During the film, his Green Goblin mask is destroyed pretty early on — and Willem thinks it has something to do with some fans not being too keen on it.
For context, some people found the mask underwhelming when compared to its depiction in the comics. There's also test footage available of the original animatronic mask, which was able to move expressively — which some people preferred.
However, in No Way Home, Green Goblin usually appears with just a hood on. Willem told the New York Times, "I must be honest, I am aware that there was some criticism of that mask in the original one."
"We heard it enough that it was probably a consideration, to change it up a little bit. I don’t think about that because I don’t think about emoting with my face. My face follows my heart. It’s just an expression of what you’re feeling."
Costume designer Sanja Milković Hays previously told Variety that the color purple was also added to the costume to make it look closer to the comics. She said that the team, “Needed to respect the originals, but also bring them up to the aesthetics of what the new generation expects from us. So it is upgraded and the technology for the way it was made is very different."
