Marvel Studios choose its cast members very carefully, and when it comes to casting the villains, the studio selects its actors with meticulous details because the right actor will become a strong and compelling antagonist in the story. One such villain is Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin in Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man 1 and Tom Holland’s Spider-Man: No Way Home, the viewers love the character for his vengeful and power-hungry personality and fans love the actor for his authentic portrayal of the villain.
While it is unfathomable to imagine someone else other than Willem Dafoe playing the iconic role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Billy Bob Thornton shared that the iconic role went to Dafoe after he turned down the opportunity to play the role of Green Goblin in Sam Raini’s Spider-Man 1.
Billy Bob Thornton Refused To Be Remembered As A Villain in The MCU
Billy Bob Thornton has always been remembered as an actor who has lived his characters in the movies or TV Shows he has appeared in, proving himself as one of the most versatile actors in the movie industry. Some of his most renowned works include working in dramas such as Monster’s Ball, Goliath, 1883, Sling Blade, and many more.
While talking to MTV News, Thornton talked about the kind of roles he likes to play in a movie or TV Series, and how all of his characters had the trait of being “very flawed” is common all of them, as well as shared why he doesn’t prefer to play the villain in his movies or TV Shows.
“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.”
The Bad Santa actor shared that he had the opportunity to portray the role of Norman Osborn/ Green Goblin in the Marvel movie. However, he chose not to play the role because of his aversion to being an antagonist as well as he “can’t be in a makeup that long.”
“[Sam Raimi] offered me the part of the bad guy, the surfing guy. 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.”
Since Billy Bob Thornton rejected the role, it led Sam Raini to go on a quest to look for an actor to play the role of Green Goblin, which interested Willem Dafoe to have a fresh take on the role.
Willem Dafoe Fought Tooth and Nail For The Role of Green Goblin
During an exclusive interview with Variety, Willem Dafoe shared how the role of Green Goblin attracted him in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and Raini’s fresh take on the genre made it more alluring. However, the actor recalled his audition process as “competitive,” because of the requirements.
“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.”
The American Psycho actor continued that after he secured the role of Green Goblin, he was relieved but it was short-lived because he face the challenge of making the character look scary, and he felt that the original look of the Marvel villain would not have gone well for the eccentric billionaire.
“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.”
Well, it is safe to say that Thornton’s rejection of the role of Green Goblin was just a canon event, as it was necessary to lead the role to Willem Dafoe, who plays the role with perfection and fans love the portrayal of the iconic Marvel villain.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 1 can be streamed on Netflix.
Source: MTV News
