James Franco as Harry Osborn

James Franco portrayed Harry Osborn in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man films and became the most popular screen adaptation of the character. The son of the notorious Norman Osborn was present in several screen adaptations of the web-slinger. However, one portrayal may have found its way to the fan-favorite list after Franco’s Harry. Fans praised Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 for the way it developed Harry.

James Franco as Harry Osborn in a still from Spider-Man 2 | Columbia Pictures

Graham Phillips voiced the character for the game from Insomniac Games. Harry Osborn also appeared in Andrew Garfield’s The Amazing Spider-Man and the animated projects, including Spider-Man: The Animated SeriesThe Spectacular Spider-Man, and Ultimate Spider-Man

Fans May Have Found A More Likable Harry Osborn Than James Franco

Harry Osborn in Marvel's Spider-Man 2 | Insomniac GamesHarry Osborn in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 | Insomniac Games

Tobey Maguire‘s Spider-Man films introduced James Franco as Peter Parker’s best friend and Norman Osborn’s son Harry Osborn. The first film establishes him in these roles and even shows him briefly dating Mary Jane. However, he is oblivious to his father’s life of crime and when his father finally dies in the first film, Harry blames Spider-Man for that death.

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The second and third films saw the transformation of the character into a villain, the New Goblin. Franco’s character gets sufficient screen time over the three films to build the character of Harry. The time taken for Harry’s characterization makes Franco one of the best Harry Osborn portrayals on screen.

When a Reddit discussion was started on the topic of the best Harry Osborn portrayal, many fans had the same answer as Little Goblin Jr. (via u/Magnifnik0 | Reddit). However, there was another popular choice for the best Harry Osborn among Redditors. Fans believed that Graham Phillips’ portrayal of the character from Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 gameplay gave tough competition to Franco.

According to u/SarcasticKenobi, Insomniac Games’s characterization of Harry stood out since the character was a rich guy, but not a jerk. He had a better-established friendship with Peter Parker and there was no love triangle putting their friendship in jeopardy. The Reddit comment read: