Actor Willem Dafoe, who portrayed the Green Goblin in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy, recently criticized the bad CGI in No Way Home. The film brought together multiple versions of Spider-Man and his iconic villains, requiring intense CGI work to de-age the actors to resemble their last appearance, which in some cases was over two decades ago. Dafoe was questioned about his involvement in the de-aging process during an auto-complete interview with WIRED.
He stated that he did not believe he was de-aged with CGI for No Way Home and criticized the effect as “silly” because “they don’t have [de-aging] down yet.” However, VFX supervisor Kelly Port revealed that Dafoe was subject to some “very minimal” de-aging work, which retained all the facial detail from the original photography. Dafoe’s Green Goblin is one of the most iconic villains in the Spider-Man franchise, and the actor left the door open to reprising the role in the future.
He stated that he would only return “if everything was right,” but noted that playing the villain was a “great role” with a double character. The actor also shared that he enjoyed playing the role in both the original trilogy and No Way Home. The movie’s de-aging CGI has been a topic of discussion since its release, with some viewers finding it distracting and others praising it as impressive. The technology is still relatively new to Hollywood, having been around since 2006’s X-Men: The Last Stand but only really coming into play prominently in the last few years.
VFX houses are still working out the kinks to allow these youthful versions of actors to appear more life-like than ever. No Way Home’s use of de-aging CGI was particularly challenging, as it had to de-age multiple actors to different points in time. For example, Alfred Molina’s Doc Ock had to be de-aged to resemble his 2004 appearance, while Dafoe and Thomas Haden Church’s Sandman had to be de-aged to resemble their appearances in the Sam Raimi trilogy. The most impressive work was done with Molina, who now barely resembles his 2004 look but appears just as youthful as ever in No Way Home.
Despite the challenges, No Way Home’s de-aging CGI was largely successful in bringing back iconic versions of Spider-Man’s villains. The film has been a critical and commercial success, breaking box office records and receiving praise from fans and critics alike. With the film’s success, it’s possible that we could see more de-aged versions of actors in future films, and Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin could be among them.
What are your thoughts regarding the bad CGI in No Way Home? Let us know in the comments.
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