Marvel Reportedly Eyeing Willem Dafoe For Spider-Man Villain Role

Willem Dafoe has the distinction of being the very first cinematic Spider-Man villain, setting the bar high for every subsequent actor to play one of the wall-crawler’s nemeses that followed. Fans may like to debate the relative quality of his Power Rangers-like Green Goblin costume, but everyone’s in agreement that Dafoe was the perfect fit for the crazed Norman Osborn.

There would probably be a lot of celebration from Spidey lovers, then, if the multi Oscar-nominated actor were to return to the Marvel universe at some point. And thankfully, there’s apparently a chance of that happening. According to sources close to WGTC – the same ones who told us a Percy Jackson TV show is in the works and Now You See Me 3 is in development – Marvel is eyeing Dafoe for another Spidey-verse role.

Here’s the thing, though: he definitely wouldn’t be coming back to play the MCU’s Osborn. There are plans for Oscorp to enter the fray soon, but it doesn’t seem like they would rehire him for that. Instead, we’re hearing that the star is being eyed for the role of Electro. It’s unclear where he could be appearing as Max Dillon at present, but either Spider-Man 4 or 5 – yes, they’re planning that far ahead already – seems likely.

Electro was obviously previously brought to life by Jamie Foxx in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, but that was hardly a definitive version of the villain. Presumably, Dafoe would portray a more traditional take on him, whereas Foxx’s was largely based on the Ultimate version. If anyone could pull off the crazy classic lightning-bolts mask, it’s Dafoe. He’s used to wearing ridiculous headgear in Spidey movies, after all.

With Sam Raimi directing Doctor Strange 2 and J.K. Simmons reprising J. Jonah Jameson, Marvel definitely seems keen to honor the original Spider-Man trilogy in their own films. But we’ll just have to wait and see whether Dafoe ends up deciding to enter the MCU.