10 Best Willem Dafoe Film Performances
9. Norman Osbourne - Spider-Man (2002)
Dafoe is no stranger to portraying bad guys (Wild at Heart is worthy of a shout-out), but perhaps his most iconic antagonist came with his turn as the Green Goblin in Sam Raimi's still-brilliant Spider-Man. The joy of the film is its ability to balance comedy with out-right drama, and that tone is only really accessible because of Dafoe's performance.
As Norman Osbourne, Dafoe is both sinister and intelligent, creepy and human. His Jekyll and Hyde personality allowed Dafoe to show off how sublime he is at dark comedy and how terrifying he is as a straight-up bad guy. It's a tough balancing act, but Dafoe pulls it off with ease.
Spider-Man is a great film, kicking off the Marvel movie surge that continues to dominate Hollywood to this day thanks to the MCU. Tobey Maguire is great as the titular character, no doubt about that, but in re-watching the film it becomes clear just how important Willem Dafoe was to the film's success.
He's reportedly set to reprise the role in the upcoming Spider-Man sequel for the MCU.