Willem Dafoe's return as Green Goblin was such a big secret even Tom Holland didn't know about it

Marvel Studios always goes the extra mile to keep major spoilers hidden from fans and Spider-Man: No Way Home was turned into a whole spectacle of speculation. Andrew Garfield has been giving the performance of his life, denying that he’ll reprise his role as Spider-Man, as the movie is rumored to feature all three Spider-Mans. But at least one rumor is now confirmed: Willem Dafoe is back as the Green Goblin.

While Alfred Molina was already said to play Doc Ock again, Marvel had yet to officially say whether or not Dafoe would be behind the mask. At a fan event in Los Angeles last night, where the newest trailer premiered, it was finally revealed.

After the trailer was played for fans, Tom Holland—who can now sigh in relief after not sharing yet another major spoiler, as he’s done in the past—told the audience that Marvel Studios kept Dafoe’s casting such a big secret that not even he knew about it.

“It’s actually a funny story when I met Willem for the first time. Obviously, at that time, all of the villains in the film, it was a huge secret that they were in the film. So they would walk around set with these cloaks on,” he recalled.

“Naturally, these guys were very excited to be coming back and bringing these roles back to life,” Holland said. “I just sort of bumped into this guy in a cloak. I was like, ‘Watch out, mate.’ He took his cloak off, and I almost got really scared — Oh shit, the Goblin’s here.”

If rumors of James Franco being the voice behind Green Goblin in a previous trailer hadn’t been put to rest already, they’re now dead and buried. Fans will get to find out if the rest of the rumors are true when the movie premieres on December 17.