Willem Dafoe Addresses Returning As Green Goblin In The MCU’s Spider-Man Franchise

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Green Goblin actor Willem Dafoe discusses his MCU return as Norman Osborn in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Willem Dafoe"s Green Goblin is one of the most famous villains in Marvel movie history, having been Spider-Man"s first main antagonist in Sam Raimi"s Spider-Man trilogy. Dafoe"s extraordinary performance as the Green Goblin played a key role in Spider-Man"s success in 2002, and to fans" delight, Dafoe got a second go at the character almost two decades later in Spider-Man: No Way Home.
In an interview with Empire, Willem Dafoe addresses Green Goblin"s return in Spider-Man: No Way Home and explains how the character differed given the absence of his mask throughout most of the movie"s runtime. Dafoe states that "the real meat in the first one is the guy without the mask, Norman Osborn." and highlights how the most interesting aspect of his Spider-Man villain is that "you don"t know how much of the Green Goblin is back and how much it"s Norman". Read Willem Dafoe"s comments below:

"It was just a pleasure to return to that character. Just like the original, I like the fact that within a scene it could careen from being goofy comedy to drama to action. It has a lot of tricks up its sleeve. And it was a double role. Everybody concentrates on the Green Goblin, but that"s mostly action stuff. I like doing that, and I think I can do it gracefully. But the real meat in the first one is the guy without the mask, Norman Osborn. Those are the meaty scenes. So when people complain about the mask, it"s like, "Come on." The role is Norman. And then in [No Way Home], we have a little bit more Norman, because part of the game is, you don"t know how much of the Green Goblin is back and how much it"s Norman. That"s the whole play."

What Willem Dafoe's Spider-Man Return Comments Mean Willem Dafoe's Second Time Playing Green Goblin Gave Him More Material To Play With Than The First

Although Willem Dafoe played an outstanding Green Goblin in Sam Raimi"s Spider-Man, his performance was obscured by the Green Goblin mask. Adapting Green Goblin"s over-the-top appearance is a tough task, especially back in 2002, when superhero movies had to be a little more grounded due to audience expectations and technical limitations. The armored Green Goblin suit and mask were an effective solution, but they sacrificed the subtleties of Dafoe"s performance, hence why the actor shines more as Norman Osborn than as his supervillain counterpart.

Related Willem Dafoe Kills Hope Of MCU Green Goblin - But It's Worth it Willem Dafoe"s return in Spider-Man: No Way Home kills any hope of Green Goblin having an MCU future, but his stellar performance is worth it.
Posts Spider-Man: No Way Home skipped the mask altogether and let Willem Dafoe shine both as Norman Osborn and Green Goblin. But as Dafoe explains, Norman Osborn is still the most appealing side of the character. After all, Green Goblin is unapologetically evil, whereas Norman Osborn"s true intentions are always hard to pinpoint. There are many moments in Spider-Man: No Way Home where it"s unclear whether Norman Osborn actually doesn"t know what"s happening or if the Green Goblin is posing as Norman.
Our Take On Willem Dafoe's Spider-Man Return Comments It's Incredible That Willem Dafoe Has Only Played Green Goblin Twice Close Few Marvel villains are as irredeemably evil as the Green Goblin and as complex as Norman Osborn, and there might not be any actor capable of embodying Osborn"s duality as perfectly as Willem Dafoe. With only two performances — and one of them mostly under a mask — Dafoe"s Green Goblin retains his status as Spider-Man"s big-screen archnemesis. In fact, it"s actually shocking that Willem Dafoe has only played Green Goblin twice, considering how other villains like Tom Hiddleston"s Loki, Josh Brolin"s Thanos, and Ian McKellen"s Magneto got multiple movies to complete a character arc.
Source: Empire

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42 8.7/10 Spider-Man: No Way Home PG-13
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*Availability in US Director Jon Watts Writers Chris McKenna , Erik Sommers , Stan Lee , Steve Ditko Cast Tom Holland , Zendaya , Benedict Cumberbatch , Jacob Batalon , Jon Favreau , Jamie Foxx , Willem Dafoe , Alfred Molina , Benedict Wong , Tony Revolori , Marisa Tomei , Andrew Garfield , Tobey Maguire Release Date December 17, 2021 Runtime 148 Minutes Budget $200 Million Expand Upcoming MCU Movies

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