Almost every person to have seen a live-action Spider-Man movie is in agreement that Willem Dafoe’s take on the Green Goblin is far and away the superior version, with James Franco and Dane DeHaan’s respective turns to the dark side as Harry Osborn coming off as more than a little forced and hammy, while Chris Cooper’s replacement Norman was entirely bedridden and in dire need of getting his nails done.
Of course, nobody’s able to say that Dafoe exercised any sort of restraint when it came to his performance in Sam Raimi’s original, but the actor’s wide-eyed scenery chewing was exactly what the character called for. And while the Green Goblin is arguably Spider-Man’s most famous and defining archenemy, the villain’s classic comic book look would hardly translate directly to the big screen.
Indeed, the Power Ranger-esque armor in 2002’s blockbuster split opinion down the middle, but new fan art from Jaxson Derr imagines Dafoe’s potential return in Spider-Man 3 balancing the best of both worlds by adopting a much more comic-accurate approach, as you can see below.
There’s been no shortage of speculation that the actor will be back for Spider-Man 3, but as of yet, nothing has been confirmed by either Marvel Studios or Sony. At this point, close to two dozen names have been linked with everything from a brief cameo to a supporting role, though there’s no denying that fans would love to have Dafoe return to their screens as the nefarious head of Oscorp. As for whether it’ll happen or not, we’ll just have to wait and see, but both studios are keeping their lips sealed on any and all casting rumors for the time being.
