I couldn’t have loved Willem Dafoe’s performance in Spider-Man: No Way Home any more than I did. In a film full of baddies he not only stood—or rather flew—above them all, he cemented a spot in the rarified air of cinema’s super villain pantheon. However, while I don’t think he could have been better, it turns out he could have looked even cooler. Official unused concept art for the Green Goblin’s glider not only featured a Stark Industries upgrade, it repurposed the Goblin’s smashed helmet into a flying symbol of doom.
For a brief time arriving in the universe of Tom Holland’s Peter Parker, Norman Osborn overcame his Mr. Hyde persona. Osborn shattered the Green Goblin’s mask in a New York City alley. But illustrator and longtime Marvel alum Josh Nizzi shared a design on Instagram that showed how the helmet could have returned. He came up with a Goblin glider that pieced those shards back together, which Nizzi placed front and center on the craft. This idea perfectly blends the best of both worlds.
It was a huge upgrade to see Willem Dafoe’s face as the Goblin as much as we did. Spider-Man mostly saw Osborn’s face covered when the character was his alter ego. But this glider would have let us see Osborn while also making use of his iconic mask.
That’s not the only upgrade this glider would have offered, though. Nizzi writes it also incorporated components the character took from Stark technology. It features Tony’s drones, the ones Mysterio used in Far From Home. This was a tricked-out glider, both in appearance and ability.
Like Nizzi, we’re also disappointed this didn’t make it into the film. Unlike Nizzi, though, we’re not sure Marvel and Sony made the right call. This is much cooler than the unremarkable one seen in the film. Willem Dafoe gave an all-time great performance. His Green Goblin deserved a glider just as good.