No Way Home Finally Fixed Green Goblin's Original Spider-Man Ending
By revisiting Green Goblin's journey and offering a new spin to it, No Way Home not only elevates MCU's Spider-Man but also adds to the Raimi trilogy.
Spider-Man: No Way Home not only brought back Willem Dafoe's iconic take on the Green Goblin, but also fixed the character's original Spider-Man ending. A celebration of twenty years of cinematic history, No Way Home brings together heroes and villains from all of Spider-Man's live-action interactions in a film that concluded the first Spider-Man trilogy in the MCU. Although No Way Home respects the events of the movies that preceded it, the film also took the liberty of re-signifying key moments in the trajectories of its characters.
Despite sharing the screen with three Spider-Men and four other multiversal villains, Willem Dafoe's Green Goblin stole the spotlight and terrorized audiences twenty years after his first appearance as Norman Osborn in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man. The first of the villains to rebel against the idea of being cured, Norman took the fight with Tom Holland's Spider-Man almost personally and brought Peter his greatest tragedy yet. With so much misfortune caused by the Green Goblin, it can be easy to forget that Norman Osborn is also a tragic character. A victim of the side effects of his super-soldier formula, Norman is constantly on a Jekyll-Hyde struggle trying to prevent the Goblin from taking over.
The cure for the Green Goblin virus eventually being applied to Norman at the end of No Way Home reverses an injustice of the first Spider-Man movie. While Norman had to answer for the consequences of his scientific irresponsibility, having been killed in a battle caused by the Goblin persona had made the character's journey overly tragic. By preventing Tom Holland's Peter from killing the Green Goblin in what would be an almost identical scene to the one in Spider-Man's, Tobey Maguire's Peter not only fixed his failure of not previously saving Norman, but also prevented Holland's from falling down a dark path.
The exchange of looks between Tom Holland and Tobey Maguire during said scene shows that Maguire's Spider-Man knew exactly what the younger Peter Parker was feeling. One of Maguire’s Peter biggest struggles throughout his trilogy was the constant reminder of not being able to save Norman and how it affected Harry. Considering that the journey of Peter Parker and his villains in any interaction is always surrounded by tragedies and losses, the brilliance of No Way Home lies in offering all of them - including Norman - the second chance they never had.
By revisiting Norman Osborn's journey and offering a new spin on it, Spider-Man: No Way Home not only elevates MCU's Spider-Man saga but also adds to the Sam Raimi trilogy. Despite his great loss, Tom Holland's Peter Parker managed to rise above his hatred to fulfill what is always expected of Peter's good heart. With the help of every Spider-Man, Norman Osborn's long-awaited redemption could finally take place.
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