Willem Dafoe is reportedly in talks to reprise his role as Norman Osborn/Green Goblin in a future Marvel project. While no official confirmation has been made, insider sources suggest discussions are underway. As the MCU continues to expand its multiverse narrative, speculation about returning characters and iconic villains is increasing.
Willem Dafoe could be back as Spider-Man villain, Norman Osborn
According to a post from industry scooper @MyTimeToShineHello on X (formerly Twitter): “Willem Dafoe is in talks to come back as Norman Osborn/Green Goblin.” No further details have been provided regarding whether this would be for Spider-Man 4, future Avengers films, or other MCU projects post-Secret Wars.
Dafoe first portrayed Norman Osborn in 2002’s Spider-Man, with his character meeting a comic-accurate end. He later returned as a haunting spectre in Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man 3 and reprised the Green Goblin role in Spider-Man: No Way Home, where Norman killed Aunt May and nearly pushed Peter Parker to the brink of murder.
In No Way Home, Norman was cured and returned to his reality, leaving fans to question if his return created a new timeline or introduced heroic variants. The potential return of Dafoe’s Green Goblin could answer these lingering questions.
On the possibility of returning, Dafoe stated in 2024 while promoting Nosferatu, “We’ll see. We’ll see [Laughs]. I could come back. Listen, Tom [Holland] was great to work with and the whole series of Spider-Man films that I did were great fun. Great fun.” (via ComicBookMovie)
Before that, in a 2023 interview with Inverse, Dafoe had said, “If everything was right, sure. I mean, that’s a great role. 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.”
The rumor has sparked speculation about where Dafoe’s return might fit within the MCU’s future projects, though official confirmation is yet to be announced.
Originally reported by Anubhav Chaudhry on SuperHeroHype.
