Spider-Man: No Coming Home unmasks the Green Goblin to reveal Norman Osborn’s face, but actor Willem Dafoe had to keep his identity hidden while directing the secret Sony and Marvel film. Dafoe, who first played the Marvel villain opposite Tobey Maguire in 2002 Spider Man, was kept under wraps until the film’s second trailer confirmed the Green Goblin’s return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Early trailers for the film only hinted at Dafoe’s return, later showing the Goblin entering the MCU along with former villains Doctor Octopus (Alfred Molina), Sandman (Thomas Haden Church), Lizard (Rhys Ifans), and Electro ( Jamie Foxx).
“They did it beautifully. These Marvel movies have such a strong fanbase. People are so curious about them. Even when they’re made, people try to figure out what’s going on,” Dafoe said on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. “They decided they were going to keep some things secret.”
This includes the two Spider-Men played by Maguire and Andrew Garfield, who have since appeared in promotional material but have been kept entirely out of trailers and other marketing tools.
“When I went on set, they would put me in a black cape and always take me in a car with darkened windows. And they didn’t want me hanging around because they didn’t want anyone to know that I was in town doing a movie. And I didn’t think it would work, but actually, it did,” Dafoe said. “Just before the movie came out, they started hinting at things in trailers. So that was cool.
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When a spell cast by Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) to make the world forget Peter Parker’s secret identity backfires, freeing the multiverse, villains destined to die battling Spider-Man form a sinister team to stay. in the MCU. Dafoe’s Green Goblin ditches his iconic armor from the 2002 film and debuts a new look: a hooded version without a mask.
With Tom Holland, Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, Zendaya, Marisa Tomei, Willem Dafoe, Alfred Molina, Jamie Foxx and Benedict Cumberbatch, Spider-Man: No Coming Home now plays exclusively in theaters. See when Spider-Man: No Coming Home is available to own on digital.
