With the recent reveal that BJ Novak's character is in fact Alistair Smythe (who goes by the supervillain moniker of The Spider Slayer in the comics), I did some thinking and I think I might know Smyth's role in the film judging by the evidence we have. This is purely speculation but here it is nonetheless. THERE ARE NO SPOILERS FOR THE AMAZING SPIDERMAN 2 (2014)BECAUSE IT IS NOT OUT YET BUT THERE ARE SPOILERS FOR AMAZING SPIDERMAN (2012 movie, comic prequel AND video game).
Here me out. Rewind to 2012. The first The Amazing Spiderman is about to come out. A two issue comic book prequel is released for the film and it is unconfirmed whether or not it is canon. A scene taking place at Oscorp in the comic depicts Dr. Ratha threatening Curt Conners. He tells Conners that if he doesn't start seeing results in his cross species program he will replace it with "Smythe's robotics project." It is unspecified whether or not Ratha meant Alistair Smythe or his father, Spencer.
After that the video game for the first film is released. Honestly, I usually don't play video games that adapt movies, but in this case I made an exception. Why? Because, unlike most video game adaptations, the creators at Beenox were hyping that the game is, oddly enough, canon in the movie universe and will lead into the second movie. I was pleasantly surprised when the game retconned the comic prequel and had Alistair Smythe as the main antagonist. Like Dr. Ratha promised Conners, the entire cross species program is replaced with Smythe's robotics. Smythe is using the robotics to dispose of the last of the cross species program when a virus breaks out and infects the majority population of Manhattan and the cross species abominations escape Oscorp. As Manhattan is under quarantine, Smythe illegally sends his robots to eliminate the virus, everyone infected and all cross species creatures. Guess what? Spiderman is cross species. Smythe is killed at the end of the game.
Over a year later when we start to get real news for The Amazing Spiderman 2, it becomes more and more clear that there was some sort of miscommunication between Sony and Beenox because there is absolutely no way the game can STILL be considered canon. When The Amazing Spiderman 2 game is announced, the games are confirmed to be part of an alternative storyline. I immediately dismissed the comic book prequel as part of the same alternative storyline.
Sony launches a viral news website for The Amazing Spiderman 2. Later, an article is posted not only revealing that Alistair Smythe is alive and well but also confirms the existence of his father Spencer. Apparently Spencer is in charge of Oscorp's robotics division and his son is under his tutelage. I take this with a grain of salt. A lot of villains have been teased by the virile site and I doubt they will all appear in the film.
Later, the Amazing Spiderman 2 series minimates reveal that a two pack will include a Rhino figure and an Alistair Smythe figure. At this point I take it as 50/50% chance Smythe will actually appear in the movie because I know how easy it is to just copy Smythe's design from the video game (or even the comics), paste it on a minimate and slap an Amazing Spiderman 2 label on it. Then BJ Novak is revealed to be Alistair Smythe.
After doing some thinking, heres my conclusion: What if the comic prequel wasn't part of the alternative storyline of the video games? What if after Conners cross species program was replaced by Spencer Smythe's robotics division (which Alistair is a part of). The Goblin Serum, the genetically altered Electric Eels and the yellow tubes we saw in the trailer are all part of the remnants of the cross species division. That would explain a lot, including why Alistair Smythe was packaged with The Rhino in the minimates series. It would also explain the origin's of the Rhino suit, the Goblin armor, the Doc Ock tentacles, the Vulture wings, the Goblin Glider and the Electro containment suit. There are a lot of robotic related stuff in the new ASM2 trailers for those who haven't noticed. This would also set the stage for The Spider Slayers in future sequels.
On a side note, the virile site also teased Dr. Miles Warren and quoted him as saying within a few years cloning may be possible so don't be surprised if we see him in the third or fourth film.