Norman Osborn has a strong presence in the Marvel Universe. The character was ranked number 19 on Wizard Magazine's Top 100 Greatest Villains Ever list (wikipedia.com). Norman Osborn has consistently been depicted with several unusual weaknesses related to his psychosis and to his personality (wikipedia.com). His Goblin persona is vying for control of his body, as depicted in the January 2010 issue of Dark Avengers, where he is shown writhing on the floor and imploring, apparently to himself, "Why won't this face come off...? (wikipedia.com).
Osborn becomes the Green Goblin after testing an experimental formula on himself. It gaves him various superhuman abilities including super strength, stamina and an enhanced healing factor. However, the formula also affected his personality. As the Green Goblin, he is ruthless, aggressive and insane. The formula also increased his intellect.
Within the comics, Osborn has filled many roles. He was the government's appointed new director of the Thunderbolts (comicvine.com). Osborn has been the leader of the Dark Avengers. He also reformed S.H.I.E.L.D into H.A.M.M.E.R. (marvelwikia.com). This villain has been associated with many of Marvel’s heroes and other characters. He has faced Spider-Man, Iron-Man (Tony Stark), The Avengers and Cyclops. He even had a team of mutants assembled to serve as his X-Men (marvelwikia.com). He has also been allied with Loki during the siege of Asgard. He was jailed by S.H.I.E.L.D.
He also assumed the role of the Iron Patriot, utilizing aspects from Iron Man’s armour and Captain America. He has the potential of appearing in many of Marvel Studio’s projects – if Marvel Studios gains the rights to this character, there is no reason to believe he cannot make appearances in further Marvel movies and not just a Spider-Man movie.
In Spider-Man (2002), he is played by the brilliant Willem Dafoe. The actor plays both the parts of Norman Osborn and The Green Goblin. In the 1990s Spider-Man animated series, Osborn is voiced by one actor and another actor provides the voice for The Green Goblin. The incarnation of the Green Goblin in this animated series depicts the villainous character as truly maniacal, with a distinct voice for the Goblin.
We are all aware that the Spider-Man films are going to be rebooted. Andrew Garfield is the new actor to play Peter Parker and his alter ego, Spider-Man. So, who would make a good Norman Osborn and Green Goblin? Do you cast the same actor to play both personalities, or do you use two different actors? The Green Goblin wears a mask, so if a stunt actor was used for the glider and fight sequences, a voice actor can provide the voice of the character whilst another actor would portray Norman. The question is: who would you choose to play both Osborn and the Goblin? The role of this character is important because of the vital influences he has in much of much of Marvel’s comics.
When it comes to thinking of an actor to play both the Osborn and Goblin personalities, you would need to take into consideration someone who can do both parts. In this article, I will nominate various actors who I think potentially have what it takes to bring one of our favourite villains to the big screen in the Spider-Man reboot and hopefully in further Marvel projects (assuming that Marvel Studios gets the rights to the character). Who would you choose to play the business figure and head of Oscorp as well as the insane Goblin? One choice is Damien Lewis. Part of this reasoning comes from the film “Dreamcatcher (1993)”.
Now, of course I do realize that many will not agree with this choice and it will be interesting to hear many other choices and how the role should be approached. I have also come across Hugo Weaving, Ralph Fiennes and Daniel Day Lewis for the role in the fan casts on ComicBookMovie.com. Also mentioned were Alan Cummings, John C McGinley and Jason Isaacs. Which of these actors is a logical choice? There are still many actors who can do an amazing job at playing this dual part. Take into consideration an actor who can do the Goblin characterizations, including the voice, in addition to Norman Osborn’s personality. It is like casting Batman and Bruce Wayne. You need and actor to play both sides of this particular villain. The physical attributes of an actor are not sufficient for casting him in a particular role.
Norman Osborn is profoundly important. He is a villain that has been involved in much of Marvel’s stories, and therefore deserves to be portrayed in many Marvel films. Osborn is a leader who has commanded various groups and battled many heroes. Any actor cast in the role will have to be more than just the Osborn and Goblin personalities. He would have to be smart, devious, ruthless and manipulative with a strong screen presence and possess a knack for a bit of insanity. Who should play Norman Osborn?
Image from http://www.milesteves.com/gallery/
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Goblin
http://marvel.wikia.com/Norman_Osborn_(Earth-616)
http://www.comicvine.com/norman-osborn/29-58812/