User name suggests it all. The Lizard is my all time favorite comicbook villain, between Dr.Connors and The Lizard. He has appeared in three films, became an antagonist for a reboot of the original Spider-Man trilogy and has been around since November of 1963. He's always been my all time favorite villain because he's not really a "full" villain. His motives are cartoony but every superhero has a villain or two that's a bit cartoony. The Lizard has always been a sympathetic villain and because he is both an ally and enemy of Spider-Man, it has never been easy to stop him outside of the fact that he is one of Spidey's most dangerous enemies. The villain needs to be stopped but the man needs to be kept safe. Anyways, was The Lizard the right choice for a Spider-Man villain for a reboot series or a series period? My unbaised opinion is yes.
Goomba Lizard? I think not.
Spider-Man has his good villains, bad villains, cartoony villains, pure evil villians and sympathetic villains. What superhero doesn't? In the case of, The Lizard, he has a solid, tragic backstory and he truly is a tragic character. He wants to do good but a good thing went wrong. Obviously. All that Dr.Curt Connors ever wanted was to have his arm back. For the film, The Amazing Spider-Man, that was brought in full focus when Connors was on screen early in the film. We never did meet Martha and Billy but, story wise it really wasn't necessary. Although, it would have helped his backstory so the audience would have had a much better appreciation for the character and realize that this is a good man trying to do good. Also, the look of the character. "Shit, look. He has no snout" Umm, anybody who has ever read the original Spider-Man comics knows that he never had a snout. He was created before goombas. Therefore the goomba insult is pointless. The goombas look like, The Lizard. They stuck to the source material and it worked well.
Cinematic Potential
When you read the comics, it's easy to see how well the character would work on screen. You have a sympathetic villain and it puts the hero in a tough position. While, we never got to see that in the film, it doesn't mean that it didn't work. Peter in the film had to save New York and also when you watch the high school fight, you hear Peter say "Doc stop! This isn't you!" You can tell that he wants his friend back. Visually, he has great potential. He's cool looking villain and he has entertaining battles with Spider-Man (I'm talking even outside of the film). Every story needs a villain that it can meld with. I never cared for Doc Ock but he worked in Spider-Man 2. The Lizard isn't popular amongst audiences because of, The Amazing Spider-Man but I feel he worked well story wise.
Future villains and tone setting for rest of the series
The Lizard really a bad villain choice for The Amazing Spider-Man? Hell no. This is a character who is entertaing to watch as well as being a villain that we all feel sorry for. Similar to that of the Doc Ock character from Spider-Man 2. Yes, I just compared Doc Ock to The Lizard. The Lizard worked really well for the start of a new series or trilogy and with Electro for the villain in the next film and Green Goblin for the 3rd (hopefully final film of this series) it's easy to see that The Lizard was a perfect choice. Making Electro a sympathetic villains really puts more weight on Spideys shoulder emotionally while trying to save New York and as far as the Green Goblin goes. Yea, that swan song really doesn't need much explination. Sure, The Amazing Spider-Man isn't a good stand alone film. But, it was never meant to be that. Call, The Lizard, a goomba all you want. The Lizard was truly the best choice for the start of a new cinematic Spider-Man. Entertaining, sympathetic and is a villain that truly works on screen. Not to mention that Sam Raimi (whose trilogy I love and grew up on) was hinting at Dr.Connors for the trilogy and was gonna use the vulture for the fourth and create a new character for Felicia Hardy. When it was clear he should have gone with either The Lizard or Carnage. Love the film or hate it. The Lizard was (even though a 90% interpretation) was close the it's source, it works well for the story, and is up there with the Green Goblin as the best portrayal (adaptation wise) of it's comicbook counter part.
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