10 Great Improvised MCU Moments
2. Green Goblin's Maniacal Mid-Fight Laugh - Spider-Man: No Way Home
...until the incomparable Willem Defoe's bone-chilling return as the Green Goblin.
No Way Home is easily the strongest of the MCU Spider-Man movies, due in large part to its exquisite fan service. Rather than having past Spider-Man actors show up for a quick cameo and a pay-check, the movie does justice to them by giving them meaty roles to sink their teeth into - with the admitted exception of Sandman and Lizard, who we're sure appreciated their paychecks none the less.
And while everyone does a great job with the material they're given, the stand-out performance in your writer's eyes was Willem Defoe's reprisal of the Green Goblin.
Defoe offered an acting masterclass in No Way Home, portraying both sides of Norman Osborn - the broken man and the psychotic Goblin persona - with equal aplomb. As the above clip shows, even the people he worked with were taken aback by his performance, specifically in his hallway fight with Spider-Man.
Norman's reaction to getting punched in the face - maniacal, goosebumps-raising laughter - was completely improvised by Defoe himself, hence Tom Holland's shocked expression. Tom even admits that he was terrified at the end of the clip, showing that the best actors can make people forget that they're acting.
Thus ends the trilogy of Great Improvised Spider-Man moments, and brings us to our number 1 entrant...