An official piece of concept art for Spider-Man: No Way Home reveals that the Green Goblin's discarded helmet nearly became part of an upgraded version of his signature glider.
Concept artist Josh Nizzi, who has worked on a number of Marvel films over the years, shared the artwork in question in a post to Instagram. "This is the design I was most disappointed got cut for [Spider-Man: No Way Home]," he wrote. "Using parts from Stark technology, like the Mysterio drones, Goblin was going to upgrade his glider. I was super happy about the idea of him putting his mask on the front to echo his glider in the comics. Helps to make him seem crazy too. In the end, I think they made the right call with the cuts -- but I still love this design."
No Way Home hit theaters in December 2021. The film saw Willem Dafoe reprise his role as Norman Osborn/Green Goblin, the main antagonist of director Sam Raimi's first Spider-Man film from 2002. When he first shows up early in the film's runtime, the Goblin is seen wearing the exact same outfit -- and riding the exact same glider -- he did two decades ago.
Norman manages to take control of his body back from the Goblin, at which point he smashes his helmet/mask and leaves it behind in an alleyway. Later in the film, however, the Goblin reassumes control of Norman. The Goblin keeps his armor from Raimi's Spider-Man, though makes some comics-inspired revisions to his look, such as replacing the helmet with a purple hood and using a satchel to store his gear.
Evidently, a revision that was left on the cutting room floor would have involved the Goblin retrieving his helmet to put on the front of his glider. As Nizzi pointed out, this also would have been a comics-inspired move, seeing as how the Green Goblin's glider has often been depicted as having a bat-like "head." Gliders with similar horned hood ornaments have been used by other Marvel Comics characters, most notably the villainous Hobgoblin, who has yet to be depicted in live-action.
Spider-Man: No Way Home is in theaters now. The film arrives on Digital on March 15 and on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD on April 12.
Source: Instagram