A new poster for Spider-Man: No Way Home has all but confirmed Willem Dafoe will be returning to the franchise as the supervillain Green Goblin.
The latest film in the MCU’s Spider-Man film series is due out before the end of the year and has for months had fans convinced that classic characters from past versions of the Spider-Man films will be appearing together in one epic tale.
Tom Holland is back for the third in his Spider-Man film series playing Peter Parker - while Zendaya is returning as MJ, Marisa Tomei is back as aunt May Parker and Jon Favreau is returning as Harold ‘Happy’ Hogan.
But it is expected that a host of characters from films directed by Sam Raimi and Marc Webb spanning 20 years will be uniting together in the new movie – which will explore the multi-verse; a scientific theory that other universes almost identical to our own exist that are running concurrently during time.
A new poster for No Way Home show’s Spider-Man preparing to battle Doctor Octopus – with the mad scientist’s deadly metal appendages preparing to strike the superhero.
While in the background of the poster, the iconic villain Green Goblin can be seen preparing to join the battle as he flies towards Spider-Man on his glider.
The official synopsis of the film states: “With Spider-Man’s identity now revealed, our friendly neighborhood web-slinger is unmasked and no longer able to separate his normal life as Peter Parker from the high stakes of being a superhero. When Peter asks for help from Doctor Strange, the stakes become even more dangerous, forcing him to discover what it truly means to be Spider-Man.”
Fans of the Spider-Man film series will no doubt recall that the web slinger was unmasked as Peter Parker in a final act of vengeance by Jake Gyllenhaal’s Quentin Beck, aka Mysterio, at the end of the last film, Far From Home.
The trailer for the new film show’s Peter turning to Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange to ask him to wipe the memory of everyone in the world from remembering he is Spider-Man.
Disaster is unleashed, however, when something goes wrong while the spell is being cast – splitting the multi-verse and allowing characters from other dimensions to spill into Peter’s reality.
As a consequence, character’s from past Spider-Man films are seen and hinted at in film trailers and posters – including Alfred Molina as Doctor Otto Octavius, aka Doctor Octopus, and Willem Dafoe’s Norman Osborn, aka Green Goblin.
While Alfred has been confirmed as returning as he features in trailers, Willem has so far only been tipped to be reprising his characters from Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy – which were in cinemas between 2002 and 2007.
The new poster show's the Green Goblin character looking identical to the version seen in the Raimi films – which Willem performed in.
It is expected that Jamie Foxx will reprise his role as Max Dillon, aka Electro, from the 2014 film The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – directed by Marc Webb.
While the new film is also tipped to include actors Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield reprising their own iterations of Peter Parker – aka Spider-Man.
Further rumours surrounding the film suggest Kirsten Dunst could return as Mary Jane, Emma Stone as Gwen Stacey – that Tom Hardy could feature as Venom, and even Charlie Cox as Matt Murdock, aka Daredevil, form the cancelled Netflix superhero TV series.
The film is also tipped to link into the hit Disney + TV series Loki which first explored the multi-verse being ripped open when Jonathan Majors’ timeline overlord He Who Remains fooled the character Sylvie into killing him – allowing devious multi-verse versions of himself to break out of their dimensions.
Spider-Man: No Way Home is due to hit cinemas on December 17.
