Goblin.
This does seem likely, and is too coincidental and is so similar to this new Van Atter character, and the character does tie in with Norman Osborn (who will no doubt become the Green Goblin and kill Gwen Stacy in a sequel), as well as Captain George Stacy (who will be played by Denis Leary reportedly, who is the father of love interest Gwen Stacy being played by Emma Stone).
So, do you think Proto-Goblin will be a villain in this film? Who knows, maybe instead of Norman Osborn they could rework it for Dr. Curt Connors (played by Rhys Ifans) to have been the creator.