Despite offering up at least five separate villains, one baddie in the MCU’s upcoming Spider-Man: No Way Home stands above the rest.
That’s according to Jamie Foxx, who plays one of said villains in the film. He’s reprising his role as Electro, who he first played in 2014’s The Amazing Spider-Man 2. However, he named a different big bad as No Way Home‘s “scariest.”
That enviable title goes to Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin, according to a video posted to the official Spider-Man YouTube page. In response to a question from interviewers, Foxx identified Dafoe as the scariest addition to the film, thanks to his “personal” vendetta against Spider-Man.
Foxx’s claim tracks based on the films we’ve already seen these characters appear in. Even the already-established character backstories set Green Goblin up to be one of the MCU’s least-identifiable villains, mixed in among surprisingly relatable and culturally relevant characters.
See, most of the people Spider-Man heads off against have complex and emotional backstories. Of the five villains confirmed to appear in No Way Home, many have understandable and genuinely challenging stories. Electro, played by Foxx, was once Max Dillon, a quiet and self-conscious electrical engineer who is transformed into a living electrical capacitor in a freak accident. In The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Electro spends much of the film being manipulated and used by others.
Then there’s Doc Ock. Formerly known only as Doctor Otto Octavius, Doc Ock is a brilliant man and one of Peter’s heroes. His brilliant attempt to further his scientific pursuits is the character’s ultimate undoing, however, after an accident during a demonstration fuzes a custom-crafted apparatus—which grant the villain his multi-legged abilities—to Octavius’s spine. The apparatus gradually drives the former scientist insane, pushing him into a life of crime.
Sandman has a similarly tragic story, which was established in 2007’s Spider-Man 3. Flint Marko, the man who became Sandman, is portrayed in the film as a down-on-his luck thug whose only goal is to save his ailing daughter. His poor choices lead to Uncle Ben’s death, however, creating an instant vendetta between him and Spider-Man. Despite his history as a criminal, Sandman—like Electro—is at his worst when being manipulated by others, and ultimately wants noting more than to return home to his daughter.
Lizard doesn’t boast quite as sympathetic of a backstory, but Dr. Curtis Connors’ desire to use his skills to regrow his missing right arm remains understandable. His attempt to use a specially-developed lizard DNA-based serum ultimately transforms the brilliant scientist into Lizard, one of Spider-Man’s most iconic villains.
The outlier among the film’s villains is clearly Green Goblin. Originally the amoral billionaire head of Oscorp Industries, Norman Osborn is transformed into the Green Goblin after purposefully exposing himself to a developmental serum. The transformation drives Osborn insane, but he retains enough of his sanity to maintain his status as the head of Oscorp for weeks.
Dafoe played the character flawlessly in Sam Raimi’s 2002 Spider-Man film, blowing audiences away with his unforgettable madness. Despite his enduring popularity, however, Green Goblin remains an amoral billionaire who’s only goal was to further his influence and enhance his wealth. He is driven to madness by his own deeds, in the film canon, and thus is far from a sympathetic character.
Spider-Man: No Way Home is reportedly leaning into both Dafoe’s skills as an actor and Green Goblin’s unique status as a Spider-Man villain. According to Foxx, the character’s vendetta is “personal,” unlike many of the other villains in the film, which helps him to shine above the rest.
“It seems personal,” Foxx explains in the interview. “Because with Electro, it’s to the world. The world did me wrong. But when something is personal—and you can go all the way back to Shakespeare—when something is personal, there’s nothing that can beat that. No matter what costume you put on, no matter what you say. When he speaks, he has the power. It’s personal. And any time you can get a character to be personal in the movie, it has the most weight.”
You can decide for yourself if Foxx is right when Spider-Man: No Way Home arrives in theaters on Dec. 17, 2021.