Willem Dafoe Reveals Why He's Open To A Return As The Green Goblin

Willem Dafoe said he’s open to playing Norman Osborn, aka the Green Goblin, again “if everything was right.”

Dafoe, played the Green Goblin in the 2002 film “Spider-Man” and again in the 2021 movie “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” explained his feelings toward his iconic performance as the villain during an interview with Inverse published this week.

“I mean, that’s a great role,” Dafoe said.

“I liked the fact that it’s a double role both times. Twenty years ago, and fairly recently, both times [were] very different experiences, but I had a good time on both.”

Dafoe, who stars in the newly-released film “Inside,” has been open about his love for the role in the past.

He told Vanity Fair in 2019 that he did a screen test for the part in “Spider-Man” from his hotel room in Spain.

“That’s how I got the role, I had to fight for that role,” Dafoe said.

“My friends were like, ‘Really? You’re going to make a cartoon movie?’ Some of them snobbed it, but I thought, ‘No, this’ll be cool, this is interesting.’ Movies from comics were not a normal thing. It felt like something new.”

Dafoe, among several actors considered for the part, including Nicolas Cage and John Malkovich, told GQ in 2019 that his “more interesting role” in “Spider-Man” was his one as a father.

“You could play these scenes where it would switch from comedy to drama in a line,” said Dafoe, who referred to the Thanksgiving dinner scene.

“There’s a couple of scenes that still make me laugh because they’re so double-edged, and they go back and forth between being really heavy and really kind of silly. And the movie is filled with that.”