One of the coolest Easter Eggs to come from a Spider-Man game is one that few gamers know about – an unlockable bonus in the 2002 Spider-Man movie tie-in. All three of Sam Raimi’s influential live-action Spider-Man films were adapted into video games that retold the story of each movie and added a few additional plotlines and villains from the comics.
While these extra elements weren’t canon to the big-screen Spider-Man films each game was based on, these tie-in titles were popular at the time for providing a look at what certain Spider-Man villains could have looked like in Raimi’s universe. The video game version of 2004’s Spider-Man 2 was particularly noteworthy for being the first open-world Spider-Man game, a formula that Insomniac would later build upon to great effect for its own Marvel’s Spider-Man series. Its more linear predecessor, however, had one of the most interesting bonus features to come in a game starring Marvel’s iconic web-slinger: the ability to play as his equally iconic arch-nemesis.
Spider-Man (2002) Let Players Control The Green Goblin
By completing Spider-Man (2002) on Hard Mode or entering a particular cheat code in the game’s main menu, players could play as the Green Goblin – or at least Harry Osborn taking on his late father’s mantle. Instead of web-swinging above the rooftops of New York, players could fly atop the Green Goblin’s dreaded Goblin Glider two decades before the Green Goblin was added to Fortnite, and Spidey’s typical web-based attacks were replaced with the Goblin’s arsenal of missiles and Pumpkin Bombs.
This Goblin gameplay also came with its own special plotline in which Harry dons the Goblin costume to uncover the mystery behind his father’s death – and battles an imposter Goblin in the process. This story remains non-canon to the rest of the Raimi Spider-Man game adaptations, however, as Harry ultimately takes on the mantle of the Goblin in a different capacity in Spider-Man 3.
The Game Was Josh Keaton’s First Foray Into Spider-Man
Another interesting detail behind this alternate Green Goblin mode from the Spider-Man (2002) game is the fact that Harry is voiced by Josh Keaton – who would later go on to voice the playable Spider-Man in Marvel’s Spider-Man: Edge Of Time and the beloved Spectacular Spider-Man series of the late 2000s. In fact, Keaton was originally cast as the voice of Spider-Man in the game and recorded dialogue before it was decided that Tobey Maguire would reprise his role instead. As a consolation, Josh Keaton was recast as Harry Osborn in both the Spider-Man (2002) and Spider-Man 2 tie-in games, and some of the lines that he recorded as Spidey were used for the playable Green Goblin in the former.
There aren’t many casual fans who know that they could play as the nefarious Green Goblin in the 2002 Spider-Man tie-in game, especially since it required young gamers to either complete the game on its most difficult setting or enter an obscure cheat code at a time before high-speed internet was so readily available. However, it remains one of the coolest unlockable bonuses in a Spider-Man game due to the drastically different playstyle and storyline it introduces – a story that allowed players to control one of the Webhead’s greatest enemies.
