Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man will always be hailed as the movie that laid the groundwork for future comic book movies to come and dominate the box office. Having redefined the superhero genre, the film proved that the genre was well deserving of being explored and achieving critical and commercial success.
It has been more than two decades since the movie was released, yet footage and BTS scenes from the film continue to make rounds on the internet. Recently, a newly reshared video features the test footage of Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin’s initial look, and fans claim they were robbed of greatness.
Test Footage From Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man Featuring Green Goblin Goes Viral
Sam Raimi‘s Spider-Man (2002) was and is one of the best comic book movies ever to be made. Starring Tobey Maguire as the iconic web-slinger, the movie forever changed the face of superhero films and the box office. Credited to have played a crucial role in shaping the overall landscape of the comic book genre, the movie made a significant cultural impact and continues to influence cinema, as far as superhero flicks are concerned.
However, it was Willem Dafoe‘s portrayal of Green Goblin that stole the spotlight and is generally considered to be one portrayals of all time. Today, it is hard to imagine any other actor in the role, and his reappearance in Spider-Man: No Way Home seemed like a full-circle moment.
Yet, despite his incredible portrayal, Green Goblin’s looks were heavily criticized, thanks to the metallic mask he wore. Initially, he was supposed to wear an animatronic mask created by Amalgamated Dynamics (see THR). Not only did it look creepy, but it would have easily covered the range of emotions and depicted the creepiness that Goblin had, which can be seen from the recently viral footage of the mask.
Green Goblin animatronic test for Sam Raimi’s ‘Spider-Man’pic.twitter.com/miROecQXCp
— Marvel Facts (@MarveIFacts) April 24, 2024
Yet, Dafoe and Raimi had it changed (see THR and Variety), instead adopting the present design seen in the movie. As the footage from the test screening featuring the original mask went viral, fans exclaimed that the original mask was way better.
Fans Enraged As Green Goblin’s Original Mask from Spider-Man Goes Viral
In Spider-Man: No Way Home, Green Goblin can be seen sans the mask that many appeared to hate during his initial outing. Willem Dafoe, while conversing with Variety, remarked it was probably because of the criticism that Green Goblin’s mask received following the original Spider-Man’s release.
While they made the right choice in No Way Home, fans reckon they should have rather kept the original mask in the original movie thanks to how creepy and accurate it looked.
Looks like straight outa horror movie
— Ironman (@Ironman69989128) April 24, 2024
We were robbed.
— J Moore (@JMichielM) April 24, 2024
wow, this is 100 times better than what they decided to go with
— Omer Kulaksiz (@OmerKulaksiz1) April 24, 2024
We were robbed with greatness pic.twitter.com/Shl8SzF7QA
— Nicholas Walker (@nwalker94) April 24, 2024
Damn this was so much better. Why didn’t they use it
— CVlovesU (@CVlovesU7645) April 24, 2024
While others remarked that Willem Dafoe could have easily brought the same effect without the use of masks or prosthetics, others exclaimed the portrayal would have been 10 times better had they used the original mask.
Yet some fans were considerate of Dafoe, who probably would have had the hardest time of his life wearing the uncomfortable mask. While the past is the past and cannot be changed, fans hope that if the MCU were ever to introduce their version of Green Goblin, they adapt something similar to the initial animatronic mask.
Spider-Man and Spider-Man: Far From Home can be streamed on Disney+.
