Who Is That Guy in the ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ Post-Credit Scene?

If you've seen 'The Amazing Spider-Man' surely you stayed through the credits, saw the post-credits scene and had the same question we did: who is that mystery man? And how will he factor in to the next chapters?

Obviously, this story contains a ton of spoilers for 'The Amazing Spider-Man' so if you’ve yet to see it, and still plan on checking it out, steer clear.

We can start by telling you right off the bat who the man in the cell is not, and that’s Norman Osborn. In an interview with Ain’t It Cool News, Lizard man Rhys Ifans explained that his character, Dr. Curt Connors, appears in a mental institute that has a mix of prison cell to it. But it’s not a traditional jail cell, because someone from Oscorp – where Connors is employed – is able to enter and leave the room with ease. But it’s not Norman, the dying head of Oscorp who (of course) becomes the Green Goblin as part of Spider-Man’s mythology. Said Ifans:

It’s not Norman Osborn. But it is someone who is in the employ of Norman Osborn without question...Who knows? Maybe he will be the next bad guy; we’ll see.

We do get to see Norman Osborn on a video screen when Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) first enters Oscorp to apply for the internship. His face, however, is cloaked in shadow … allowing Sony to properly cast someone as Norman in future installments.

And the man who appears in Connors’ cell to ask whether he maintained the secrets pertaining to Peter’s parents appears to be much older. He’s played by character actor Michael Massee, who may or may not be back for the sequel. His voice is strained, though it could be masked by some form of technology … however, it bears mentioning that Connors seems to know who this person is. He isn’t surprised by their presence, and he’s comfortable enough with this sinister mystery man to ask that they leave Peter alone.

Of course, this person won’t.

But if it isn’t Norman Osborn, whom else could it be? Is it someone above Norman on the power tower? Or is it someone similar to Irrfan Khan’s character Rajit Ratha, who is employed by Osborn but whose motives are kept in shadows? Ifans confirms that it's "someone we're familiar with" but who?

The thing is, Webb’s changes to the Spider-Man myth for the purpose of this reboot means we’re not necessarily following the comic books anymore. So any of Spider-Man’s traditional villains could be made employees at Oscorp, in much the same way that Curt Connors was made a loyal Oscorp scientist.

So, who is an older Spidey villain who we haven’t seen on screen before? How about Adrian Toomes, an electronics engineer who cooks up a flying suit that helps him become The Vulture? Toomes was smart enough to hold his own as part of Oscorp. And he easily could be working with Norman Osborn toward a larger goal. We could start the ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ sequel with Toomes and build toward the Green Goblin reveal, thereby setting up an explosive part three.

Want to really think off of the grid? The person in the scene could be Morlun, a villain introduced by J. Michael Straczynski and John Romita, Jr. in a popular Spider-Man story titled ‘The Other.’ In that arc, it’s explained that Peter was bitten by a radioactive spider on purpose, and introduces the concepts of totems, which are specific bridges between man and beast. That would tie in to the creation of The Lizard from this first movie, and possibly set up animalistic villains like The Rhino or The Scorpion for future sequels.

But I don’t see these films drifting too far away from traditional Spider-Man canon for these films, so pulling in developed subplots from the Ultimates seems unlikely. Could the shadowy figure turn out to be Wilson Fisk, aka The Kingpin? Maybe it’s Electro, and the flash of lightning on an otherwise storm-less night is a direct hint?

My guess? Ifans is throwing us off the scent, meaning the shadowy figure really is Norman Osborn, who we’re told is dying and has a direct connection to Peter’s father.

Then again, my favorite guess comes from the comments section of a YouTube page claiming the character is Heisenberg from ‘Breaking Bad.’ He does seem to be holding a sinister black hat in the clip.

Here’s the scene. Who do you think it is?