Willem Dafoe Was Cast as the Green Goblin After Billy Bob Thornton Rejected the Role in ‘Spider-Man’
The first Spider-Man film featured Willem Dafoe as the superhero’s arch-nemesis, which was a role he’d later reprise in No Way Home. But originally, Monster’s Ball star Billy Bob Thornton was courted for the Green Goblin.
Billy Bob Thornton once revealed he turned down the Green Goblin in ‘Spider-Man’
Thornton has proven himself to be one of Hollywood’s most versatile stars. The veteran actor has starred in powerful dramas like Sling Blade and Monster’s Ball, but also lent his talents to more lighthearted material such as Bad Santa. But Thornton asserted that most of his characters had the trait of being ‘very flawed’ in common.
“Generally, I play the guy who on the surface looks like he is something but by the end you realize this was the guy who knew what he was talking about. I’ve never had the desire to be the bad guy to the big movie star. I think it’s not a good career move,” Thornton once told MTV News.
But Thornton had the opportunity to play the villain in the 2002 film Spider-Man. It was a part that Dafoe didn’t even have to audition for at the time.
“[Sam Raimi] offered me the part of the bad guy, the surfing guy,” he said.
Ultimately, Thornton turned down the character because of his aversion from villain roles. Among other reasons.
“I told Sam, ‘I just can’t be in makeup that long.’ I’d go crazy. But frankly I was never interested in being the bad guy. For some reason people think that I’ve played the bad guy a lot, but I really haven’t,” Thornton said.
Willem Dafoe auditioned for the Green Goblin in a competitive process
Thornton turning down the role led to a long search for Raimi’s next Green Goblin. Dafoe was interested in the part thanks to Raimi’s fresh take on superhero mythology.
“Initially, what attracted me to it was Sam Raimi and just this fairly new idea of making a film out of these comic book characters. There was an audition process — probably the last time that I can remember that I put myself on tape for an audition. It was competitive,” Dafoe once said on Variety.
After clinching the part, Dafoe was a bit relieved that they’d changed the Goblin’s appearance to the more armored look he sported in Spider-Man. Dafoe noted that the Green Goblin’s original look might not have translated well on the big screen.
“The challenge was always to not make the Goblin ridiculous, make him a little scary. And I think, because technology was involved, they went with a very angular, very modern kind of look, more like an armor. Some of the early tests I saw, the Goblin looked more like a Halloween mask, this kind of puke green with bug eyes. It was kind of silly looking,” he said.
Willem Dafoe wanted to reprise his role as the Green Goblin in ‘No Way Home’ under a few conditions
Dafoe’s performance as Green Goblin has been heavily praised as one of the original film’s highlights. History repeated itself not too long ago in Spider-Man: No Way Home, which saw Dafoe revisit his character. It was a part that he enjoyed in the 2020s as much as he did in the 2000s.
“If everything was right, sure,” Dafoe once told Inverse. “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.”
Still, Dafoe asserted that a couple of conditions were absolutely necessary to ensure his return to the Spider-Man world.
“I really didn’t want to do a cameo,” Dafoe said in an interview with The Mary Sue. “I wanted to make sure there was something substantial enough to do that wasn’t just a tip of the hat. And the other thing was, I said I really want there to be action — I want to take part in action scenes. Because that’s really fun for me. It’s the only way to root the character. Otherwise, it just becomes a series of memes.”
