When Marvel Studios and Sony first struck a deal to share Spider-Man, it felt like it was only a matter of time before Norman Osborn was introduced into the web-slinger’s third solo franchise. After all, he’s arguably Peter Parker’s most prominent enemy, but one potential drawback was that we’d already seen the Osborn family done to death.
Willem Dafoe, James Franco, Dane DeHaan and Chris Cooper all played members of the clan in both Sam Raimi and Marc Webb’s movies, so you can understand why Kevin Feige hasn’t been interested in rebooting Spidey’s most famous big bad to face off against Tom Holland. That being said, there’ve been countless rumors that the upcoming Spider-Man: No Way Home will feature the return of at least one of the aforementioned actors, with Dafoe having also been linked to multiple MCU projects and even a solo movie.
That seems unlikely given that the MCU’s multiverse isn’t expected to drive the entirety of Phase Four’s overarching narrative, but tipster Mikey Sutton is now claiming that Bryan Cranston is at the top of the wish-list to play the Oscorp chief when he eventually pitches up in the long-running superhero series.
There’s been talk in the past that Norman Osborn could have been the MCU’s next big bad, but the rights to the character belong to Sony, which always made it feel like a long shot. Cranston has repeatedly found himself named in conjunction with the role ever since Homecoming was first announced, though, and while we’ve seen more than our fair share of Osborns and Goblins over the last two decades, he’s still Spider-Man’s ultimate arch-nemesis, so there’s been an air of inevitability about his eventual appearance opposite Holland’s costumed crimefighter.