Here’s How Marvel Studios Kept Willem Dafoe’s Role a Secret In No Way Home

Spider-Man: No Way Home is on its way to bamboozle fans with actor Tom Holland now revealing how the studio and cast managed to keep the role of Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin a secret until the recent trailer got released. During the recently concluded Los Angeles fan event, Tom Holland revealed that the directors on the film ensured that the secret of involving so many villains from past Spider-Man iterations was kept a strict secret, away from the public eye. These include the inclusion of Alfred Molina’s Doc Ock, Jamie Foxx’s Electro, and Dafoe’s Green Goblin. While this is a usually used technique for creative teams on films, fans want as much information as they can extract about their favorite movies. In order to avoid spoilers, one has to make sure that the major scenes are kept away from public attention and other media. Evidently, it has worked for some members of the film. While Alfred Molina gave out a spoiler in an interview, but most have managed to escape unscathed. However, fans are now more than excited for the web-slinger’s latest adventure where he takes on various iconic Spider-Man villains.

Here’s what Tom Holland had to reveal

“It’s actually a funny story when I met Willem for the first time. Obviously, at that time, all of the villains in the film, it was a huge secret that they were in the film. So they would walk around set with these cloaks on. Naturally, these guys were very excited to be coming back and bringing these roles back to life,” Holland revealed. “I just sort of bumped into this guy in a cloak. I was like, ‘Watch out, mate.’ He took his cloak off, and I almost got really scared — Oh shit, the Goblin’s here.”

Watch the trailer below:

While also speaking to Total Films about the other Spider-Men cameos in the film, the actor has begged to make fans believe that he is indeed, the only Spider-Man in the film.

“People don’t believe me when I say that [Maguire and Garfield] are not coming back. But people are going to have to believe me at some point,” he mused. “It means a lot to me. The first time you see Doc and the rest of the characters that come back, it’s so exciting – and it’s such a huge moment in cinematic history. It’s three generations coming together.”

“It was interesting having those guys come in because they have a certain ownership over Spider-Man in their own way, and…” Holland would continue. “I’m talking about Alfred and Jamie and those guys. To see Alfred come in, and have to adapt and change to the way that the films are made, but also change director, and also [the fact that] I’m now Spider-Man. It was really interesting to see these actors adapt and change what they were doing to fit the modern era.”

Spider-Man: No Way Home will hit the theaters on December 17.