When Spider-Man: No Way Home’s trailer showed the return of fan-favorite villains like Green Goblin, Doc Ock and Electro, the question we had in mind following the promo was whether or not Andrew Garfield would return. He played the web-slinging hero in Marc Webb’s Amazing Spider-Man movies, but a third movie was scrapped when the Marvel hero moved to the MCU to join the Avengers crew. As we saw the British actor make his return to No Way Home, his Amazing Spider-Man co-star, Dane DeHaan, recalls when he also got a whirlwind of questions if he’d come back too.
As we know Garfield said yes to returning as Spider-Man for No Way Home, there were rumors on if we’d see the return of his nemesis too. Dane DeHaan, who played Harry Osborn/The Green Goblin, spoke to ScreenRant about being given a whirlwind of questions from fans who were making their own theories about his return:
I have no idea what's going on over there. When Andrew was making the latest Spider-Man, I didn't know it was happening, and people kept asking me like, ‘Are you in the Spider-Man movie?’ I was like, ‘What the fuck are you talking about?’
So much happened at the end of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 that was left unfinished. Peter lost the love of his life, and his nemesis Harry Osborn, who'd been jailed at the Ravenscroft Institute, revealed he was forming a new team, which we know as The Sinister Six. But with a third Amazing Spider-Man movie canceled, we had no idea what was to come of Andrew Garfield’s Peter or Harry Osborn for that matter.
When looking back at all of the Spider-Man: No Way Home returning character rumors, we weren’t exactly crossing our fingers with hope that DeHaan’s Green Goblin would return. While the Oppenheimer actor gave a very convincing performance playing Peter’s old friend-turned-foe character, we didn’t have much time with the character for him to feel iconic.
When No Way Home’s trailer revealed Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin, this was a real treat for fans of the Sam Raimi movies. Norman Osborn performance as Green Goblin makes Spider-Man one of Dafoe’s best movies, and he had a memorable presence in the trilogy as the villain we loved to hate. With Dane DeHaan’s Goblin, he would have needed more movies and development to anticipate his character’s return.
But, there’s no need to feel bad for Dane DeHaan not being asked to reprise the Green Goblin. He actually expressed a disinterest in bringing Harry back. While the Chronicle actor said he would have been open to doing more Amazing Spider-Man movies if the Marc Webb series continued with its original plan, he felt that it’s been a long time since he played the villainous role that he’d want to try something new. As the 38-year-old actor’s newest movies have been biopics like Oppenheimer and Dumb Money, I’d say he’s come a long way since the superhero flick.
With so many iconic characters from the Spider-Man movies making their way into MCU’s No Way Home, Dane DeHaan remembers being flabbergasted when asked if he was coming back as Green Goblin. It seems like Andrew Garfield’s co-star has been completely out of the loop on Marvel news and wasn’t approached about the possibility of returning. On the other hand, it appears like DeHaan is ready to move on to other projects compared to reappearing in the superhero realm again. Y
ou can see him in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, which is available on your Netflix subscription and your Disney+ subscription.
