We just had three Spider-Man movies centered around the threat of the Green Goblin, Peter Parker’s arch nemesis. But we really only saw the tip of the iceberg: Willem Dafoe played Norman Osborn in each film, pushing and cajoling his son Harry (James Franco) to take up the family business. When he ultimately did, he looked nothing like an actual Goblin. GOBLIN FAIL. With The Amazing Spider-Man 2, however, Marc Webb isn’t making those mistakes: he’s going full Goblin.
This is your first full look at Dane DeHaan as Harry Osborn, the new Green Goblin, in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (heads up to Coming Soon). And, to be honest… it looks pretty Willem Dafoe-y. Which doesn’t really matter, since Dafoe was mostly buried underneath a Power Rangers mask in those movies, but still, sort of amusing. In the Raimi films, the Goblin serum and suit was being used for more of a military application, but the end result was like discount Nightbreed cosplay. This result, with the tubing, the metallic enhancements and the Oscorp logo (who needs a secret identity anyway?), actually seems more plausibly militaristic. Man, Oscorp. Nothing good comes out of you. It doesn’t even look like you have a great dental plan.
It’s been suggested that we’re not getting a lot of DeHaan’s Goblin in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, which likely means he lives on for a sequel. Given Oscorp’s resources, it’s easy to see him funding The Sinister Six, though what we’d really want to see is getting all those goblins together in one movie, because Spidey fought a lot of Goblins. Memory is hazy here, so I’m going back to Wikipedia, but there have been FIVE Green Goblins in the character’s history, including an entirely synthetic one created by Norman Osborn. Daily Bugle reporter Phil Urich also served as one of the Green Goblins: you might remember Joe Pantoliano as Urich in the Daredevil movie, where he worked for the New York Post.
But wait! Don’t forget the Hobgoblins! Created almost twenty years after the Green Goblin, there were EIGHT villains to serve underneath the mask of the Hobgoblin (including Urich, who can’t seem to get his identity straight). Hobgoblin also had a goblin mask and pumpkin bombs and a glider, and Marvel just loved sending him out into battle. Later, Marvel would fuse the identity of the Hobgoblin with a demon, creating the Demogoblin, who flew on the wings of a fiery hell-glider. Sony is planning Venom and Sinister Six movies, but maybe they’re missing out on the potential for an awesome multi-camera sitcom about a bunch of Goblins who just can’t get along. Consider it, TV Land.
