A good example is probably Gwen being dead BEFORE she was caught by the web. That made no sense to me. Why would Goblin kill her before? The whole point would be to take her out in front of Spider-Man, right? So why would he kill her before? Oh, I know: it's to absolve Peter of the accidental murder of his girlfriend. That story is compelling and created a lot of guilt for Peter. Without that element, it becomes just another "villain kills my loved one" story, you know?

(On a side note, a lot of flashbacks to that moment have her being alive and awake before she was knocked off the bridge.)