Willem Dafoe’s iconic iteration of the Green Goblin returned in Spider-Man: No Way Home, and while having Dafoe reprise the role once again would be welcome, the MCU’s forthcoming Spider-Man 4 would not be the place for it. In the comics and the films, the Green Goblin is Spider-Man’s greatest enemy, and Willem Dafoe plays him definitively in No Way Home and his 2002 Spider-Man debut. There is interest in seeing Dafoe’s Green Goblin return to the big screen, but while the next Tom Holland Spider-Man solo movie should not use him again, there are other films that Dafoe’s Green Goblin can return in.
In a recent interview, Willem Dafoe expressed interest in reprising the Green Goblin role as long as the film in question handles it well. The MCU is delving into the multiverse, creating an infinite number of ways for Dafoe’s Green Goblin to return to the Spider-Man franchise. Of course, the best explanation for Norman Osborn’s darker half resurfacing comes from the comics themselves, but the Tom Holland Spider-Man films, ultimately, need to refrain from pitting Dafoe’s Goblin against Holland’s Spider-Man. This does not mean that Willem Dafoe should not return as the Green Goblin elsewhere, however.
Dafoe's Green Goblin Returning Again Would Lose Its Novelty
The Green Goblin’s return in No Way Home irrevocably changed Tom Holland’s Peter Parker. The Goblin killed Aunt May and nearly made Spider-Man a murderer. With the help of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man variants, the MCU’s web-slinger depowered the Goblin (and thus only destroyed his villainous persona) instead of killing him, giving a new and satisfying ending to Dafoe’s iteration of the Goblin in the MCU. While it is possible for the MCU’s Green Goblin variant to be played by Willem Dafoe like his Raimi Trilogy counterpart, this would ruin the impact and novelty of Dafoe’s No Way Home role.
Willem Dafoe should return as the Green Goblin in his original timeline, however. In the 616 and MC2 comics, the Green Goblin survived his impalement and remained hidden for years before resurfacing to torment Spider-Man again in the Clone Saga. A hypothetical fourth Sam Raimi Spider-Man film can and should explore more of Spider-Man’s iconic rogue’s gallery, but there is also room for Willem Dafoe to reprise the Green Goblin role and get the rematch with Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man that he never had in No Way Home’s original and extended cuts. As Spider-Man’s ultimate nemesis, Dafoe’s Goblin may even find a way to avoid being cured of his darker half.
Holland's Peter Parker Needs Villains That Are Truly His
Spider-Man has one of the best rogues' galleries in the superhero genre, with each new Spider-Man film franchise adapting new villains. Thanks to the multiversal plot of No Way Home, Tom Holland’s Peter Parker has now faced nearly all of the Spider-Man movie franchise’s supervillains, with Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin once again proving that he is the most dangerous and sadistic. With Doctor Strange’s final spell giving Peter Parker a fresh new start in a world that has forgotten his existence, the best move for future MCU Spider-Man films is to forge a new path for Peter and adapt new Spider-Man villains for him to face.
One of the first and most obvious villains is the seemingly-forgotten Scorpion. His alter ego, Mac Gargan, was teased as a growing threat in Spider-Man: Homecoming, and while Gargan no longer has any way of learning Spider-Man’s secret identity, he may become an ally of the MCU’s J. Jonah Jameson (like his comic iteration), who is a much more unsavory character than his Raimi Trilogy counterpart. Another potential adversary is Ned Leeds as the Hobgoblin, a possibility tragically teased in No Way Home and made possible by Leeds no longer knowing his best friend. Tom Holland’s Spider-Man could also encounter a new version of the Green Goblin.
How A Different Green Goblin Could Appear In Spider-Man 4
In No Way Home, Willem Dafoe’s Norman Osborn reveals that Oscorp does not exist in the MCU, but this does not prevent a new version of Norman Osborn or his company from appearing. Another Norman Osborn (played by another actor) could easily already exist in the main MCU continuity and simply have yet to establish Oscorp. Perhaps his company already exists and simply uses a different name than Oscorp. In any case, the Green Goblin can easily appear in a new form in the MCU, but he must be different from the Raimi iteration. Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin should return to the Spider-Man movie franchise but in a Tobey Maguire Spider-Man film instead of a sequel to Spider-Man: No Way Home.
