The web-slinger is set to face off against several familiar foes from past iterations of the franchise in Spider-Man: No Way Home. So far, both Jamie Foxx’s Electro and Alfred Molina’s Doctor Octopus have been confirmed to appear, and another one who’s strongly believed to be back as well is Willem Dafoe as Green Goblin. As the antagonist of 2002’s Spider-Man, Dafoe’s Norman Osborn is one of the most iconic Spidey villains ever, and it sounds like the filmmakers might be using his return to recreate a classic moment from the comics.
According to sources close to WGTC – the same ones who told us the Guardians were in Thor: Love and Thunder before that was confirmed – Tom Holland’s Peter Parker will reportedly try to kill Dafoe’s Goblin in No Way Home. The specific plot details have not been revealed to us at this stage, but comic book readers will pick up on the importance of this twist all the same, as it appears to be an homage to The Night Gwen Stacy Died.
In that classic storyline, Osborn’s responsible for Gwen’s death, so Peter hunts his foe down, looking for vengeance. When he gets the chance to kill him, though, he can’t do it, leaving Green Goblin the chance to take him out instead, but it goes wrong and he’s ultimately impaled by his own glider. Osborn’s fate was already adapted for the 2002 film, but Parker’s bloodlust wasn’t featured, due to the hero managing to save Mary Jane in that version of events.
If Holland’s Spidey is going to be angry enough to attempt to murder the antagonist in Spider-Man 3, though, then this suggests Zendaya’s MJ may be in danger. It’s hard to believe that Marvel would actually go ahead and kill her off, because this would no doubt be a hugely controversial move, but it does look like the threequel will be paying homage to The Night Gwen Stacy Died‘s plot to some degree.
Spider-Man: No Way Home has already completed shooting ahead of its debut in theaters this December, so with any luck, we’ll learn more about its storyline soon.
