Forget the Green Goblin — Spider-Man has a bigger enemy.
In a comic-book-worthy battle royale, Broadway’s biggest show has taken on the town’s tallest tower.
And the Empire State Building is refusing to blink, insisting it won’t change its colors for Spider-Man unless it gets a last-minute starring role in the super-hero’s show.
The war erupted when the producers of “Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark” asked that the landmark turn on its lights in Spidey’s colors — red and blue — on opening night next Tuesday.
Building execs said they’d do it on one condition: that the climactic battle between Spidey and the Green Goblin be moved from the Chrysler Building to the Empire State.
That sent Spidey’s senses tingling.
“How ludicrous. We’re a week away from opening,” scoffed one Spidey crew member. “We’re not going to be changing the set.”
Another “Spider-Man” source said, “Do you know what all these sets cost? It would cost a fortune to change it, and there just isn’t enough time. Also, the Chrysler Building is an integral part of the show.”
A third Spidey pal put it this way: “We’re sorry to be caught in the crossfire between these two warring icons of New York. But we’re sticking with the Chrysler Building.”
A source at the Empire State — where King Kong suffered a fate similar to the Green Goblin’s — had this to say:
“We love Spider-Man, but the Empire State Building is the world’s most famous office building and the icon of the New York City skyline, and omitting it from the set isn’t the first misstep the ‘Spider-Man’ musical has made.”
A $70 million production with music by U2’s Bono and The Edge, “Spider-Man” has been plagued by scathing reviews and a series of serious accidents, but underwent an extensive overhaul last month.
Show spokesman Rick Miramontez said, “Spider-Man is an equal opportunity web-slinger, and there’s room in his heart for all of New York’s great skyscrapers.”
Additional reporting by Michael Riedel