Tom Holland found Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin terrifying while filming Spider-Man: No Way Home’s most brutal fight scene. Holland admitted to finding his Marvel Cinematic Universe colleague ” so scary” during a behind the scenes snippet on the recently released No Way Home Blu-Ray.
In the clip, which has been released online by Screen Rant, we see fight collaborator Jason Spidell describing the fight between the Goblin (Dafoe) and Spider-Man (Holland). Spidell explains they wanted to make Parker’s battle with the most evil Spider-Man villain as violent, brutal, and as, “big as it could be”. The second unit director and stunt coordinator George Cottle then explains which scene scared Holland.
The moment in question comes towards the end of the fight, where Spidey is wailing on the Green Goblin while he’s pinned against a wall. Despite the beating, the deranged villain lets out a maniacal cackle that apparently sent shivers down the spine of everyone on set and made Holland stop his pretend attack on Dafoe to tell his onscreen nemesis, “Woah, that was so scary.”
The Green Goblin has long been considered Spidey’s most heinous villain (although I’ve always had a fondness for Doctor Octopus), with Dafoe’s performance, hailed as one of the best interpretations of the character.
So much so that Sam Raimi was actually criticised when he released his 2002 action movie Spider-Man for covering the actor’s face. Many people claimed he should have left Dafoe unmasked as his manic face was scarier than any mask a costume department could make.
Clearly, No Way Home director Jon Watts agreed as he made the decision to do away with Norman’s goblin helmet very early in the MCU movie.