Marvel Left The Best Villain Out Of Spider-Man: No Way Home
Spider-Man: No Way Home was, without a doubt, a very fun movie packed with great callbacks and references to all three cinematic versions of Spider-Man. The fact that the movie was able to juggle so many different villains with just a couple of hours of runtime and still allow all to have impactful moments was truly impressive. However, it is hard not to be a bit disappointed about some of the missed opportunities. One surprising omission No Way Home had was leaving out the most fleshed-out villain from the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man movies: Harry Osborn as the New Goblin.
James Franco As Harry Osborn
Admittedly, by the time Harry finally became the New Goblin in Spider-Man 3, his thunder got stolen a little bit by having to share the villain role with both The Sandman and Venom.
However, there is no denying that Harry’s descent into villainy had by far the most build-up of all the villains from any of the Spider-Man movies. That is an incredibly powerful connection to just ignore in No Way Home.
Harry And Norman Osborn
Plus, think of how much more impactful it would have been to see both Harry Osborn and his father, Norman, as villains in the same movie.
It would have been an opportunity to explore untapped nuance in the Osborn family, with father and son bonding together over their hatred of Peter.
Redemption Arc
It would have allowed for such a powerful moment if Tobey Maguire Spider-Man could have corrected his biggest regrets and saved both Norman and Harry.
Sure, Harry forgave Peter in Spider-Man 3, but only after he was irredeemably claimed by the New Goblin persona that left him mortally wounded.
More Sense Than Sandman
Honestly, including the New Goblin would have made a lot more sense as the Spider-Man 3 representative in No Way Home than The Sandman.
All of the other No Way Home villains were reluctant to cooperate because they knew that if they were sent back to their own timelines, they would die.
The Sandman was the exception since he changed his ways and lived in his timeline. So why was The Sandman even resistant to the plan for Peter to help him when it would have restored the result he wanted all along?
More Of An Emotional Connection
The New Goblin would have made a lot more sense seeing as how he actually died in his timeline, and there was so much more of an emotional connection there than with The Sandman.
No Way Home was chocked full of moments of redemption for each version of Spider-Man. One of the film’s most powerful moments is the Andrew Garfield Spider-Man saving MJ as she is falling, allowing him to atone for his biggest failure of not saving Gwen Stacy when she fell in his timeline.
Saving His Best Friend?
Imagine what a strong story moment it would be if the Maguire Spider-Man was able to save his best friend from having his life end as the New Goblin. It would have been such a nice bookend to the Sam Raimi Spider-Man era.
Spider-Man: No Way Home Was Still Great
No Way Home is still great and packed with so many other fantastic nods to the past. But knowing we likely missed our last chance at getting a more fitting end for the New Goblin than the infamous reputation that Spider-Man 3 has, it is hard not to feel like we missed out. It would have been great to see Marvel give the best Spider-Man villain the sendoff he deserved.
