Who Is The Main Villain In 'Spider-Man: No Way Home'?

The reported cast of Spider-Man: No Way Home has fans anxious to see what Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures have in store for the webslinger and the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Previous Spider-Man franchise villains like Electro (Jamie Foxx) and Doc Ock (Alfred Molina) are said to be returning for the movie. But who will be the primary antagonist of Spider-Man: No Way Home? We may have an answer, but it could be a big spoiler, so you've been warned.

During an episode of The Sneider Cut podcast, Collider reporter Jeff Sneider revealed that he's heard Willem Dafoe will be the main villain of Spider-Man: No Way Home, reprising his role as Norman Osborne/The Green Goblin from Sam Raimi's original Spider-Man movie in 2001. This echoes spoilery rumors of the plot of Spider-Man: No Way Home that we've heard from behind the scenes, and it's sounding more and more like they may be accurate.

Rumors about Spider-Man: No Way Home have circulated around the proper introduction of the multiverse in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The idea of parallel universes in the MCU was previously used as a lie in Spider-Man: Far From Home when Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal) pretended to be from another version of Earth that had been destroyed by deadly monsters known as Elementals. But it was all just a ruse to lend credence to Mysterio's fake superpowers, a lie created to get control of valuable, dangerous technology that the late Tony Stark left in the hands of Peter Parker.

The presence of villains like Electro from The Amazing Spider-Man and Doc Ock from Spider-Man 2 (which Alfred Molina confirmed himself) has sparked rumors about former Spider-Man actors Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield returning to help Tom Holland's MCU Spider-Man deal with an assembly of the Sinister Six, which has been rumored to also include Sandman from Spider-Man 3, Rhino from Amazing Spider-Man 2, and Lizard from The Amazing Spider-Man.

This news of Willem Dafoe reprising his role as Green Goblin is an exciting one, but I'm wondering if all these rumors about the various versions of Spider-Man teaming up to take on these villains is something that we'll see happen in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness instead of Spider-Man: No Way Home. Maybe the next Spider-Man sequel will merely set up the formation of the Sinister Six, and they'll really be unleashed on the MCU when the Doctor Strange sequel comes around. That would make for quite a big screen event.

On a related note, Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group President Sanford Panitch recently teased how Spider-Man: No Way Home will begin to reveal how Sony plans to bridge their universe of Spider-Man characters with the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Panitch said:

"There actually is a plan. I think now maybe it's getting a little more clear for people where we're headed and I think when No Way Home comes out, even more will be revealed. The great thing is we have this very excellent relationship with Kevin [Feige] There's an incredible sandbox there to play with. We want those MCU movies to be absolutely huge, because that's great for us and our Marvel characters, and I think that's the same thing on their side. But we have a great relationship. There's lots of opportunities, I think, that are going to happen."

Spider-Man: No Way Home is slated to hit theaters on December 17, 2021.