The welcome return ofWillem Dafoeas Green Goblin has been touted as one of the most enjoyable aspects ofSpider-Man: No Way Home. The sequel fully embraces its gimmick of bringing in characters from previousSpider-Manmovie universes, and this includes multiple characters from Sam Raimi’s original movie trilogy. Dafoe previously played Green Goblin in the very firstSpider-Manfilm, and he was featured heavily in the marketing leading up to this new film’s release alongside Alfred Molina and Jamie Foxx.
After the movie’s release, Tom Holland andZendayaaddressed what it was like working with the returning franchise stars. When it comes to Dafoe, Zendaya was shocked by how the actor was so pleasant with everyone behind the scenes only to be so convincingly evil when switching into character. In fact, as regaled byMarvel, she says Dafoe wound up scaring everyone on the set.
“Scared the hell out of everyone, to be honest… The coolest thing is that everyone’s so lovely, and then they just play these very evil characters. He’s so good at just like, just being lovely— you know, ‘Hey how are you?’ And then, [mimics Green Goblin voice,] likewhoa.”
For his part, Holland was impressed by how many different ways Dafoe was able to deliver each line. Holland says he’s never seen an actor give a director “so many options” in the way he saw Dafoe do it on the set of Spider-Man: No Way Home.
“I’ve never worked with an actor who was able to give a director so many options. He has this one speech in the film where he’s talking about Peter’s kind of existential crisis. He must have done the scene 30 times and they were all different.”
Perhaps one reason Willem Dafoe’s return in this role resonated so well was because he took it very seriously. One of his conditions laid in place before signing on was that he could do his own stunts, as the veteran actor insisted upon getting physical for the part. He is just one of the many, many major characters to appear in this new film, but for many fans, he was certainly a standout.
Jon Watts directsSpider-Man: No Way Homeusing a screenplay by Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers. The synopsis reads: “WithSpider-Man’s identity now revealed, our friendly neighborhood web-slinger is unmasked and no longer able to separate his normal life as Peter Parker from the high stakes of being a superhero. When Peter asks for help from Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), the stakes become even more dangerous, forcing him to discover what it truly means to be Spider-Man.”
Tom Holland stars as Peter Parker with other returning stars from theSpider-Manseries including Zendaya, Jacob Batalon, and Marisa Tomei. The film has been an incredible success by smashing records left and right, garnering universal acclaim even with several months of immense hype. Marvel and Sony want to keep this train moving with reports of another trilogy in place with Tom Holland returning. For now, you’re able to catchSpider-Man: No Way Homein theaters.
