Norman Osborn

The Green Goblin is a name shared by several fictional supervillains that appear in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #14 (July 1964), and was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko. The original and current Green Goblin, Norman Osborn, is Spider-Man's archenemy. After a serum enhanced industrialist Norman Osborn's physical abilities and intellect but also drove him insane, he adopted a Halloween-themed appearance, dressing in a goblin costume and using an arsenal of high-tech weapons, notably grenade-like "Pumpkin Bombs" while riding on a bat-shaped "Goblin glider" to terrorize New York City. The character has appeared in numerous Spider-Man related media throughout the years, including television series and the Spider-Man films in which he is portrayed by Academy Award-nominated actor Willem Dafoe. The character was ranked number 19 on Wizard Magazine's Top 100 Greatest Villains Ever list.¹

Publication history

According to Steve Ditko, the Green Goblin, as we know him, was entirely his creation. He claims:

The Green Goblin first appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #14. His identity was unknown. He proved popular and reappeared in later issues which made a point of his secret identity. Apparently, Lee and Ditko disagreed on who he should be. According to one theory, Lee always wanted him to be someone Peter Parker knew, while Ditko wanted him to be a stranger, feeling this was closer to real life.³ Ditko seems to have refuted this rumor, however, claiming:

Ditko left the series before he could reveal the Goblin's identity and Lee decided in #39 to identify him as Norman Osborn, a character who had been introduced only two issues earlier, the father of Harry Osborn, introduced in #31. John Romita, Sr., who replaced Ditko as the title's artist, recalls:

Interestingly, Norman Osborn was depicted as a villainous character even before being revealed as the Green Gobin. In his first appearance in issue #37, he was revealed to have framed his partner Mendel Stromm as a thief, sending him to jail, and was willing to shoot. He vowed to eliminate Spider-Man for interfering with his plans and in #38 he offers a reward to anyone in the underworld who takes out the wall-crawler. It seems apparent that Osborn was going to be used as an antagonistic figure to Spider-Man even before being chosen to be the Goblin.

Osborn discovers Spider-Man's true identity in Amazing #39, but then suffers amnesia so that the story that revealed the Goblin's origin would also be his last appearance. However, the Green Goblin would come back three times, the third time killing Parker's girlfriend, Gwen Stacy. This landmark storyline shocked comic readers. It had been unthinkable to kill off such an important character – the protagonist's love interest and a character with a large fanbase. This story arc is considered one of the markers of the end of the Silver Age of Comic Books, and the beginning of the darker, grittier Bronze Age.⁵ After having the Goblin kill Spider-Man's girlfriend, writer Gerry Conway decided that the Goblin had to pay a heavy price. In the next issue the Goblin has his final battle with Spider-Man in which he ended up unintentionally killing himself. With Norman killed off, the writers have used others to take the mantle of the Green Goblin, including Norman's son Harry. Writer Roger Stern decided to create a new goblin and introduced the Hobgoblin to replace the Green Goblin as Spider-Man's archenemy.

During the Clone Saga, the Spider-Man writers were met with a massive outcry from many readers after the decision to replace Peter with his clone Ben Reilly as the regular, true Spider-Man. Eventually, the writers decided to reveal that one of Spider-Man's archenemies had been manipulating events from behind the scenes. It was suggested that Harry Osborn, who was killed off in Spectacular Spider-man #200, would be revealed to be the semi-zombified cyborg known as "Gaunt". Gaunt was a late entry to the controversial storyline, created mainly as a plot device to return Harry to life, as the plan for the character included Harry regaining his humanity, taking credit for tricking Peter Parker into thinking he was a clone, and resuming his identity as the Green Goblin full-time. However, the plotline was nixed by newly promoted Editor-In-Chief Bob Harras, who disliked the Harry Osborn character and instead had Norman be the mastermind and revealing Gaunt as Mendel Stromm.

The decision to resurrect the original Green Goblin was also very controversial; his death was part of "The Death of Gwen Stacy" storyline that was widely considered a classic, but it was deemed necessary by Marvel's then-Editor-in-Chief. Osborn's return led to a brief stint in a Lex Luthor-like role, minimizing his Goblin identity and leading to "The Final Chapter," which closed out the first volume of Amazing Spider-Man.

Fictional character biography

The original Goblin is Norman Osborn, the son of industrialist Ambrose Osborn, born in New Haven, Connecticut. Although he is a brilliant student in the fields of science, his alcoholic father loses control of his company, and turns on his family. Traumatized, the young Osborn kills the family dog, considering it another mouth to feed.

In college, he studies chemistry and electrical engineering, and meets his sweetheart Emily, gets married, and eventually has a son, Harry. As an adult, he co-founds a major firm with Dr. Mendel Stromm, Osborn Industries, of which he is owner and president. At some point Emily becomes ill and dies. This tragedy pushes Osborn to work harder, and he barely has time for Harry. Hoping to gain more control of his company, Osborn accuses Stromm of embezzling from the company and has him arrested. Osborn then searches his possessions, discovering an experimental strength/intelligence enhancement formula. When Osborn attempts to create the serum, it turns green and explodes in his face. The accident greatly increases his intelligence and strength, but at the cost of his sanity.

Osborn adopts the bizarre identity of the Green Goblin, based on a monster he feared in his childhood, with the goal of controlling the city's organized crime. He intends to cement his position in the city by defeating Spider-Man in order to enhance his reputation. To this end, he creates a personal flying device, which starts in a broomstick-like shape and evolves into his Goblin Glider. He also develops hand grenade-like explosive weapons resembling pumpkins, sharp shuriken-like Razor-Bats, and gloves which fire blasts of energy from the fingertips. Osborn hires the Enforcers to kill Spider-Man at a bogus New Mexico movie set. The Enforcers fail, but the Goblin defeats Spider-Man in battle.⁶ The Green Goblin then fights Spider-Man and the Human Torch to a standstill.⁷

The Green Goblin continues plaguing the city, only to be thwarted at every turn by Spider-Man. Frustrated, the Goblin decides to lie low until he is sure his enemy's guard is down. When he is ready, he arranges to have Spider-Man exposed to a special gas designed to suppress his spider sense. With that done, Goblin shadows him until he learns he is really Peter Parker, a classmate of his son Harry. After capturing him, Osborn in turn reveals his own identity to Peter and rants about his origin and his intentions of killing his greatest enemy, before releasing Peter to do battle. Spider-Man defeats Osborn and destroys his costume, and Osborn loses his memory.

Throughout the next several issues, the Goblin personality periodically re-emerges in Osborn to bedevil Spider-Man, only to be forced down in turn when he is defeated. In "The Night Gwen Stacy Died", the Goblin takes control one final time and threatens the love of Spider-Man's life, Gwen Stacy, by kidnapping her and taking her to the top of the George Washington Bridge in New York City. During the resulting battle, the Goblin commits one of his most brutal crimes: pushing Gwen from the bridge to her death. Enraged, Spider-Man pursues the Green Goblin for revenge, but manages to control himself after defeating him in battle. In a final attempt to kill him, the Goblin tries to spear Spider-Man with his remote control glider, only to be himself impaled by the jet-glider's sharp points when Spider-Man avoids the attack. Norman Osborn is then presumed dead.⁸

Escape

Unknown to Peter, Harry secretly witnessed their fight. After Spider-Man leaves the scene, Harry removes his father's costume before the authorities arrive. He later bribes the coroner into altering Norman's autopsy so no one will find traces of the Goblin formula in Norman's blood. However, Norman's "death" is not what it seemed. The Goblin formula has given Norman a healing factor which re-grows his internal organs and reanimates him. Norman wakes up in the morgue and covers his trail by replacing his body with that of a drifter (who he murders) of the same build and facial features. After arriving in time to watch Harry swear revenge on Spider-Man, Norman allows the Goblin legacy to pass to his son and escapes unnoticed into Europe. While traveling, Norman takes over an international criminal organization named the Cabal of the Scrier. He sends one of his agents to Peter's professor, Miles Warren, and offers to help him with his cloning project which eventually results in the clones of Gwen Stacy and Peter Parker. For seven years, Norman watches Peter from the shadows.⁹

Return

After Harry dies from the side effects of a modified Goblin serum, Norman returns to the United States and, from behind the scenes, begins engineering the series of events that came to be known as the Clone Saga. He does this in an attempt to drive Peter into despair by convincing him that he is the clone, while the real clone, Ben Reilly, is believed to be the original. After this plot fails, Osborn reveals himself to Peter and subsequently kills Reilly. He also apparently kills Peter's newborn daughter, although the full extent of this is unclear to this day. Norman later loses control of the Scriers and creates a smaller organization left over from the cabal called the Order of the Goblin, where he is given the title of "Goblin Lord".

Upon his return, Osborn comes up with a carefully contrived story to explain his absence and regains control of his business. For a while, a genetic construct that had once been a human being acts as the fifth Green Goblin following Norman's orders, so that he (Norman) will not be suspected as the Green Goblin (despite having admitted in public that he is Norman Osborn, and while wearing the costume).

He also buys the Daily Bugle so that he can control and edit out any bad publicity, such as the frequent editorials by Ben Urich. Later, when Norman is driven insane by the Order of the Goblin's mystic ceremony, the genetic construct seeks out Osborn's original formula to stabilize itself and discovers who it truly is. Unfortunately for the construct, its effort comes too late, and in front of Spider-Man's eyes, it melts into a puddle and dies. (The construct was originally intended by Glenn Greenberg to be Phil Urich, as revenge by Norman for using the gear in the first place, but this was subsequently vetoed by the Spider-Man editor at the time.¹⁰¹¹)

Goblin's Heir

After the fifth Goblin dies, the Green Goblin develops a new plan for Spider-Man - he wants Parker to become his new heir. His first move in this game is drugging Parker into flying around in the Goblin's costume and attacking his friends. Norman then takes Peter to the old Osborn estate to try to convince him to take up Norman's mantle on his own free will, tormenting him in an attempt to make him accept the darkness rather than the light. After days of physical and psychological torture, Peter cracks under the stress, but still refuses Norman at the last minute, throwing his serum in his face and fighting with him. Norman nevertheless departs, commenting that he has still won because he managed to break Peter, no matter how briefly, and adds that, in the end, he has always known that one of them would kill the other eventually.

Norman's next plan involves using a drunk Flash Thompson to drive a truck into Midtown High School, where Peter works. The accident causes Flash to suffer major brain damage and enrages Peter enough to decide to finish his feud with Norman once and for all. At the end of the fight, which takes place in one of Norman's chemical plants, Spider-Man comes close to killing the Goblin, but relents at the last second. Peter tells Norman that if he gave in to his hatred for the Goblin, the last piece of Gwen would die, and that he does not need to kill Norman anyway, as simply being himself is punishment enough. Parker leaves, telling Norman that he is tired of fighting him, and declares a truce.

Exposed

The Green Goblin's true identity is revealed to the public by a dedicated investigation by the Daily Bugle after he murders one of their reporters. After a battle with Spider-Man and Luke Cage that spans the length of Manhattan, he is arrested and sent to prison for the first time in the character's 40-year history. As expected, however, Osborn does not stay in prison for long. Even behind bars, Osborn masterminds a plot to get Spider-Man himself to help him escape, which the web-slinger ultimately does, as payment for releasing Aunt May from Mac Gargan, The Scorpion, a kidnapper in Osborn's employ; a promise that Osborn later breaks. Spider-Man battles with the Sinister Twelve, a group of his greatest enemies led by Osborn as the Green Goblin, who reveals that he had a hand in financing many of these villains' origins. The Goblin slips away in the heat of the battle and abducts Mary Jane Watson, taking her to the George Washington Bridge, but Spider-Man rescues her. The Green Goblin then finds himself grappling with a deranged Doctor Octopus, still drugged from being held in police custody. A bolt of lightning sends the two villains plunging into the river. Doctor Octopus is eventually recovered alive and well, and Peter later receives a letter from Osborn, mailed before the fight.

Sins Past

It was recently revealed in a controversial storyline that, prior to Gwen Stacy's death, Osborn had engaged in an affair with her, resulting in twins. After Stacy's death, Osborn takes the children into his care during his sabbatical in Europe. The children, named Gabriel and Sarah, age and mature rapidly within only a few years (due to inheriting Norman's enhanced DNA). The twins emerge after Osborn's takedown and confront Spider-Man, whom they believe to be their real father, and who they believe has murdered their mother. After a series of confrontations, Gabriel and Sarah discover their real father's identity after Peter digs up Gwen's grave for a DNA sample. Sarah rejects Osborn's vendetta, but Gabriel assumes the mantle of the sixth Green Goblin, or "Grey Goblin". Gabriel, deranged and amnesiac after a battle with Spider-Man, disappears along with Sarah, although she later reappears in Paris. This explains a great deal to Peter: why the Goblin has killed Gwen, why Mary Jane avoided Peter for a long time, having known the secret, and why Osborn wanted Peter as his 'heir' ("So that we could be One Big Happy Goblin Family").

Thunderbolts

Civil War

After escaping to Paris, Osborn is apprehended by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and taken into their custody. While in S.H.I.E.L.D. custody, Osborn watches in shock as Spider-Man publicly reveals his identity as Peter Parker (also confirming Osborn's identity as the Goblin and his role in Gwen's death in the process), railing that Peter "broke the rules!" He is then approached by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who are seeking his aid. The Goblin confronts and attacks Ben Urich in an alley, but S.H.I.E.L.D.'s nano-machines cause him to stop, involuntarily making him collapse and foam at the mouth.

Later he makes a deal with a shadowy figure who gives him a serum to override the control nano-machines implanted by S.H.I.E.L.D. In the next two issues, Osborn attacks a group of Atlanteans in his Goblin gear, killing and wounding many. Later, when one Atlantean ambassador attempts to give a speech, Norman appears and shoots at him, wounding but not killing him. As he is being taken away by security, Norman says he is 'sick' and is not in control of his actions. While being interrogated by two officers, Norman becomes increasingly agitated when they question who gave Norman access to the press conference and assisted in smuggling a weapon there. At first, Norman gets angry, threatening to kill the two officers' families, then he becomes more and more afraid until the shadowy figure arrives at which point Norman begs the officers not to let him go, even promising to reveal all he knows to them.

Director of Thunderbolts

Norman Osborn is now the government's appointed new director of the Thunderbolts and has been prescribed medication to stabilize his personality. He has alternately used diplomacy, force and humiliation to keep the field team in line, and enjoys the status and power he has, as well as his criminal career being quietly swept under the carpet. He remains unbalanced, however, due to his habit of mixing his medication and because Thunderbolt Moonstone has influenced attendants to switch his medication with placebos on alternate days so as to get him fired and take his place. He has also secretly forced the supervillain Whirlwind and his allies to secretly work for him directly.¹² As a Director for the Commission of Superhuman Affairs, Osborn was present and involved in a joint CSA/UN tribunal against Tony Stark, being aggressively against him and clashing with witness Doc Samson. ¹³

When four telepaths try to destroy the Thunderbolts from the inside, they target Osborn with hallucinations of his Goblin mask,¹⁴ eventually causing him to break down completely in response to Swordsman going rogue. Driven to become the Green Goblin again, he brutally assaults and crucifies Swordsman before being telepathically nudged into murdering the entire Thunderbolt Mountain staff.¹⁵ He engages Songbird in battle, and both knock each other unconscious. When Bullseye murders the four telepaths in their cells, all of the Thunderbolts return to normal.¹⁶

New Ways to Die

During the course of the One More Day storyline, the situation changes so that Norman's son, Harry, is revealed to be alive once more and no one (including Norman) knows Spider-Man's secret identity. Norman returns to the Amazing Spider-Man title in a storyline entitled New Ways to Die.¹⁷ In addition to calling the Thunderbolts to New York to hunt down Spider-Man, Norman agrees to help New York mayoral candidate Randall Crowne, who got into trouble when Ben Urich's newspaper Frontline revealed that he had been operating an illegal sweatshop. Norman confronts the man who took the photos; Peter Parker. Norman is unable to find a way Parker can contact Spiderman and leaves him. Later while observing a fight between Venom, Anti-Venom, and Spider-Man, Norman is confronted by Menace. After a short confrontation, Menace spares him, after accusing Osborn of being a fool for devoting all his time and assets to Spider-Man's destruction. As Menace leaves Norman finds Peter Parker's camera and uses it to reverse-engineer the tracing system allowing the camera to zero on Spider-Man's chest. Norman later uses the captured villain Freak to produce a counter-measure for Anti-Venom, at the same time providing Gargan with a protective Scorpion battle suit that will distribute the cure throughout his body, healing the symbiote faster. The Sins Past arc apparently still occurred in some form, as Spider-Man has mentioned fighting the Gray Goblin on a few occasions.

Secret Invasion

Captain Marvel, revealed to be a Skrull sleeper agent, attacks Thunderbolt Mountain, but he can't bring himself to kill. Norman Osborn offers him a chance to explain himself, speaking with him in private, and convincing him to leave. Following this, it becomes clear the Thunderbolts - due to Norman forcing the usage of Oscorp technology over Stark Industries products, the latter of which has been deactivated by Skrull agents - are the only team that can reach and defend Washington, D.C.. Norman successfully manages and directs the team, while personally joining the battle with a machine gun. During the conflict, several Skrulls shapeshift into duplicates of Spider-Man, the sight of whom drives Norman into an apparent nervous breakdown.¹⁸ He guns down every one of them, stating the slaughter to be "therapeutic" for him.¹⁹

After saving the capital city, Norman is able to successfully manipulate the media to promote himself and the team as patriotic heroes, as well as undermining the CSA and Tony Stark. He then leads the team to New York, joining the final battle (including working with Nick Fury; both men feel the other should be in jail). The President of the United States is shown stating that after the battle he wishes to talk with Norman, appearing to view the Director's actions favourably. ²⁰

Powers and abilities

The chemical solution devised by Norman Osborn from a formula originally conceived by Professor Mendel Stromm, that turned Norman Osborn into the Green Goblin, bestowed upon him superhuman agility, speed, stamina and dexterity. He possesses super-strength and bullet proof skin. Additionally, Osborn has gained a "healing factor" allowing him to quickly heal from lethal bodily damage (for example: being stabbed through the chest by large blades or have several pumpkin bombs strapped to his stomach). Aside from his physical advantages, the serum also greatly enhanced Norman's already highly above average intellect, making him a bona fide genius capable of making progress in advanced areas of genetics, robotics, engineering, and applied chemistry.

The Green Goblin is armed with a variety of bizarre devices. He travels on his bat-shaped "Goblin Glider", an incredibly fast and maneuverable rocket glider. The goblin glider is armed with heat-seeking missiles, machine guns and retractible blades. Other weapons the Goblin uses are incendiary Pumpkin Bombs capable of melting through 3 inches of battleship steel, smoke and gas-emitting bombs with an appearance like a ghost, razor-edged bat-shaped boomerangs (simmiler to Batman's baterangs) and gloves woven with micro-circuited filaments which channel pulsed discharges of electricity capable of discharging nearly 1,000 volts of electricity. He wears bulletproof chainmail with an overlapping tunic and cape. His mask has a built-in gas filter to keep himself safe from his own gasses.

Personality

Like many other comic book supervillains, Norman Osborn is an megalomaniac who takes sadistic pleasure in harming his foes and innocent people alike.

In the pages of the Thunderbolts it is revealed that Norman Osborn is severely manic depressive. When he is not under the direction of a psychiatrist and taking medication, he has dangerous mood swings and at the apex of his mania is paranoid, delusional, and suffers from visual and auditory hallucinations. As a consequence of Norman Osborn's incredible arrogance, he does not submit to psychiatric treatment unless forced because mental illness is an imperfection in his view and therefor he will not admit he is mentally ill. Not since the formation of the Thunderbolts, has Norman Osborn ever been seen as remotely emotionally stable and even this is tenuous.

There are many examples of Norman Osborn's highly pronounced superiority complex. He generally views other people as dim-witted pests, lacking in creative vision, who are unworthy to be graced by his presence. He goes out of his way to remind others of their personal failures and shortcomings, and tends to remind those in close relationships with him that they are incapable of measuring up to his achievements. For example, when he first learned Spider-Man's identity, he claimed that when Spider-Man previously had defeated him, it did not count because Spider-Man had only beaten his lackeys or been rescued by the intervention of other super powered beings such as the Human Torch. He also missed the opportunity to lead the original Sinister Six because he felt joining the group would be admitting that he needed the help of others to rid himself of Spider-Man. This was fortunate for Spider-Man because Norman's strategic abilities directing the powers of the six would have guaranteed the death of Spider-Man.

One of the few examples of the Goblin demonstrating any esteem for others is that he has expressed admiration for Peter Parker's integrity and intelligence, informing him in a letter that he owes Peter a great deal for ensuring that his life is always interesting and encouraging him not to quit the hero business as the world would be a far duller place without him in it. He has shown more respect for Peter than he does his own son, since Peter is a talented, capable and determined individual — a self-made man like himself — whereas he sees Harry as a spoiled weakling.

Osborn has demonstrated that he is highly sadistic. While in prison, a guard once asked for his advice in helping his critically ill wife — Osborn's advice led her to a quicker and more agonizing death. When told by Peter that he could have "cured cancer by now" had he put his mind to it, he responded by saying "I don't give a damn!" Osborn is also apparently a control freak, for example getting angry at Mac Gargan for choosing the Venom symbiote over a new Scorpion outfit Osborn built for him, despite Venom being a more useful asset for their purpose of killing Spider-Man.

Other Goblins

While Norman is assumed to be dead, several villains and one hero take up the mantle of the Green Goblin:

Nels Van Adder

It was revealed that soon after Norman had Stromm arrested for embezzlement, he had found only a portion of the notes detailing his partner's serum. Norman tests the incomplete version of the serum on an Oscorp employee named Nels Van Adder, exposure to which, drives Van Adder slowly insane and begins transforming him into a red, demon-like being known as the "Proto-Goblin". Killing several people and blaming Norman for what has happened to him, Adder proceeds to harass and later attempts to kill him before being knocked out a window in Oscorp by Arthur and George Stacy and fleeing into the wild. In order to escape conviction for what he had done to Van Adder, Norman convinces the police that Van Adder had been experimenting on himself, and that he had secretly been trying to help him. Van Adder's current fate remains unrevealed. ²¹

As well as endowing Adder with super strength and agility, the Goblin Serum also gave him large claws, talons, fangs, glowing green eyes and near impenetrable skin (capable of withstanding several close range bullet shots).

Harry Osborn

Harry, Norman's son, becomes the second Green Goblin.²² After being defeated and placed under the care of Dr. Bart Hamilton, Harry while under hypnosis reveals many Goblin secrets and Hamilton decides to become the third Green Goblin. Harry recovers, and fights Hamilton, until an explosion renders Harry amnesiac of his time as the Goblin and kills Hamilton.²³ Years later Harry's memories return and he uses a new stronger Goblin serum to augment his power, but dies from it. Harry would later return thanks to the machinations of Mephisto in "One More Day".

Bart Hamilton

Dr. Barton "Bart" Hamilton was a psychologist, born in Scarsdale, New York. Before his death, Harry is put under the medical care of Dr. Hamilton, who manages to make Harry bury his vendetta and identity as the Goblin in his subconscious.²⁴ Unfortunately, Dr. Hamilton wants to use Harry's secrets to become the third Green Goblin.²⁵ Eventually, the underpowered amateur is confronted by Harry Osborn who has resumed the Goblin identity to stop him. They battle and Hamilton is accidentally killed by a bomb with which he meant to kill Spider-Man, and Harry becomes amnesiac.²⁶ Years later there was speculation that Hamilton was the Hobgoblin but this is disproved.²⁷

Hobgoblin

Roderick Kingsley, a fashion designer, finds information that leads him to one of Norman's many abandoned Goblin caches, full of equipment that he alters and takes up the mantle of the Hobgoblin, looking to become an underworld leader. He resorts to brainwashing and framing Ned Leeds, a friend of Spider-Man's. He goes into hiding, and another Hobgoblin comes forth. His name is Jason Macendale and is killed by Kingsley years later. Macendale appears as the Hobgoblin in the Spider-Man 1994 Series and is voiced by Mark Hamill.

Demogoblin

Jason Macendale assumed the role of the Hobgoblin, and when he became trapped in Limbo, it was there that his essence became infused with an unnamed demon. After a battle with Daniel Ketch and Johnny Blaze, Jason realized that he needed to expel the demon from within him. Doing so let loose the being known as Demogoblin who would seek revenge against his former host, Macendale. He later joined forces with Carnage and other villains in an effort to take over Manhattan, which ended in failure. Eventually, Demogoblin meets his death during a battle with Hobgoblin. He is later seen in the nightmares and hallucinations of Phil Urich.

Phil Urich

Harry's insanity relapses and he becomes the Green Goblin again on numerous occasions, until he dies from the side effects of a modified Goblin serum. His equipment and the identity of the Green Goblin are then briefly used by Philip Benjamin "Phil" Urich (nephew of Ben Urich of the Daily Bugle), who tries to gain a reputation as a superhero, although he is sometimes seen as being as maniacal as his villainous predecessors. When his equipment is damaged during a battle against a Sentinel in the Onslaught crossover, Phil is unable to repair or replace it and the fourth Green Goblin thereafter retires. He later forms the team Excelsior. In the MC2 alternate future, he resumes his career as the Green Goblin (see below).

Gabriel Stacy

Gabriel, Norman's and Gwen Stacy's son, became the sixth Green Goblin known as the Grey Goblin.²⁸ Born after Osborn's enhancements Gabriel already had improved physical abilities and aged rapidly. After taking a dose of Goblin serum, Gabriel becomes a physical powerhouse, but goes completely insane, thus becoming the Grey Goblin. After crash landing in a battle with Spider-Man and his twin sister, Gabriel suffers severe amnesia. His sister, Sarah, takes Gabriel to Paris, but he soon escapes.

Menace

Other versions

In other media

Television

Spider-Man (1967)

Green Goblin appears in the 1960s animated television series, voiced by Len Carlson. Although the Goblin here is depicted as a dimwitted robber who is obsessed with magic and the supernatural - fields of expertise that Norman Osborn in the comics is never interested in (save for one incident in the late 1990s), preferring to use technology to commit crimes. He appears in the episodes "The Witching Hour", "Magic Malice" and "To Catch a Spider".

Spider-Man (1981)

Green Goblin appears in the 1980s Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends cartoon show, which depicts Norman Osborn, voiced by Neil Ross, as something closer to The Lizard, with a serious medical problem of physically and uncontrollably changing into the Green Goblin, voiced by Dennis Marks. This version of the character has a niece by the name of Mona Osborn, who had no knowledge of her uncle's double identity. When she was held captive by the Green Goblin, she stated that he looked familiar. He appears in the episodes "Triumph Of The Green Goblin" and "Quest Of The Red Skull".

The solo Spider-Man series' version, which ran around the same time, is truer to the original comic book (in which Osborn suffered from amnesia and wore a Goblin costume instead of physically transforming into the Goblin), with the Goblin appearing in "Revenge of the Green Goblin".

Spider-Man: The Animated Series

The Green Goblin appears in the 1990s Spider-Man: The Animated Series, voiced by Neil Ross. Unlike his comic counterpart, Norman Osborn here is not an insane version of himself, and has instead developed a multiple personality disorder. His other personality is the Green Goblin, who acts on destroying everyone who has hurt Osborn throughout his life. In this incarnation, Osborn is a responsible father, inventor, though ruthless businessman, who gets caught up in the Kingpin's affairs. Also, unlike the comic book version, who considers his son weak, the animated series' Osborn cares deeply for Harry.

In the Goblin's debut episode, "Enter the Green Goblin", Norman Osborn is exposed to a gas that greatly increases his physical strength but also drives him insane. The gas also somehow alters the Hobgoblin's (who in the animated series came before the Green Goblin, unlike the comics) equipment, which had been created at Oscorp, and Norman dons it, becoming the Green Goblin. He then kidnaps various Oscorp stockholders (including Wilson Fisk (Kingpin) and Felicia Hardy's mother) that had tormented Norman. In "Goblin War!", Norman Osborn becomes the Green Goblin again, defeating the Hobgoblin and stealing his Time Dilation Accelerator, a machine capable of generating portals. In the next episode "Turning Point", the Green Goblin finds out Spider-Man's secret identity, kidnapa Mary Jane, and fights Spider-Man atop the George Washington Bridge. In the end, the Goblin gets stuck in another dimension, after his glider pushes him through a portal. In "The Return of the Green Goblin", the Green Goblin appears to Harry Osborn, and lures him into becoming the new Green Goblin. In "The Wedding", Green Goblin appears again to convince Harry Osborn to become the Green Goblin again when he hears that Peter Parker and Mary Jane are going to get married, but Liz Allan in the end convinces Harry that his real friends are Mary Jane and Peter, not the Green Goblin. With his connection to Harry broken, Norman Osborn remains trapped in limbo. The Green Goblin makes his final appearance in "I Really, Really Hate Clones", the first part of the two-part series finale, in which he is working for Spider-Carnage and the Kingpin in an alternate reality.

Spider-Man Unlimited

A Counter Earth version of the Green Goblin appears in the Spider-Man Unlimited animated series voiced by James Crescenzo. This version is actually a hero instead of a villain, mistaking Spider-Man for a villain during their first encounter. Instead of a glider, he wields a backpack that sprouts wings. By the end of his first appearance, after saving Naoko and Shayne Yamada-Jones from one of Venom and Carnage's plans with the help of Spider-Man and after the Goblin lets Naoko and Shayne go, he whispers to himself about calling Naoko his love. It is revealed in the next episode, which the Goblin himself doesn't appear in, that Naoko has a jealous ex-husband who works for the rebellion against the High Evolutionary. Naoko's ex-husband, who is standing in the shadows by the end of the episode, reveals that he is jealous, suspecting that Naoko and Peter Parker, the man who pays the rent while living at Naoko's home, are having an affair. He punches a wall that bricks fall down thus confirming the Goblin, who has super-strength is indeed Naoko's ex-husband.

The Goblin's next appears when he finds out that both Spider-Man and Peter Parker are the same person. He also learns that Spider-Man is from the original Earth, and his intentions on Counter-Earth are to rescue John Jameson. But since Jameson, who is working with the rebels against the High Evolutionary, doesn't agree to come and lets Spider-Man go off on his own, the Goblin decides to help by getting a ship the High Evolutionary has, which was originally Spider-Man's. Spider-Man and the Goblin team up with the Rejects, a group of Beastials that the High Evolutionary gotten rid of since they proved useless, and they get to Solaris II, the ship Spider-Man once had. But Spider-Man has more heart and has Solaris II crash into one of the High Evolutionary's towers, which presumably kills the Goblin in the explosion. However, by the series finale, it is revealed he survived the explosion and joined the Rejects. But he leaves them to help Spider-Man and the rebels fight against the High Evolutionary. By the end of the episode, he is one of the characters who run off when thousands of symbiotes spring to Counter-Earth according to Venom and Carnage's plans.

Spider-Man: The New Animated Series

Harry Osborn is a main character in this series, which supposedly follows the same canon as the Spider-Man films. Norman Osborn was mentioned in the show on a number of occasions.

The Spectacular Spider-Man

Norman Osborn appears in The Spectacular Spider-Man (voiced by Alan Rachins) as the charismatic yet pompous spirited CEO of OsCorp. He expresses disapproval at his son Harry for his not getting offered for the ESU lab job and telling him to man up to get what he wants. Bent on being the number one in weapons tech, Norman embezzled the designs of Adrian Toomes and then tipped Big Man on the technology created by TRI-CORP on shipment. As a result, Norman considers Big Man's deal, with him receiving guinea pigs for his illegal experiments in return for the created supervillains to distract Spider-Man from Big Man's operations. Osborn may be deceitful and rude with a dash of ungratefulness, he does show concern for those close to him.

In the 7th episode "Catalysts", the Green Goblin mysteriously appears (voiced by Steven Blum) and attempted in vain to overthrow the Big Man before Spider-Man intervened. After the Goblin caused the accident that warped Octavius' mind, Norman was suspected by both Spider-Man and the Big Man for being the Green Goblin due to the fact that all the Goblin's actions were somewhat beneficial to him: overthrowing the Big Man (Norman would not have to conduct more experiments) and creating Dr. Octopus in order to obtain the silence of the timid scientist. Bent on finding out the truth after learning the "Globulin Green" vial is missing and tied to his "benefactor", Norman tells Hammerhead he is determined to unmask the Goblin at any cost. However, when it is revealed to Spider-Man that Green Goblin is actually Norman's son Harry, Norman is grieved by the mess Harry has become and pleads Spider-Man not to take him to the authorities. The next day, Norman embarks on a tour to Europe with Harry so he can relax and forget about his addiction to the formula.

The show's version of Norman has the mainstream version's hairstyle and appearance, but with the personality of the Ultimate version, while the Green Goblin wears a costume similar to his normal counterpart, but with some differences, including the lack of gloves, thick battle boots, a flying cap and a pumpkin that connects a tunic to his costume. He also lacks a bag, with the weapons being stored in the glider like the first film.

South Park

Green Goblin appears in an episode of South Park in "Imaginationland Episode II" as a resident of a world with the same name which is divided by a good and bad side. Obviously, the Goblin is on the bad side.

Films

In the Stephen King movie Maximum Overdrive, the face of the Green Goblin is prominently displayed on the front of the movie's main villain, a murderous "Happy Toyz Co." truck.

Spider-Man

The Green Goblin's first live action appearance (beyond a 1982 television commercial for the Atari video game) was in the blockbuster feature film Spider-Man (2002), which starred Willem Dafoe as Norman Osborn.

Dr. Norman Osborn is a brilliant scientist and businessman/industrialist who is known for his contributions to nanotechnology. As in the comics, he has a distant relationship with his son, Harry (James Franco), who resents his father's apparent favoritism toward his friend Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire). Norman takes an immediate liking to Peter when he is informed that Parker can understand his work, and later admires Parker's desire to make his own way in the world, rather than accepting Osborn's help. He is the head of Oscorp, a company contracted by the United States military to create a new super-soldier. Osborn's colleague, Dr. Mendel Stromm, feels it important to reveal to the military official overseeing the project that some of the test subjects have gone insane. Hearing this, Osborn is threatened with a tight deadline. Needing to prove his formula can succeed, Osborn experiments on himself and becomes the Green Goblin. The process drives him insane however, and he kills Stromm. The military decides to give the super-soldier contract to another company, Quest Aerospace, and in revenge, the Green Goblin kills several high-ranking military officers and Quest scientists who were present at the test. Although Quest Aerospace's prototype was destroyed, the company decides to expand and, in doing so, assumes control of Oscorp on the condition that Norman Osborn step down as CEO.

In retaliation, the Goblin kills the board of directors during a festival in Times Square, thus removing the last threat to his takeover of Oscorp, and inadvertently almost killing Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst). His appearance at the festival also marks the beginning of his animosity towards Spider-Man. Instead of hating his new enemy, however, Norman views Spider-Man as the son that he always wanted, and attempts to recruit him to his side.

The Goblin next leads an attack at the Daily Bugle to question J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmons) for the identity of the photographer who takes pictures of Spider-Man. Peter is at the office during the attack and soon shows up as Spider-Man. The Goblin gasses him and takes him to a rooftop, where he offers Spider-Man a partnership and belittles his choice to become a hero, warning that eventually the city will turn against him. This starts to become true when the Bugle in response to the attack prints a story claiming the Goblin and Spider-Man are allies.

A few days later the Goblin baits Spider-Man into a burning building and asks him if he's decided to join him. When Spider-Man refuses, the Goblin attempts to kill him with razor bats and eventually slips away. Norman finds out Spider-Man's identity when, while visiting his son Harry (who is Peter's roommate) for Thanksgiving Day, he discovers that Peter has an identical wound to one he had inflicted on Spider-Man in the earlier fight. After deducing Spider-Man's identity, he decides to leave though Harry tries to stop him. Norman tells Harry to do what he wants with Mary Jane and then dump her fast, as he believes she is only interested in his money, as his own wife was. After hallucinating that his other persona informs him to attack Spider-Man's heart, he attacks and seriously injures Aunt May, then kidnaps Mary Jane and tells Spider-Man that he must choose either to save her or to save a group of children in a cable car. Both are thrown off the Queensboro Bridge, yet Spider-Man saves both the children and Mary Jane.

After saving the children and Mary Jane, Spider-Man is lured into an abandoned building. Goblin then throws a pumpkin bomb and it explodes in Spider-Man's face, sending him through a brick wall. As the Goblin brutally beats Spider-Man, he tells him how he will kill Mary Jane slowly. Enraged, Spider-Man attacks him, and gains the upper hand. After being defeated in their final battle and with his own personality apparently resurfaced, Norman removes his Goblin helmet to reveal himself to Spider-Man, and asks Spidey to forgive him and protect him from the Goblin persona. At the same time however, Norman (with the Goblin still controlling him) secretly directs his glider to impale Spider-Man from behind. Norman states he was like a father to him and begs him to be a son to him, to which Peter retorts that he had a father: his late uncle, Benjamin Parker (Cliff Robertson). The Goblin responds by launching his glider.

Spider-Man senses the attack with his spider-sense and dodges, and the machine kills the Green Goblin by impaling him. Just before dying, Norman begs Spider-Man not to tell his son about his second identity. When Spider-Man takes Norman's corpse back to his mansion, Harry sees him placing his father’s dead body on a bed. Not knowing that his father was the Green Goblin, Harry holds Spider Man responsible for his death. At the funeral, Harry swears revenge on Spider-Man.

In the film, the Green Goblin pilots a high-tech Goblin Glider, armed with seeking missiles and machine guns. He also wears green armor that cybernetically connects him to his glider and weapons. He is seen using three varieties of his signature "pumpkin bombs": one which is a simple explosive; one that releases a bright, radioactive flash which reduces people to skeletons; and one that splits into flying, razor-bat blades. Rather than carrying a shoulder "bag of tricks", the weapons are contained in the glider and are ejected individually out of their storage compartment when desired. His suit is armed with knockout gas that is released from the wrists. His suit is also linked to the Goblin Glider, allowing him to control it remotely.

Spider-Man 2

Willem Dafoe reprised his role of Norman Osborn/Green Goblin briefly in Spider-Man 2. In the movie, Harry Osborn, obsessed with defeating Spider-Man, forms a brief alliance with Doctor Octopus, which leads him to the discovery of Peter's secret identity. An evil vision of the late Norman Osborn subsequently speaks to Harry from inside of a mirror, demanding that Harry avenge his death. When Harry shatters the mirror, he discovers his father's hidden Goblin lair.

Spider-Man 3

In Spider-Man 3, Harry Osborn, still obsessed with taking revenge on Spider-Man, has finally taken up the mantle of the New Goblin. When Harry suffers from amnesia and briefly forgets his vendetta, the vision of Norman returns in a successful attempt to sway him back to destroying Peter/Spider-Man by one purpose: "Attack his heart."

Video games

References

^ Wizard Magazine's list of the 100 Greatest Villains of All Time
^ ^a ^b Will Murray, "Spider Time", Starlog and Comics Scene present Spider-Man and other Comics Heroes, July 2002.
^ See (among others): Ro, Ronin. Tales to Astonish: Jack Kirby, Stan Lee and the American Comic Book Revolution, p. 107 (Bloomsbury, 2004)
^ Comics Creators on Spiderman, pg 29-30, Tom Defalco. (Titan Books, 2004)
^ Blumberg, Arnold T. (Fall 2003). "'The Night Gwen Stacy Died:' The End of Innocence and the Birth of the Bronze Age". Reconstruction 3 (4), http://reconstruction.eserver.org/034/blumberg.htm. Retrieved on 31 October 2006.
^ Amazing Spider-Man #14
^ Amazing Spider-Man #17
^ Amazing Spider-Man #122
^ Spider-Man: The Osborn Journal
^ PART 33
^ The stand-in Green Goblin revealed!
^ Thunderbolts: Reason in Madness
^ Iron Man (Vol.4) #27-8
^ Thunderbolts #117
^ Thunderbolts #120
^ Thunderbolts #121
^ Comic Book Resources > CBR News: Enemies at the Gates: Wacker Talks “Amazing Spider-Man”
^ Thunderbolts #123
^ Thunderbolts #124
^ Thunderbolts #125
^ Peter Parker: Spider-Man #-1
^ Amazing Spider-Man #136
^ Amazing Spider-Man #180
^ Amazing Spider-Man #174
^ Amazing Spider-Man #176
^ Amazing Spider-Man #180
^ Hobgoblin Lives #1-3
^ Amazing Spider-Man #514
^ Peter Parker & The Sorcerer Stone
^ IGN: E3 2008: Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 Character Announcements

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