While comic book fans around the globe worship him as the definitive live-action Norman Osborn from Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man, cinematic history almost took a radically different path. Thirteen years before he ever stepped onto the Goblin Glider, Dafoe was nearly cast as DC’s most famous villain of all time: The Joker in Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman.
There are actors who play villains, and then there is Willem Dafoe. With a career spanning over four decades, Dafoe possesses a magnetic, fierce intensity and an expressive face that seems tailor-made for larger-than-life cinema.
As he celebrates his 71st birthday today, Dafoe’s footprint in pop culture has never been larger. While modern moviegoers know him as the terrifying heart of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy—and his unforgettable MCU return in Spider-Man: No Way Home—DC fans have long fixated on an intriguing “what-if” moment from the late 1980s that almost placed him in Gotham City.
The 1989 Gotham Casting Call: Willem Dafoe as The Joker?
In the late 1980s, director Tim Burton and Warner Bros. were preparing to transform comic book movies forever with Batman (1989). Finding the right actor to embody the Clown Prince of Crime was a monumental task.
While Jack Nicholson eventually landed the role and delivered a legendary, trend-setting performance, Dafoe’s name was quietly swirling around the production office.
Jack Nicholson as The Joker in ‘Batman’ (1989)
Why Screenwriter Sam Hamm Thought Dafoe Was Perfect
The connection wasn’t just fan casting—it came straight from the creative team behind the film. Batman screenwriter Sam Hamm famously revealed that when looking at comic artwork of the Joker, Dafoe immediately jumped to mind based on his striking physical features alone.
“[Screenwriter Sam] Hamm said something about how physically I would be perfect for the part, but they never offered it to me,” Dafoe later recalled in an interview. “I’ve had my brush with these things.”
With his sharp cheekbones, piercing eyes, and naturally menacing grin, Dafoe looked like he had been drawn straight off the pages of a 1970s Batman comic book. Interestingly, Dafoe also revealed that early in the project’s development, executives even briefly floated his name to play Batman/Bruce Wayne before Michael Keaton was chosen!
From Gotham’s Prince to Marvel’s Goblin
While missing out on the Joker left comic book historians dreaming about what a Burton/Dafoe collaboration would have looked like, the twist of fate worked out for the best.
In 2002, director Sam Raimi cast Dafoe as Norman Osborn / The Green Goblin in Spider-Man. Dafoe poured all of his unhinged theatrical energy, sinister physical comedy, and terrifying menace into the Marvel villain, creating a performance so iconic that Kevin Feige brought him back 19 years later to headline Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Willem Dafoe eventually did get his chance to join the DC universe decades later—playing Aquaman’s trusted advisor, Nuidis Vulko, in the DCEU. Yet, his near-miss as the Joker remains one of the greatest “what-ifs” in superhero film lore.
