Willem Dafoe’s return to the MCU is a big mistake

By Chris Snellgrove | Published 1 hour ago

Willem Dafoe played Spider-Man’s most iconic villain long before the Marvel Cinematic Universe existed. As the Green Goblin, he threatened our titular hero in Sam Raimi’s first film. spider man film, and later returned to the role to pursue Tom Holland’s Spidey in No way home. Recently, the actor confirmed that he would be willing to return once again (“I could come back,” he told Entertainment Tonight), but the blunt truth is that Willem Dafoe returning to the MCU would be a big mistake.

Willem Dafoe in the MCU

This is not a slight against Dafoe himself. He is a magnificent actor and has long earned his status as a Hollywood legend. Frankly, it was a real coup for Raimi to cast the man in his original role. spider man film, and the veteran actor managed to channel equal amounts of pathos and mania into his portrayal of Peter Parker’s greatest enemy. Willem Dafoe’s acting skills have never been in doubt, but if he were to return to the MCU, it would be a sign once and for all that Disney is running out of original ideas.

At this point, even the biggest Marvel fans are starting to admit that the House of Ideas has… well, run out of ideas. After the superhero’s fatigue contributed to the transformation the wonders In a historic box office bomb, Kevin Feige and the team decided to play a safety and inexplicably cast beloved Iron Man actor Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom, the Avengers’ next Big Bad. Now, there are reports that Chris Evans will also return in Avengers: Judgment Daymaking it clear that Disney’s entire plan is to bring back everyone’s favorite artists and simply hope that this puts butts on seats.

Various variants

And as great as Willem Dafoe’s MCU premiere was No way homeIt’s important to note that the entire Variants narrative is a symptom of Marvel’s larger narrative problem. While comics have given us great stories built around alternate universes and Sony’s Spiderverse has shown how well this can work in cinema, the MCU has historically relied on Variants as a simplified way to appeal to the nostalgia of the fans. After all, why should we take the time to write a good story if audiences will mostly care about seeing Patrick Stewart as Professor X again?

At the risk of sounding like an old nut (get off my lawn, younger fans!), audiences should remember that every time a variant is used as a storytelling crutch, it’s because an overpaid Disney writer didn’t want to appear. with a new memorable villain or a gripping story. That’s why all the old school cameos are the worst part of No way home; It’s fun to see various Spideys team up on screen, but narratively it serves no purpose for Tom Holland’s webhead to fight bad guys from another universe he’s never encountered.

While Willem Dafoe was fun to see in the MCU, he’s arguably the worst example of this. Instead of Holland’s Spidey getting a memorable new villain like Vulture or Mysterio, he got Tobey Maguire leftovers. Emotionally, the only way this movie changed Peter Parker is by killing his aunt, something any bad guy could have done. No way home Overall, it was well-received by fans, but it’s a member-berry-driven movie, and aside from our nostalgia for these old Sony heroes and villains, there’s not much there for our real hero and his world.

Willem Dafoe has expressed interest in returning to the MCU, and would probably act his heart out if given even half a chance. But it should never come back because Disney needs to learn to stop relying on nostalgia and multiversal shenanigans to compensate for its inability to give us anything new. It’s time for the House of Mouse to drop the members’ berries like an old pumpkin bomb and try to do the kind of original storytelling that made the Marvel Cinematic Universe one of the most popular franchises in the world.

Fountain: ET online