Norman Osborn (Willem Dafoe)

WARNING! Spoilers ahead! This article may reveal some pointers such as ones from the Manga or Light Novel of certain anime.‎

Norman Osborn I've watched you from deep behind Norman's cowardly eyes. Struggling to have everything you want, while the world tries to make you choose. Gods don't have to choose. We take. Gender: Male Type: Vengefully Power-Hungry Anti-Villain Age: 60 Species: Mutated Human Portrayed by: Willem Dafoe Status: Dead (Spider-Man (2002)) Alive; cured (Spider-Man: No Way Home) Media of origin: Sam Raimi's Spider-Man

"Well, to each his own. I chose my path, you chose the way of the hero. And they found you amusing for a while, the people of this city. But the one thing they love more than a hero is to see a hero fail, fall, die trying. In spite of everything you've done for them, eventually they will hate you. Why bother?"

— Green Goblin

Norman Osborn (also known as Green Goblin) is the main antagonist of the 2002 film Spider-Man and the 2021 film Spider-Man: No Way Home.

Why He's Something of A Scientist Himself

1. Willem Dafoe committed to the role very well. He made the character haunting.
2. He is considered one of the best supervillains in cinema history rivaling the popularity of Doctor Octopus from Spider-Man 2, Joker from The Dark Knight, Thanos from the MCU and many others.
3. Norman talking to his Goblin persona is effectively creepy.
4. He is a sympathetic villain done right, as he struggles with maintaining his company and his responsibilities as a father. The scene where he's kicked out of his own company is very sympathetic as well, since he was betrayed by his own board members and forced out of the company he worked for so many years to build. He also genuinely loves his son Harry, and the moment where Norman apologizes to his son while embracing him is very touching.
5. He is one of Peter's most deadly and dangerous foes, psychologically tormenting him and pushing him to his very limit.
6. His posthumous cameos in the rest of the Raimi series were good as well, and his influence turned Harry into the New Goblin.
7. When he returns in No Way Home, Willem Dafoe manages to make both aspects of his character even better, making Norman more sympathetic while also making the Green Goblin more menacing.
   • In No Way Home, he destroys the Goblin mask, so during the final battle, thanks to it revealing his face, he was even more terrifying than he was in the original movie.
   • During their first fight, the Goblin is absolutely unstoppable. He barely reacts to MCU Peter's blows, completely destroys him with his own, and is relentless in his pursuit of him and does not stop coming. He probably would have killed him if not for May intervening. The second time around, Peter wants revenge for May's death, and he stops pulling his punches, subjecting the Goblin to a downright brutal No-Holds-Barred Beatdown before being a split-second from outright killing him.
8. The Green Goblin manages to be an even bigger threat than in the first movie, corrupting the other villains (except Doc Ock) and convincing them to rebel and embrace their role as villains and nearly destroying the Multiverse.
9. He acts as an even more personal threat to the MCU Peter than he was to his own version of Peter. He kills MCU Peter's Aunt May, taunting Peter over his cowardice and mercy, driving Peter to embrace his darker impulses and nearly succeeds in corrupting him into taking vengeance against him.
   • MCU Peter would've turned evil like Goblin if Tobey's Peter hadn't interfered and stopped his younger variant from killing him.
   • Goblin even stabs Toby's Peter in the back after he prevents MCU Peter from killing him.
10. A lot of his quotes are memorable such asː
    • "You know, I'm something of a scientist myself"
    • "You can't do this to me. Haha. YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I SACRIFICED!?"
    • "I offered you friendship and you spat in my face"
    • "Gods don't have to choose, we take"
    • "You and I are not so different"
    • "Back to formula?"
    • "Out, am I?"
    • "Ohǃ"
    • "Because you never know when some lunatic will come along with the sadistic choice: let die the woman you love, or suffer the little children"
    • "The cunning warrior attacks neither body, nor mind"
    • "Can the Spider-Man come out to play?"
    • "This is why only fools are heroes"
    • "That's some neat trick, that sense of yours"
    • "I’ve been burning bridges all day but I think I’ll just knock this one down!"
    • "Strong enough to have it all, too weak to take it!"
    • "Peter, Peter, Peter! No good deed goes unpunished, you can thank me later.",
    • "Poor Peter. Too weak to send me home to die"
    • "Norman's on sabbatical honeyǃ"
    • "I may have struck a blow, but you're the one who killed her!"
    • "AVENGE ME!"

Bad Qualities

1. As iconic as Norman's Goblin Suit is, it looks like a discarded Power Rangers villain costume. Not to mention, the mask covering Dafoe's entire face did not give him enough to for facial expressions. Thankfully, this was fixed in No Way Home, where the movie gets rid of his mask, allowing the audience to see the Goblin's facial expressions and making him more terrifying.
2. His plan wasn’t really explained very well as we don’t know if he wants to take over, destroy New York City, or if it was a bit of both.

Trivia

• Dafoe said that the Green Goblin is one of his favorite roles of his career.
• Dafoe returned to voice the Green Goblin in the 2002 Spider-Man video game alongside Tobey Maguire.

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