The updates on Spider-Man 4 and its cast have been scarce, but Willem Dafoe has teased his return as Green Goblin. There’s a lot that fans are yet to find out about Spider-Man 4’s plot and villain(s). But, Dafoe has certainly shown interest in returning as Norman Osborn.
Willem Dafoe says his Green Goblin ‘could come back’ for Spider-Man 4
While promoting his latest horror film, Nosferatu, Dafoe was asked whether fans would ever get to see if Norman Osborn safely made it back to his universe after Spider-Man: No Way Home. Though the actor didn’t give a straight answer about his future in the MCU or Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man universe, he shared his willingness to return if Marvel asked for it.
Speaking with Entertainment Tonight, Dafoe said:
“We’ll see. We’ll see. I could come back. Tom was great to work with, and the whole series of Spider-Man films that I did were great fun.”
Not a lot is known about the plot and cast of Spider-Man 4 at the time of writing. Some rumors have suggested that Spider-Man 4 will be a grounded story taking place strictly in the MCU’s Earth-616. Others have teased that a multiversal aspect might be present.
But, the only hint of the film’s story came from producer Amy Pascal, who recently teased what fans should expect from Tom Holland’s next Spider-Man outing. On Deadline‘s Behind the Lens, she said:
“We have to deal with the fact that he decided he was going to give up being Peter Parker, and that he was going to focus on being Spider-Man because being Peter Parker was too hard. So that’s what the movie is about.”
Now, whether Willem Dafoe’s Norman Osborn fits into this and gets to make a return in Spider-Man 4 remains to be seen. The film is set to hit theaters on July 24, 2026. Hence, fans should expect new details to be revealed as the film gets closer to production in 2025.
