10. “Spider-Man” (2002)
Who Dafoe plays: Norman Osborne, the father of Peter Parker’s best friend Harry in Sam Raimi’s seminal adaptation of the iconic comic book character. Initially a relatively kind but distant man, Norman goes insane in a freak lab accident and develops an alternate personality as the Green Goblin, terrorizing New York and becoming archenemies with Peter as Spider-Man.
Why he’s great: It seems silly to put a comic book role on a list of Dafoe’s performances, when the actor is so famous for his brilliant work in independent and arthouse cinema. But when you watch “Spider-Man,” you’ll remember how good he is in the role. No actor on film has ever embodied the manic, over-the-top hammy energy of a great comic villain like Dafoe, who is a crackling, fiendish delight both in and out of the Power Ranger suit he’s saddled in. It’s not Dafoe’s greatest role, but it’s difficult to think of a role the actor more clearly had fun with than this megalomaniac.