A classic Marvel Comics story already revealed the perfect actor to play Norman Osborn in a future MCU Spider-Man film: Tommy Lee Jones! Breaking all viewing records for a new trailer, Spider-Man: No Way Home promises to be an action-packed thrill ride any fan can get excited for. As shown in the teaser, a few villains from previous Spider-Man films will be present as the multiverse cracks around the Web-Slinger. One of the villains, as shown with a classic pumpkin bomb and familiar menacing laugh, will assuredly be Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin from Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man films. While this prospect is exciting, another actor deserves the chance to bring Spidey’s arch enemy to life, proving on the pages of the comics that he would be the perfect choice.
In the Dark Reign storyline headlined by the legendary writers Jonathan Hickman and Brian Michael Bendis, Norman Osborn rises to power after the Secret Invasion story arc. Osborn makes the world believe he has its best interests at heart, but in fact he only manages to use the worldwide tragedy to catapult himself into a position of power. Norman even establishes villains as the new Avengers in disguise to maintain his dark reign. Throughout the Dark Reign era, Norman Osborn is drawn based on Tommy Lee Jones, forever cementing the actor as the sinister Spider-Man villain.
Throughout the storyline, Osborn actively frights back his Goblin persona to maintain his leadership position. The internal struggle Norman is shown enduring would translate beautifully to film in establishing a well-developed character. Tommy Lee Jones has proven his acting chops time and again, capturing the complexities of more serious roles as shown in The Fugitive as well as his capability to put on a more campy performance like in Batman Forever. The range Jones has proven, plus his established connection to Osborn through one of the character’s most renowned comic series, makes him the perfect choice for the Marvel Cinematic Universe facing off against Spider-Man and Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.
Even though Jones already appeared in the MCU as Col. Phillips in Captain America: The First Avenger, other actors have portrayed more than one MCU character. Actors such as Mahershala Ali, Alfre Woodard, Gemma Chan and Kenneth Choi have all pulled double duty, popping up in one show or film before appearing in another. Tommy Lee Jones also wouldn’t be the first to grab an MCU role based on a comic book portrayal. Samuel L. Jackson secured his role as Nick Fury after the character was drawn to look like the actor in Marvel’s Ultimate Universe. While the Ultimate Universe failed to take off as Marvel thought it would, it did succeed in bringing older Marvel stories into the present day and has since become the one of the main inspirations for MCU story arcs including Nick Fury’s depiction and Captain America’s reworked origin.
Tommy Lee Jones wouldn’t just look the part for Norman Osborn but would ground the character in a realism Willem Dafoe did not capture. Dafoe’s acting chops are phenomenal without question but his Green Goblin was (assuredly deliberately) quite campy. Jones could bring the comic-accurate look of Osborn and deliver a realistic performance depicting a mentally tortured villain. Another great reason to have the MCU choose to introduce this version of Osborn would be to establish him as a wider Marvel villain rather than simply a Spider-Man rogue. Tommy Lee Jones’ look was used for Norman Osborn when he challenged the entire Marvel Universe, not just Spider-Man alone, so to introduce him as an Avengers-level threat right from the start would be a great villain-establishing move for the shared universe of the MCU.
