The Spider-Man callbacks keep rolling into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. A few weeks ago, it was reported that Sam Raimi is in talks to direct Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and now there’s a potential second Raimi-trilogy reunion coming to the MCU.
Sources close to WGTC – the same ones who told us National Treasure 3 was in development last year and that Han would return in Fast & Furious 9 back in the summer, both of which are now confirmed – say that Willem Dafoe is one of the names being looked at for a potential villain role in the franchise. Dafoe has long had an association with the superhero genre and supervillains, of course, and though fans will have spotted him as good-guy Nuidis Vulko in 2018’s Aquaman, it was his performance as bad bad baddie Norman Osborn (aka the Green Goblin) in Spider-Man that garnered him the most acclaim.
This new role would almost certainly have nothing to do Osborn though, as we’re hearing that it could be Kang or Annihilus, or perhaps another villain entirely. Whoever it turns out to be, arch American villainy is a trait often sorely lacking at the movies – either they cast a Brit for fear of portraying any Yank as disreputable, or the Yank in question gets instantly forgotten, tossed on the pile of other disposable blockbuster bad guys. Dafoe has already proved his credentials once, and almost two decades later, I’m sure he’d do the business again. If he ends up joining the franchise, that is. As at this point, he’s only being eyed.
Humour me with a total flight of fantasy for a second though. Supposing Raimi does get the Doctor Strange gig, it’s not implausible that Dafoe’s character could be teased in that film. There’s a possibility bound to wet the lips of internet message boards the world over. Raimi, Dafoe, the MCU…the stars could be aligning. Though there’s also an equal chance that none of what I’ve just written comes to pass. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
