Alan Cumming Cast as the Green Goblin

Published on 30 June 2009 by Jonathan Dudley

Alan Cumming has been cast as the Green Goblin in next year's Spider-Man stage musical.

Spider-Man Turn Off The Dark is based on everybody's favourite wall-crawling Marvel Comics superhero and has been the subject of fierce speculation since it was announced.

Cumming, perhaps best known for his performance as blue-skinned teleporter, Nightcrawler, in X-Men 2 is to play Spider-Man's nemesis, the Green Goblin/Norman Osborn. A multi-talented gentleman, Cumming has a strong theatre pedigree and won a Tony Award for his performance in Cabaret.

Spider-Man director Julie Taymor said: “[Alan] has such range and such charisma as a performer that I feel confident his Green Goblin will bring many surprises that will move and entertain us.”

Earlier this year, it was announced that Peter Parker's paramour Mary-Jane will be played by Evan Rachel Wood.

A gossip magazine staple since her relationship with rockstar Marilyn Manson, Wood first hit fame thanks to her Golden Globe-nominated performance in 2003's Thirteen. She appeared alongside Mickey Rourke this year in The Wrestler, and her casting has proved among Spidey fans.

Julie Taymor, has worked with Wood before and spoke very highly of her: “Evan is unique: she is a young actress with incredible depth for both serious and comic drama in films and theatre. And on top of that, she has an extraordinary lyrical voice. We are thrilled to have her as our Mary Jane.”

Casting for the web-slinging, wisecracking lead role has not yet been confirmed but The Other Boleyn Girl's Jim Sturgess has been strongly linked to the part. With music by U2's Bono and The Edge and the rich, colourful and exciting Marvel Comic universe to draw upon, Spider-Man Turn Off The Dark could be something special indeed.

Spider-Man Turn Off The Dark opens at The Hilton Theatre at some point in early 2010. No official date has been set, but previews are currently scheduled to begin on 25 February, 2010.