Spider-Man: Every Green Goblin actor ranked from worst to best
2. James Franco
Much like Dane DeHaan, James Franco interpreted a live-action version of Harry Osborn who would turn into the Green Goblin (or New Goblin?) rather than Norman Osborn himself. However, unlike Dane DeHaan, James had three films worth of screen time to display more emotions than anger and despair, resulting in a three-dimensional portrayal of the character.
Sam Raimi’s Harry Osborn was a friend to Peter Parker, an enemy of Spider-Man, and sometimes a jerk towards both of them. James Franco capitalized on all of those facets to give a standout performance throughout the wall crawler’s first trilogy.
When Harry had amnesia in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 3, James Franco played the character as someone who could genuinely be a good person. His excitement when Peter Parker visited him in the hospital felt true and authentic, which made it all the more tragic considering it was Peter who put him in that position. Additionally, audiences were sold on the idea that Harry could fall in love with M.J. with no malice or bad intent after his memories were erased thanks to James Franco’s performance. Besides, throughout the entire course of Spider-Man 1, we could see how he perfectly interpreted a man tormented by his father’s opinion of him, unable to ever be truly happy.
However, even when there was a vulnerable and good side to Harry Osborn, James was absurdly good at playing the role of a rich kid and a jerk as well. After recovering his memories and believing Peter killed his father, all that Harry wanted to do was to make our friendly-neighborhood hero suffer on a personal level. And even when that itself was more than enough to make him a despicable character, it’s no secret that James’ acting definitely helped. Who can forget that sarcastic smirk Harry gave to Peter after explaining to him M.J. didn’t love him anymore in Spider-Man 3? Or the look on his face when slapping Peter repeatedly on the face in Spider-Man 2? He truly made us hate him, and that’s a compliment when talking about his acting skills.
The more three-dimensional a character is, and the more time an actor has to play it, the more iconic that portrayal can become. That’s certainly true when it comes to James Franco’s interpretation of the Green Goblin compared to Dane DeHaan’s. However, we all know there is an actor that manages to beat them both with extreme ease and who’s deserving of the first spot in this ranking.