Glad we're all on the same page here with the casting and that is awesome having Massee and him side by side. It's a cinematic marriage; a pairing that feels so right and believable in terms of them being father and son. I hope in the sequel, however, we will see some of Norman's condition. Maybe he is very reclusive and hides from the press and the media and when he takes the Oz formula, he feels regenerated and young again, and is this fast-talking, chip on his shoulder kind of guy until the Goblin-transformation takes shape.
I just think with Dehaan, he can be both the popular kid but also a troubled youth crying out for his father's love. Or you go the SSM route and he's nerdy like Pete, but suddenly has this big break (thanks to the Oz formula), and he's suddenly on the football team, track team, etc. and beloved by the students, but then we start seeing the effects of what the Oz formula can do. Norman finds out he's been secretly taking his formula, and goes ballistic on his son. "I need to make more! I need more!" So, it'd kind of be like a message on drug addiction and what it does to a family.
No offense to Franco, but he was good as the pretty boy and the friend, but never really bought into his quest for recognition and power.