An old prank clip from Spider-Man 2 ironically foreshadowed the returns of the Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe) and Doctor Octopus (Alfred Molina) in Spider-Man: No Way Home. The third Spider-Man film set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is set to break the Multiverse when Peter Parker (Tom Holland) seeks the help of Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) to magically solve the problem of his secret identity becoming publicly known. Strange and Spider-Man end up opening a gateway to characters from the previous Spider-Man movies directed by Sam Raimi and Marc Webb.
Spider-Man 2 is arguably the best of Sam Raimi’s trilogy and it’s still regarded as one of the finest superhero movies ever made. In Spider-Man 2, Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) faces genius scientist Dr. Otto Octavius, who becomes corrupted by the mechanical tentacles he invented and becomes the villainous Doctor Octopus. Spider-Man 2 ramped up the superhero action and the personal drama between Peter, Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst), and Harry Osborn (James Franco) while Molina created a Big Bad in Doc Ock who is both menacing and sympathetic. Of course, Molina had a high standard to match, which was set by Willem Dafoe as Norman Osborn/Green Gobin in the first Spider-Man.
An old clip that showed Willem Dafoe and Sam Raimi pranking Alfred Molina during Spider-Man 2‘s production was shared by Jarett Wieselman on Twitter. In the hilarious video, Raimi coaches Molina about “better acting” and he shows his actor “what [the studio] wants,” which turns out to be Willem Dafoe wearing Doc Ock’s metal arms and reciting his dialogue from the scene where Dr. Octavius demonstrates his technology to the press. Molina is beside himself laughing at Dafoe stepping in for him, and the prank goes over like gangbusters. But Dafoe and Molina couldn’t have known that both of their classic supervillains would return in another Spider-Man movie almost 20 years later.
![Old Prank Clip From Spider-Man 2 Foreshadowed No Way Home](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Willem-Dafoe-Spider-Man-2-prank.jpg)
Willem Dafoe’s comeback as the Green Goblin (which is still unconfirmed by Marvel and Sony) and Alfred Molina’s return as Doctor Octopus are two of the biggest selling points of Spider-Man: No Way Home. Jon Watts’ Spider-Man movies set in the MCU purposely avoided repeating villains used in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy and Marc Webb’s The Amazing Spider-Man movies, which makes Tom Holland’s Spidey meeting Tobey Maguire’s most iconic adversaries a can’t-miss event. Since Osborn and Octavius haven’t shown up in the MCU, it’s also possible that both villains could cross over and become the MCU’s Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus as well.
Indeed, Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin is rightfully regarded as one of the most iconic villains in superhero movies, and Alfred Molina’s Doctor Octopus shares the same high esteem. Both actors were perfectly cast and they’re both so good and memorable that it’s understandable why the MCU hasn’t even attempted its own versions of Green Goblin and Doc Ock. (The same can be said for J.K. Simmons’ J. Jonah Jameson, who joined the MCU in Spider-Man: Far From Home.) It’s a testament to how well Sam Raimi cast his villains and how beloved his Spider-Man movies still are that Spider-Man: No Way Home is importing both the Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus into the MCU.
While it’s not clear if Willem Dafoe’s Goblin and Alfred Molina’s Doc Ock will get to share the screen in Spider-Man: No Way Home, it’s funny how prescient Dafoe dropping by Spider-Man 2‘s set to don Doctor Octopus’ arms and prank Molina turned out to be.
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