Andrew Garfield's take on Peter Parker in The Amazing Spider-Man and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 has seen a resurgence in popularity, with many now giving him the due he deserved back when those films first came out. The movies themselves received mixed reviews, especially in regard to the second movie. But while fans and critics have differing reasons for these reviews, the biggest problem with the duology stems from its poor villains.
The Lizard in The Amazing Spider-Man didn't develop enough, reducing him to a generic comic book bad guy. That was the same problem with Green Goblin in the sequel, which also featured the much-maligned Electro. Here's how these movies ultimately got dragged down by their villains and how fixing them would have made the series more popular.
The Lizard Wasn't Sympathetic Enough in The Amazing Spider-Man
The Lizard, aka Curt Connors, is one of Spider-Man's most recurring foes and one of his most tragic. Essentially a reptilian villain version of the Hulk, The Lizard is a bestial transformation that Connors can't control, making the scientist a victim of his alter ego. Much of that is thrown out of the window in Marc Webb's The Amazing Spider-Man, with The Lizard and even Connors himself seeming far too "comic booky." Connors is essentially just a mad scientist without a shred of relatability. Likewise, The Lizard had a ridiculous plot of wanting to turn everyone into lizards like him, which feels far too campy and silly for as grounded and dark as The Amazing Spider-Man.
Humanizing Connors would have made him more sympathetic, thus making his transformation into The Lizard more tragic. His was about humanity overcoming weakness and becoming something better, no doubt inspired by his missing arm. But the movie should have shown how he got treated due to his disability, be it people outright mistreating him or even feeling sorry for him. Thus, he'd had more reason to see his new Lizard form as a benefit and promptly continue the transformations, even if they mess with his mind. Scenes that helped to make him more of a character, such as one with his son Billy, were notably cut from the final film, which only makes what audiences got even worse.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Had Absolutely Terrible Villains
The main villain in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was Electro, with this original version of the character being perhaps Jamie Foxx's most embarrassing ever. A socially awkward loser who was more laughable than intimidating, even after getting his powers, Electro was essentially a retread of villains like The Riddler, Syndrome and Justin Hammer. It didn't help that his design was terrible and made him hard to take seriously. And the movie tries to make him sympathetic but fails due to how unlikable and awkward his character is.
But while Electro gets far too much screentime, Green Goblin doesn't get nearly enough. Harry Osborn is introduced in the movie and becomes Green Goblin in a rushed climax, but it doesn't work. Many complained about how shoehorned in Venom was in Spider-Man 3, but his character got fleshed out greatly compared to the borderline cameo that was Green Goblin in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Green Goblin is much cooler than Electro, but the forced nature of his presence in the movie makes him sadly forgettable.
The worst part of all of this is that the Amazing Spider-Man movies actually do certain things much better than the preceding Raimi trilogy. Peter Parker's character is less pathetic and much closer to the comics, with the world around him and the supporting cast feeling more fleshed out in many cases. Unfortunately, it couldn't keep up when it came to the villains, as even the worst of Raimi's movies feel better than who Spidey fought in Marc Webb's two movies.