Dark Matter producer explains what Spider-Man villain The Green Goblin and Joel Edgerton's new sci-fi series have in common

Dark Matter executive producer Matt Tolmach says Jason Dessen and Norman Osborne have a lot more in common than you'd think.

"I've worked on a lot of movies in my life and some television shows, and I guess the thing that I'm always drawn to, and the thing that I always try to do when I'm doing my job is to tell compelling stories about really interesting characters, and conflicted characters," Tolmach tells GamesRadar+. The former co-president of production at Sony Pictures is no stranger to Spider-Man adversaries, having produced The Amazing Spider-Man, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, the Venom trilogy, Morbius, and the upcoming Kraven the Hunter.

"Green Goblin is a fabulously conflicted character. It’s interesting that you reference him because, in the great Marvel villain tradition, he's a scientific overreach and that is his mistake. Dark Matter is obviously about a scientist who overreaches, and as scientists will, he reaches as far as he can, and then the chips sort of fall and in the case of Dark Matter, it was just such a relatable [story] in the context of our world and a family that resembles I could identify with."

The new sci-fi series is based on the bestselling novel by Blake Crouch, who also serves as creator, showrunner, and executive producer. Edgerton plays Jason Dessen, a physicist and family man who is abducted on the streets of Chicago one night by a masked stranger who subsequently throws him into an alternate version of his life. Jennifer Connelly, Alice Braga, Jimmi Simpson, Oakes Fegley, Dayo Okeniyi, and Amanda Brugel also star.

Added Tolmach: "That’s what sets it apart from, you know, some of those other things. At its core, it's an interesting connection because it is about the dangers of science and what we're capable of doing."

Dark Matter hits Apple TV Plus on May 8. For more, check out our list of the best new TV shows in 2024 and beyond.