Spider-Man: No Way Home‘s most essential part was the return of all the villains in the movie. We got to see the actors from the previous Spider-Man movies reprise their roles as villains. Instead of just giving these villains just an appearance, the movie actually allows them to have some significant character development. The main villain was portrayed by Green Goblin himself as he returns in all his glory for the movie. Almost every villain was given a slight update that actually gave a chance for them to be really challenging for Spidey. Getting rid of Green Goblin’s mask in Spider-Man: No Way Home seemed like an interesting choice for the character and it actually worked out.
Spider-Man: No Way Home
The two characters who were confirmed for the third and final addition to Jon Watts’ Homecoming trilogy included Alfred Molina as Doctor Octopus and Jamie Foxx as Electro. This is rather interesting considering the first trailer for the movie indicated a possible appearance from Green Goblin. Fans were excited to hear the ominous laughter that Willem Dafoe’s character was renowned for. The second trailer actually gave a complete look at the character donning the classic costume along with the scary mask.
The movie also shows Green Goblin right exactly like that but to much surprise, the character does not don his mask for long. He is seen giving up on this mask and for the rest of the movie, he appears to be without his mask. This came as quite a shock to the fans as there was a significant update to his costume. The narrative actually saw his character in continuation from the very moment he was about to fight Spider-Man in Sam Raimi’s first Spider-Man.
Green Goblin in Spider-Man
Willem Dafoe’s portrayal of Norman Osborne had received quite an extraordinary amount of praise with the actor nailing the role without any of the costumes. But at the same time, the rather inexpressive form of the character when putting on the mask actually received criticism. The mask was taken from the comics and sometimes these things when picked directly from the comics might not actually work in a live-action interpretation. The mask appears to be more of a helmet and it actually takes away the really expressive effort Willem Dafoe had put on the mask.
How a Green Goblin Without Mask was Better
Once the character is introduced, we don’t see him wearing the mask anymore until the very end of Spider-Man: No Way Home. This definitely helps with the narrative as the character plays a very significant role amongst the other villains who show up in the MCU. His transition into the Green Goblin persona is something that is perfectly executed by Dafoe using his expression and his voice. The internal battle that the character faces could only be expressed by him in some limited ways. One of the most essential parts of it is definitely the facial expression that could be quite difficult to be depicted under a mask.
As the character appears in the MCU he is lost and Norman is trying to come to terms with this massive transition. There is not much that he can do because he is actually completely unaware of the way that things work in this universe. He destroys the mask in a particular scene and that actually works because now the fans are also left wondering where the character would go from this moment. Plus the new suit actually fits into the way the character is depicted in the modern world instead of sticking to the old depiction.
Norman hiding his identity in his own universe would make sense considering he is a significant person and Oscorp might be affected by his identity reveal. Willem Dafoe excels in the character and delivers a perfect performance to challenge Tom Holland’s Spider-Man in the movie. These emotions and the expressions make him a much more sinister persona that actually helps in giving way to his character to establish itself in the narrative. Spider-Man: No Way Home is in theaters now.
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