Why was Paul Giamatti even in ‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2′ anyway?

Warning: Minor "Amazing Spider-Man 2" spoilers to follow!

If the trailers for “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” did one thing, it was to seriously inflate the importance of the villain known as Rhino.

Moviegoers expecting to see a lot of Paul Giamatti’s character Aleksei Sytsevich -- a deranged thug inside a walking tank that resembles, well, a Rhino -- will have been quite disappointed. Rhino is barely even in “The Amazing Spider-Man 2,” appearing during the film’s opening moments and in the final scene of the movie, some two hours later. Many viewers had likely forgotten all about the villain by that point. (Seriously, did Giamatti film his part on his lunch break from another movie?)

So why would Sony shell out the money for an Oscar-nominated character actor like Giamatti for such a small part? Especially when they could have easily hired a lesser-known actor for a fraction of the cost (Michael Chiklis, anyone?).

True to the comics
“The Amazing Spider-Man 2” is absolutely packed with villains. Electro (Jaime Foxx) and Green Goblin (Dane DeHaan) steal most of the spotlight, but out of all the baddies in the movie, Rhino was probably handled the best. Both in terms of his character’s origins (he’s a raging small-time crook who’s given a suit of power armor by mad scientists) and his motivations (Spider-Man got him arrested, therefore he hates Spider-Man), Giamatti’s character is true to his comic book origins. You can't say the same for the portrayals Electro and Goblin.

When you actually think about it, Rhino is a pretty ridiculous villain (though for what it's worth, so is a man with spider powers swinging through New York City). It's the kind of campy role that requires a really good actor in order to truly work. That's why Sony hired Paul Giamatti. He's a known quantity and he's one of the few actors who can actually pull off a character like Rhino.

But more importantly, the studio also hired Giamatti because they have big plans for the character.

“Iron Man 2”-itis

“The Amazing Spider-Man 2” suffered from what can affectionately be called “Iron Man 2”-itis. It's a condition wherein a movie crams in as many easter eggs and superfluous characters as possible in order to set up the sequels. “Iron Man 2” did this in 2010 with its Black Widow and Agent Coulson subplots to help set up "The Avengers." As for “The Amazing Spider-Man 2”? Well, the movie does this with… well, pretty much everything.

There are two “Amazing Spider-Man” sequels in development, and two spin-offs on the way, one of which is “The Sinister Six” -- an “Avengers”-style villain team-up in which some of Spidey’s greatest foes join forces. Rhino is a member of the Sinister Six, as are Electro, Doctor Octopus, Mysterio, Kraven, and Vulture. All of those baddies are either directly or indirectly referenced in the latest movie.

It was probably unnecessary for Rhino to be introduced in “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” -- he felt a little tacked on, didn't he? But the “Sinister Six” movie doesn’t really work unless you already know at least a few of the characters. And that's why you hire someone like Paul Giamatti for what was, essentially, a glorified cameo.