1. Publication history
    Return  New roles 

2. Fictional character biography
    Early life  The original Green Goblin  Return  H.A.M.M.E.R. and the Dark Avengers  The Goblin King  All New, All Different Marvel 

3. Powers and abilities
    Weapons of Green Goblin  Weapons as Iron Patriot  Powers as the Super-Adaptoid  Powers as the Red Goblin 

4. Characterization

5. Other versions

6. In other media

7. Reception

8. References

9. External links

• Superhuman strength, stamina, durability, agility and reflexes due to ingesting the Goblin Formula
• Regenerative healing factor
• Genius-level intellect
• Proficient scientist
• Skilled in hand-to-hand combat and martial arts
• Utilizes goblin-themed weapons and a Goblin Glider

Norman Osborn is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko, and first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #14 (cover dated July 1964) as the original and best-known incarnation of the Green Goblin.

As the amoral industrialist head of Oscorp, Norman was exposed to an experimental formula which enhanced his physical abilities and intellect, but also drove him to insanity. Having endured as Spider-Man's archenemy, Osborn has been part of the superhero's defining stories as well as being Harry Osborn, Gabriel and Sarah Stacy's father, Normie Osborn's grandfather, and the killer of Gwen Stacy, then Ben Reilly (prior his resurrection) and Flash Thompson. Although his primary obsession is Spider-Man, he often comes into conflict with other superheroes in the Marvel Universe.

As the Goblin, he adopted a Halloween-themed appearance: dressing in a goblin costume, riding on a bat-shaped "Goblin Glider", and using an arsenal of high-tech weapons, such as grenade-like "Pumpkin Bombs", to terrorize New York City. Although Osborn sometimes works with other supervillains such as Doctor Octopus and Mysterio, and groups like the Sinister Six and the Dark Avengers, these relationships often collapse due to his desire for unbridled chaos and destruction. In recent years, Osborn gained new status as a public hero as the original iteration of Iron Patriot.

The character has been in various top villain lists as one of Spider-Man's greatest enemies and one of the greatest comic book villains of all time. The character's popularity has seen him appear on a variety of merchandise, inspire real-world structures (such as theme park attractions), and be referenced in a number of media. Osborn has been adapted to serve as Spider-Man's adversary in live-action, animated, and video game incarnations. The character has been portrayed in film by Willem Dafoe in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man film trilogy and Chris Cooper in the 2014 film The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Among others, Neil Ross, Alan Rachins, Steve Blum, Steven Weber and Josh Keaton provided Osborn's voice in the animated Spider-Man series of 1981, 1994, 2008, 2012 and 2017.

Publication history

Marvel Comics editor and head writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko are credited with creating the character, they each collaborated with one another on how the character would be portrayed.^[1] According to Ditko: "Stan's synopsis for the Green Goblin had a movie crew, on location, finding an Egyptian-like sarcophagus. Inside was an ancient, mythological demon, the Green Goblin. He naturally came to life. On my own, I changed Stan's mythological demon into a human villain."^[2]

The Green Goblin debuted in The Amazing Spider-Man #14.^[3] At this time his identity was unknown, but he proved popular and reappeared in later issues, which made a point of his secret identity. According to both Stan Lee and John Romita, Sr., who replaced Ditko as the title's artist, Lee always wanted the Green Goblin to be someone Peter Parker knew, while Ditko wanted his civilian identity to be someone who hadn't yet been introduced.^[4][5][6] Lee elaborated: "Steve wanted him to turn out to be just some character that we had never seen before. Because, he said, in real life, very often a villain turns out to be somebody that you never knew. And I felt that that would be wrong. I felt, in a sense, it would be like cheating the reader. ... if it's somebody you didn't know and had never seen, then what was the point of following all the clues? I think that frustrates the reader."^[6] However, Lee prefaced this statement by admitting that, due to his self-professed poor memory, he may have been confusing the Green Goblin with a different character,^[6] and in an earlier essay he had said that he could not remember whether Norman Osborn being the Green Goblin was his idea or Ditko's.^[7] Ditko has maintained that it was his idea, even claiming that he had decided on it before the first Green Goblin story was finished. Though Osborn would not be introduced by name until The Amazing Spider-Man #37, Ditko has said that a character he drew in the background of two panels in issue #23 was intended to be Osborn, seeded in advance of the reveal. This background character, a member of a businessmen's club and a friend of J. Jonah Jameson, would reappear in The Amazing Spider-Man #25, 26, and 27, and when Norman was formally introduced in issue #37, he too was stated to be a member of the club and friend of Jameson's.^[2][8]

Ditko left the series with issue #38, just one issue after Norman Osborn was introduced as the father of Harry Osborn.^[9] The first issue without Ditko saw the Green Goblin unmasked. John Romita, Sr., who replaced Ditko as the title's artist, recalled:

In the landmark story "The Night Gwen Stacy Died" (The Amazing Spider-Man #121-122), the Green Goblin kills Gwen Stacy and later perishes in a fight against Spider-Man. However, the story's writer, Gerry Conway, had Harry Osborn adopt the Green Goblin identity in the aftermath of "The Night Gwen Stacy Died", later remarking that "I never had any intention of getting rid of the Green Goblin as a concept".^[11] Harry Osborn's becoming the Green Goblin was mostly well-received, with fans remarking that Harry was more menacing than his father had ever been.^[12] Writer Roger Stern later introduced the Hobgoblin to replace the Green Goblin as Spider-Man's archenemy.^[13]

Return

During the "Clone Saga", a retcon was made, which determined that Norman Osborn survived the events of The Amazing Spider-Man #122, and had been playing a behind-the-scenes role in Spider-Man's adventures since then.^[14][15] During the "Clone Saga", the Spider-Man writers were met with a massive outcry from many readers after the decision to replace Peter Parker with his clone Ben Reilly as the true Spider-Man. Eventually, the writers decided to reveal that one of Spider-Man's arch-enemies had been manipulating events from behind the scenes. The initial plan was to use Mephisto, but they felt a more down-to-earth character was needed.^[16] It was then suggested that the semi-zombified cyborg "Gaunt" be revealed as Harry Osborn (who was killed in The Spectacular Spider-Man #200).

Gaunt was a late entry to the controversial storyline, created mainly as a plot device to return Harry to life; the plan for the character included Harry regaining his humanity, taking credit for tricking Peter into thinking he was a clone, and assuming his father's Green Goblin identity. However, this narrative was rejected by newly-promoted editor in chief Bob Harras,^[17] and eventually Norman was chosen to be the mastermind. Following the Clone Saga, Green Goblin re-established himself as a supervillain and Spider-Man's nemesis, serving as the main antagonist of several arcs thereafter.^[18]

Osborn returns in Peter Parker: Spider-Man #75 and is blown up at the end of the issue.^[19] It is shown in Spectacular Spider-Man #250 that he has recovered, and he returns to his civilian life. Without the Green Goblin identity, Osborn would then go on to attack Spider-Man indirectly, through minions and via smear campaigns designed to portray him as a monster. However, Norman would still wear his Green Goblin costume when needed to.^[20]

New roles

Following the Civil War story arc, Warren Ellis began writing Thunderbolts,^[21] and Osborn was brought into this title as the director of the eponymous team. He was one of several characters offered to Ellis, who picked him because, according to Thunderbolts editor Molly Lazer, "[t]here was something about Norman, his instability, and his fixation with Spider-Man that Warren liked, so he's in the book!"^[22]

Ellis admitted not being very familiar with the character, saying: "All I remember of the Norman Osborn character was from the Spider-Man reprints my parents used to buy me when I was very young, and Norman Osborn was this guy with a weird rippled crewcut who was always sweating and his eyes were always bulging out of his head. That guy as a Donald Rumsfeld-like public governmental figure... [Joe Quesada] talked me into writing the book while I was still laughing.""^[23]

Lazer confirmed that the new team was answerable to the Commission on Superhuman Activities, giving him the opportunity to do what he wanted: "He's a free man with a lot of power .... And his agenda, well, it's not that secret. He wants to get Spider-Man."^[24]

Writer Christos Gage took over for the Secret Invasion tie-in stories,^[25][26] which end with Osborn taking credit for the defeat of the Skrulls after he kills the Skrull queen Veranke.^[27] This allowed the character to be placed into an influential position in the aftermath Dark Reign. Although the dark turn at the end was always part of the plan for the storyline, Brian Michael Bendis, Secret Invasion's writer, says that Osborn was picked for the leading role because of the changes implemented by Ellis.^[28][29]

Meanwhile, Andy Diggle took over the writing of Thunderbolts.^[30] He introduced new characters to serve as Osborn's black ops team, explaining:

He appeared as a regular character in the Dark Avengers series from issue #1 (March 2009) through issue #16 (June 2010),^[34] as well as the mini-series "Siege", which saw Norman being arrested for his crimes, following the events of the Civil War storyline.^[35] At this point, the character was more involved with the Avengers and only made three minor appearances in Amazing Spider-Man.

The first was "Brand New Ways To Die" which featured Norman and the Thunderbolts versus Spider-Man and the original Venom.^[36] His second appearance explained that following Mephisto's alteration of Spider-Man's past, Norman's return was significantly altered. He had returned earlier than he had originally, and, due to concern for his son's mental wellbeing after once again becoming the Green Goblin, had arranged for Harry's death to be faked, with help from Mysterio.^[37]

In his final appearance in the storyline, Norman attempts to convince Harry to become a super-hero so that Norman can kill him off and exploit his demise. It is also revealed that he was sleeping with the supervillain Menace (Harry's ex-girlfriend), with Norman believing that the villain's child she was carrying was his.^[38]

A five issue mini-series followed, written by writer Kelly Sue DeConnick and artist Emma Rios. The mini-series would lead into a dual storyline running in the pages of New Avengers #17–24 and Avengers #18–24, in which the character formed a new version of the Dark Avengers and ultimately garnered new powers, having turned himself into a Super-Adaptoid.^[39]

Fictional character biography

Early life

Norman was born in New Haven, Connecticut as the son of wealthy industrialist Amberson Osborn. Amberson, a brilliant student in the fields of science, became an alcoholic after losing control of his manufacturing company and his fortune, and became physically abusive toward his family. Norman quickly came to despise his father, resolving to be a better breadwinner while developing early homicidal tendencies as a means of relieving the stress of his father's abuse.^[40]

In college, where he studied chemistry, business administration, and electrical engineering, Norman meets his college sweetheart, eventually getting married and have their son Harold "Harry" Osborn. In his adulthood, with the help of his college professor Mendel Stromm, he co-founds the chemical company Oscorp Industries and establishes himself as CEO and President. The company was hugely successful, and Norman re-gained the wealth that he had lost during his childhood. However, his wife becomes ill and dies when Harry is barely a year old,^[41] the stress of which pushes Norman to work harder, leading him to emotionally neglect Harry.

Hoping to gain more control of Oscorp Industries, Osborn accused Stromm of embezzlement and has his partner arrested and his shares in the company sold to him. Searching his former mentor's possessions, Norman discovers an experimental strength/intelligence enhancement formula, but in attempting to create the serum, it turns green and explodes in his face. The accident greatly increases his intelligence and physical abilities as intended, but also has the side-effect of driving him into self-destructive insanity, just like his father from years ago.^[42]

The original Green Goblin

Norman adopts the Green Goblin identity with the goal of becoming the leader of organized crime in the city, and intends to cement his position by defeating Spider-Man. Acting on his own as the Goblin, or through his employment of other super-criminals such as the Headsman,^[43] he would harass Spider-Man many times, but fail to achieve his goal.^[44] Soon, Stromm returns from prison, and attempts to exact revenge on Osborn using an army of robots, but Norman is saved by Spider-Man, and Stromm apparently dies of a heart attack.^[45]

In order to discover his nemesis's secret identity, Osborn exposes Spider-Man to a gas that nullifies the hero's spider-senses. This allows Osborn to stalk Spider-Man until he learns that his nemesis is Peter Parker, a college student (and his son's classmate). While Parker is going about civilian life, Osborn surprises and knocks Parker out with an asphyxiation grenade, taking the youth to his waterfront base. After unmasking himself to Parker, the latter goads him into recounting how he became the Goblin, and uses the time to break free. In the ensuing battle, Spider-Man accidentally knocks Osborn into a mass of electrical wires, wiping out his memory. Feeling sorry for his nemesis, and wishing to avoid the shame that would befall the Osborn family (especially Parker's best friend Harry), Spider-Man destroys the Goblin costume in the resulting fire and tells the authorities that Osborn lost his memory while helping to defeat the Goblin.^[46]

Soon, Osborn is troubled by repressed memories of the Green Goblin and Spider-Man. After a presentation on supervillains by NYPD Captain George Stacy restores Osborn's memory, he experiences a brief return to his Goblin persona. While abducting Parker's friends and threatening Parker's elderly aunt, he is exposed to one of his own "psychedelic bombs", causing a relapse of amnesia.^[47]

Later, Osborn stumbles upon an old Green Goblin hideout which, again, restores his memory. However, the shock of seeing Harry hospitalized, overdosed on drugs, causes Osborn's amnesia to return once more.^[48] After the final restoration of his memories, the Goblin kidnaps and takes Gwen Stacy to a bridge.^[49][50] During Spider-Man's rescue attempt, Osborn knocks Gwen off the bridge, resulting in the girl's death. Spider-Man, traumatised and obsessed with revenge, tracks the Goblin to his hideout, and in the ensuing battle, Osborn is impaled by his own goblin glider.^[51]

Return

While Osborn lies in the morgue, it is revealed that the goblin formula gave him a previously-unknown healing factor which restores him to life; in the process of sneaking out, he kills someone with a similar physique to himself to feign his death. No longer suffering from bouts of amnesia, Norman escapes to Europe, where he can move freely and unnoticed and later revealed in the Sins Remembered storyline in 2005 he was in France for some time with Sarah & Gabrielle Stacy who were his illegitimate children with Gwen Stacy. During this time abroad, believed dead by the general public, he orchestrates several plots, including replacing May Parker with a genetically altered actress,^[52] and faking his own son's death.^[53]

Most significantly, however, he utilizes his fortune to build a vast network of criminals, spies, dupes and co-conspirators to help engineer what would be an almost impossibly complex and meticulously planned plot to destroy Spider-Man's life. To achieve this, he becomes the leader of the Scrier cabal, taking as his pawns Seward Trainer, Judas Traveller, the Jackal and the cyborg Gaunt, all of whom he utilizes to carry out revenge against Peter Parker.

It is this group of individuals who become crucial in duping Parker into believing that the youth is actually a clone of himself created by Jackal,^[54] while claiming that the clone – who comes to be known as Ben Reilly – is actually the original.^[55] Frustrated by Parker's perseverance despite everything that's been inflicted,^[56] Osborn publicly reveals that he's alive on Halloween. During the battle that ensues between them, Osborn attempts to kill Parker by impaling his nemesis with his goblin glider. When Reilly sacrifices himself to save Parker from Osborn (and immediately deteriorates upon death as all of the Jackal's clones do), Parker discovers that he actually is the original. During this same period, Osborn was also responsible for the murder or abduction of Peter & Mary Jane's newborn daughter, after one of his allies apparently caused the stillbirth of the baby.^[19]

Returning to his former seat of power, Osborn regains control of his business and also buys out the Daily Bugle, humiliating former friend and societal peer J. Jonah Jameson as the latter no longer has control over the newspaper. He also torments Ben Urich and demands a retraction over an exposé of his time as the Goblin, providing faked evidence that he never was the supervillain, despite Urich's extensive research.^[57] However, he saves his most sadistic treatment for Peter, acting not only as a constant reminder of all the pain he's inflicted on his nemesis over the years, but a looming threat that could strike at any time. This build-up of pressure eventually makes Spider-Man snap by savagely beating the civilian and non-resistant Osborn in front of the latter's CCTV, which, combined with Osborn convincing the Trapster to frame Spider-Man for murder, results in Spider-Man becoming a fugitive again.^[20] To get around this, Spider-Man adopts four new identities, using two of these identities to convince Trapster to expose his own role in Osborn's scheme,^[58] and provide fake evidence that the individual that beat up Osborn was an impostor.^[59]

For a time, Osborn retires his costumed persona and uses a stand-in so as not to be suspected of being the Green Goblin.^[60] This fifth Goblin kidnaps Norman's grandson and clashes with a wanted and injured Spider-Man.^[61] Norman also crosses paths with Roderick Kingsley and initiates a hostile takeover of the latter's corporate empire, in retaliation for raiding the Goblin's arsenal and identity.^[62] While his stand-in is masquerading as the Goblin, Osborn joins a cult, hoping to receive great power from the 'Gathering of Five', which will grant the participants Power, Knowledge, Immortality, Madness or Death, but while he believes that he will receive Power, he is instead given Madness, and threatens the world with genetic bombs. It is during this time that Peter learns May is alive and Osborn's actress died in her place. Osborn's complete madness is evident, as he hallucinates unmasking and killing Peter; yet in reality Peter easily defeats him. He is rescued from custody thereafter by his cabal of henchmen.^[63]

A few months later, the highly unstable Osborn has partially regained his sanity with the help of anti-psychotic drugs. He comes to see Parker as the son he had always wanted and attempts to have Parker take on the Green Goblin mantle using physiological torture, but ultimately fails.^[64] Osborn's next plan involves using a drunken Flash Thompson to drive a truck into Midtown High School, resulting in an accident that causes Thompson brain damage. This successfully enrages Parker into what Osborn anticipates will be a climactic battle. During this confrontation, the emotionally weary Parker tells Osborn of being tired of their constant battle, and declares a truce.^[65]

Osborn's Goblin identity is revealed to the public once again through an investigation by Jessica Jones, after Osborn murders one of the reporters from the Daily Bugle. After a battle with Spider-Man and Luke Cage, Osborn is arrested and sent to prison for the first time.^[66] However, things were far from over. From behind bars, Osborn again masterminded a plan against Spider-Man. This time, he has MacDonald "Mac" Gargan as Scorpion kidnap May. The plan was for Spider-Man to break Osborn out of prison in exchange for Parker's aunt's life. Peter reluctantly agreed and with the help of the Black Cat proceeded to break Osborn out, only to have twelve of his greatest enemies waiting on the outside.

Osborn had assembled a team of supervillains. However, Mary Jane Watson had contacted S.H.I.E.L.D., and the villains were faced not only by Spider-Man, but the combined might of Captain America, Iron Man, Yellowjacket, Daredevil and the Fantastic Four. During the fracas, the Green Goblin manages to escape and kidnap Mary Jane, taking Peter's love interest to the George Washington Bridge in order to replay his murder of the last love interest. However, a drugged Doctor Octopus intervenes, attacking the Goblin. Spider-Man is able to save Mary Jane after a bolt of lightning sends the two villains into the river. Following some verbal clues from the Goblin, Peter also discovers where he had hidden May, and rescues the latter as well. It is revealed that Osborn sent Peter a letter before the fight, thanking Peter for giving his life meaning and purpose, but Peter never received the letter due to moving to a different residence.^[67] After this battle, Osborn attempts to escape to Paris, but is apprehended by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.^[68]

Years after Gwen Stacy's death, it is revealed that Osborn had a one-night stand with Gwen after being overwhelmed by his charisma, which led to Gwen's pregnancy with twin children Gabriel and Sarah. Osborn thus has three motives for killing Gwen; revenge against Spider-Man, to prevent Gwen from talking of their affair and creating a scandal, and to take their children to raise by himself, thus becoming his ideal heirs. Mary Jane was the only person who knew of their encounter and their children's existence prior to Gwen's death, despising Osborn for his immoral behaviors long before discovering he is the villainous Goblin. When the children (who rapidly aged to adulthood years because of the Goblin Formula in their genes) return to attack Peter as Osborn has the twins believe that Peter is their father who abandoned them and responsible for Gwen's death, Peter learned the details of Gwen's past with Osborn and the twins from Mary Jane, and is able to convince Sarah of Osborn's villainy, the truth of her paternity and circumstances of Gwen's death, and stabilized her Goblin physiology with a blood transfusion. Meanwhile, Gabriel himself learns the truth of his relation to Osborn after watching a video message at one of the Goblin lairs, aligning with his father to stabilize his own condition using a variation of the goblin formula at the cost of his sanity.^[69]

H.A.M.M.E.R. and the Dark Avengers

Osborn attempts to distance himself from his Green Goblin persona after being prescribed medication for his mental state. During the "Civil War" over the Superhuman Registration Act, Osborn is appointed director of the Thunderbolts superhero team, now tasked to apprehend anyone who resists registering.^[70] While in this capacity, he directs the Thunderbolts to apprehend or kill Spider-Man,^[71] but after Mephisto changes reality, Harry Osborn is alive once more, and no one (including Norman) knows Spider-Man's secret identity.^[72] In the end, Spider-Man manages to evade this coordinated attack and escape.^[73]

During the "Secret Invasion" by shape-shifting extra-terrestrials, the Skrulls, Osborn shoots and kills the Skrull queen Veranke.^[74] He leverages this widely publicized success, positioning himself as the new director of the S.H.I.E.L.D.-like paramilitary force H.A.M.M.E.R. to advance his agenda,^[74] while using his public image to start his own Dark Avengers, substituting Moonstone for Ms. Marvel, Bullseye for Hawkeye, Venom for Spider-Man, Daken for Wolverine and Noh-Varr for Captain Marvel, as well as manipulating Ares and the Sentry into helping to further his cause. Osborn himself leads the Dark Avengers as the Iron Patriot, a suit of armor fashioned by himself after Iron Man's armor with Captain America's colors.^[75] Osborn simultaneously forms the Cabal alliance with Doctor Doom, Emma Frost, Namor, Loki and the Hood,^[76] but this 'alliance' quickly falls apart when Namor and Frost betray the Cabal to aid the X-Men.^[77] Norman's attempts to exert his authority are increasingly jeopardized by various superheroes. After the Superhuman Registration Act records are deleted so that Osborn has no access to the information recorded about heroes after it was implemented, Osborn attacked a brain-damaged Tony Stark in an early Iron Man suit, thus showing Osborn brutally assaulting a physically and mentally incapable individual that was not even attempting to strike back.^[78] After the New Avengers are forced to allow Osborn to capture Luke Cage when he needs medical treatment, the team uses a tracking device Osborn had planted in Cage to trick him into blowing up his own house after rescuing Cage from Osborn's custody.^[79]

Harry is approached by Norman with the offer of a job within the Dark Avengers.^[80] Norman welcomes Harry into Avengers Tower, wanting to make his son into the American Son.^[81] When Harry finds a cure for Lily Hollister's goblin condition for their baby's safety, Lily reveals that it is a ruse to coerce Harry into taking the American Son armor, whom Norman had plotted would die in a tragedy to increase sympathy for Norman and his Dark Avengers. When Lily also reveals that the baby is not Harry's but in fact Norman's, Harry dons his American Son armor, and fights Norman in his Iron Patriot armor.^[82] During the battle, Norman declares that Harry is no longer his son, and that he has bred a better child to replace the 'failure' of Harry. After further taunts from Norman, Harry lashes out and defeats his father, declaring "I was never your son!". When Harry has the option of killing Norman, Spider-Man says to decapitate him, since Norman's healing factor may repair a blow to the head. Spider-Man also cautions Harry that killing Norman will cause Harry to "become the son Norman always wanted". Harry instead backs down, and turns away from his father forever.^[83]

At Loki's suggestion, Osborn creates a rationale to invade Asgard, claiming the world (which was, at the time, positioned at the outskirts of Broxton, Oklahoma) poses a national security threat, by sending the U-Foes to attack Volstagg in Chicago, leading to the destruction of Soldier Field. During a pitched battle with several superheroes, Sentry causes Thor's world to fall to Earth. Osborn fights with a recently-resurrected Steve Rogers, however, Stark removes Osborn's armor remotely, revealing Osborn used green facepaint to create a goblin-like look. Osborn screams that they do not know what they have done, only for Spider-Man to knock him down. He tells them they are all dead as the Void is released.^[84] Osborn knocks out Rogers and tries to escape, but is captured by Volstagg. Incarcerated in the Raft penitentiary, he blames his Goblin alter-ego for ruining his chance to protect the world.^[91]

When transferred to a secret underwater government base, Osborn takes steps to ensure his release from prison. He uses a group of followers known as the 'Green Goblin Cult' to break out with the aid of corrupt senators; he plans to turn himself in after killing his fellow escapees, setting him up as a 'champion' of the judicial system.^[85] After the breakout, he awaits his trial in a new prison, this one controlled by his cult members.^[86] Using his staged persona as a voice for the 'disenfranchised', Osborn plans to regain the Iron Patriot armor and creates a new team of Dark Avengers, this time substituting June Covington for Scarlet Witch, Ai Apaec for Spider-Man, Barney Barton for Hawkeye, Skaar for Hulk, Superia for Ms. Marvel, Gorgon for Wolverine and an A.I.M.-rebuilt Ragnarok for Thor.^[87] In the team's first fight with the New Avengers, Osborn reveals he has the Super-Adaptoid's powers, declares himself the head of world security, and orders that the Avengers be arrested for war crimes. However, double agent Skaar betrays Osborn, allowing the Avengers to dogpile Osborn's body, overloading him with superpowers and sending him into a coma. A.I.M. and HYDRA pick up Osborn's leftover resources, and H.A.M.M.E.R. is disbanded.^[88] After the Hobgoblin returns to New York, a nurse and doctor are called to Norman's hospital room, only to find him gone.^[89]

The Goblin King

When the children that work for the Vulture are discussing what to do after Superior Spider-Man (Otto Octavius's mind in Spider-Man's body) brutally defeats the Vulture, the Green Goblin approaches them and tells them that he will be the one that crushes Superior Spider-Man.^[90] The Goblin is later shown having gathered a new gang of followers together in the sewers formed from discarded members of other villains' gangs like Vulture, Owl and the third White Dragon's gangs. These henchmen escaped their organizations unharmed because Superior Spider-Man is more focused on the larger threats (where the original Spider-Man would focus on individuals).

As he builds this army to attack Superior Spider-Man, he takes on the new alias of the Goblin King.^[91] The Hand ninjas who evaded capture arrive at the sewers and join up with Goblin King's 'Goblin Underground'. The group revels in the news that, thanks to Superior Spider-Man's assault, Goblin King now owns over half of New York's organized crime. He claims he now owns New York City as the Goblin Kingpin of Crime.^[92] With the help of Menace, Goblin King later releases Phil Urich from a prison transport, and upgrades Urich's Goblin armor and weapons, asking in return only that Urich's only identity from here on shall be Goblin Knight.^[93] Goblin King trains Goblin Knight, anxious to confront Superior Spider-Man.^[94] Goblin King later poses as Hobgoblin and is sighted by some of the Spiderlings.^[95]

Upon Carlie Cooper being brought to the Goblin King's lair by Menace, he receives Carlie's journal from Menace which reveals to him that Otto's mind is in Spider-Man's body.^[96] Goblin King douses Carlie with the goblin formula, causing the woman to mutate into the new superhuman villain Monster. He demands to know Spider-Man's identity, but Monster first asks Goblin King to reveal his own identity. Goblin King assures Monster he is Norman Osborn, but refuses to remove his mask until she has proven herself a loyal follower, and dispatches Monster and Menace on a mission.^[97] Goblin King battles and kills Hobgoblin, although it is revealed to be a servant, with Roderick Kingsley still in hiding abroad.^[98]

Having staged a coup of New York after spreading his resources by exploiting Otto's reliance on technology, the Goblin King directly confronts Otto, angry that he was cheated out of the opportunity to defeat his enemy, but offering Otto the chance to join him. Otto rejects the offer, but when Otto finds that he cannot win against the Goblin King's resources, having had various allies abandoned, and with faith in his own abilities gone, Otto sacrifices himself to restore the original Spider-Man's mind in order to save Anna Marie.^[99] When Spider-Man arrives for the final confrontation, Goblin King quickly realizes that the original personality is back in control when Spider-Man responds to his nemesis' taunts with his own wisecracks.^[100] In the duel that follows, Spider-Man unmasks Goblin King, learning that he has undergone plastic surgery to change his appearance, acting as the CEO of Alchemax and intending to re-establish himself as businessman Mason Banks, now that Osborn has become too publicly known as a supervillain. Spider-Man defeats and strips the villain of his powers with a serum devised by Otto, but Norman manages to escape through Liz Allan's discreet aid. In hiding once again, he reflects that the various heroes will be unprepared for him when he returns with his new identity and approach as a businessman, seemingly no longer afflicted by the mental illness associated with the Goblin formula.

All New, All Different Marvel

Osborn's position as the Goblin King was quickly usurped by Phil Urich.^[101] However, a mysterious man with a bandaged face is soon shown to be selling Goblin-based weaponry globally to attack Parker Industries. This man reveals himself to be Norman alive again post-Secret Wars and still planning on getting revenge on Spider-Man.^[102] He is revealed to have played a part in the recent coup of Symkaria.^[103] He restores a semblance of his original features via a twisted form of plastic surgery but which also resembles the Green Goblin's facets, and intends to release a modified version of the goblin formula to turn the whole country into Goblin-powered soldiers programmed to be loyal to him.^[104]

However, in his final confrontation with Spider-Man, despite exposing his foe to a series of gases to temporarily neutralize all of his powers, and triggering an EMP to shut down all the gadgetry within his new spider-armor, Spider-Man is still able to defeat Osborn as the two clash. Managing to escape while Peter is distracted, Osborn resolves to find a means of restoring his powers, concluding that he has only ever defeated Spider-Man when allowing himself to draw on his inner demons.^[105]

The apparent first step in this plan occurs during the "Go Down Swinging" storyline when Osborn manages to steal the Carnage symbiote from an abandoned S.H.I.E.L.D. storehouse while Spider-Man is occupied with the return of Zodiac.^[106] Osborn's efforts to control the symbiote initially backfire when he merges with it and finds himself overwhelmed by the urge to kill rather than his own prior plan to direct its power against Spider-Man specifically,^[107] but he is able to convince it to let him have control in favor of trying something other than its usual mindless slaughter.^[108] While interrogating a captive Jameson for information on Spider-Man, Osborn takes a brief interval from the torture to kill Phil Urich as the self-proclaimed Goblin King tried to raid one of his old storehouses. After Osborn appeared as the Green Goblin, Jameson mentioned how he could not stop Spider-Man since even throwing Gwen Stacy off the bridge did not stop him from fighting back. Those words caused Norman to remember that Spider-Man is Peter Parker.^[109] Attacking the Daily Bugle in his familiar Goblin attire, Osborn gives the rest of the staff time to evacuate as he fights Peter before revealing his new bond with Carnage, proclaiming himself to be the Red Goblin, driving Spider-Man away with 'Carnage bombs' that injure his leg. Discovering a sound-transmitting spider-tracer planted on him, Osborn uses this to deliver a 'devil's bargain' to Peter; if Peter abandons his identity as Spider-Man and never performs any further heroics, Osborn will leave him alone, but the second he sees any sign of Spider-Man's return he will kill everyone in Peter's life. Peter places his Spider-Man top on a flagpole so that Osborn can see it burn, but privately vows that he will find a way to defeat Osborn as Peter Parker rather than Spider-Man.^[110] Peter is able to contact various allies like Human Torch, Clash, Silk, Miles Morales, and Agent Anti-Venom to watch over his loved ones. When Norman moves against the Osborns and proves immune to Carnage's traditional weaknesses of Human Torch's fire and Clash's sound devices, Peter is forced to step back into action despite his injured leg, with Agent Anti-Venom sacrificing a chance to get back into action himself to heal Spider-Man's injury as Osborn merges a part of the Carnage symbiote with his grandson Normie turning him into a miniature version of Red Goblin.^[111]

Powers and abilities

Norman Osborn was turned into the Green Goblin by a chemical solution he had devised based upon a formula originally conceived by Professor Mendel Stromm. The process granted Osborn superhuman strength, speed, reflexes, and stamina as well as a low-level rapid healing factor.^[113]

In addition to these physical advantages, the serum also greatly enhanced Norman's already-above average intellect, making him a bona fide genius capable of making breakthroughs in advanced areas of genetics, robotics, engineering, physics and applied chemistry. The goblin formula is also said to have driven Osborn insane; defects in his personality were strongly augmented by the serum, resulting in dangerous mood-swings and hallucinations.^[114]

Following his confrontation with the returned Spider-Man after his campaign against Doctor Octopus in Spider-Man's body, Norman Osborn has been rid of the Goblin formula from his system and thus has lost his superhuman abilities, forcing him to rely on his intellect and other natural abilities. Doctor Octopus's anti-serum also prevents Osborn's attempts of restoring his powers; ultimately he seeks to rid himself of it in hopes of having them again despite risking his health and sanity.^[122] After bonding to the Carnage symbiote, Norman uses it to expel the anti-serum from his body which restores his former powers in the process, but once more at the cost of his mind. In addition, the symbiote eliminates his physical scars including his features'.^[108]

He has since claimed to have 'perfected' the formula so that it will grant the subjects powers while also reverting those he chooses to a more basic mentality where they will accept his orders.^[104]

Weapons of Green Goblin

The Green Goblin is armed with a variety of bizarre devices. He wears a green costume underneath bulletproof chainmail with an overlapping purple tunic. His mask has a built-in gas filter to keep him safe from his own gasses. The Green Goblin's trademark weapons are his pumpkin bombs and razor bats. As their name suggests, the bombs were designed with the appearance of jack-o'-lanterns. These varied in function from smoke bombs to traditional explosives, while the razor edged bat-shaped boomerangs-could cut through very durable surfaces and materials. The gloves of the Goblin uniform were fashioned with minuscule conductors that allowed for the release of electricity at nearly 10,000 amps of an undetermined voltage. Originally, Osborn used a mechanical broomstick to fly through the air during his first few exploits as the Green Goblin. The Flying Broomstick did not last long, however, and was improved upon, creating the Goblin Glider. The Goblin Glider was a more efficient flight system than Norman's Flying Broomstick. The Glider allowed the Goblin to carry a wide array of armaments, including heat-seeking and smart missiles, machine guns, extending blades, a flamethrower and a pumpkin bomb dispenser/launcher with him as he flew and had much greater speed and mobility than the Broomstick.^[115]

Weapons as Iron Patriot

During the events of the "Dark Reign" storyline, Osborn created the identity of the Iron Patriot (an amalgam of Iron Man and Captain America) to cement his standing as a hero. As the Iron Patriot, he utilized an outdated version of Iron Man's armor painted in Captain America's colors. The armor featured superhuman strength, enhanced durability, flight, magnetic impact blasts, heat seeking missiles, miniaturized lasers, flamethrowers, and a communications system housed in his helmet which allowed him to interface with any U.S.-controlled satellite or computer network. While the original Iron Man armor utilized repulsor technology, Osborn's design does not; Stark destroyed all but one repulsor, and stated that "Oz is too stupid" to make his own repulsor-based weapons system. The star shaped Uni Beam projector on his chest, because of its shape, also has a less powerful output than that of the original Iron Man model.^[116]

Powers as the Super-Adaptoid

Following his time in prison, A.I.M scientists converted Osborn into a Super-Adaptoid, capable of absorbing the abilities of any mutant, mutate, alien, android or other such superpowered being by touching them. In this form he possessed considerably increased strength and durability; where he was once approximately as strong as Spider-Man, he now possessed sufficient strength to overpower and throw Luke Cage a significant distance away from him.^[117] He could also levitate, and he was able to defeat the Vision in an aerial conflict between the two.^[118]

He is known to have absorbed the abilities of Luke Cage, Vision, Red Hulk and Protector, and it is suggested that he also absorbed the abilities of his current Dark Avengers. In his final form, his body grew to the Hulk's size, and like Hulk he was capable of creating shockwaves by hitting the ground or smashing his hands together. His durability was sufficient to withstand the combined attacks of all the Avengers, and he demonstrated remarkable healing abilities, recovering in seconds after Daisy Johnson used her powers to make his heart explode. He could also turn intangible by manipulating his density, as the Vision does.^[119]

However, Osborn had no control over his Super-Adaptoid abilities; he would automatically absorb the powers of any superhuman he touched, even if he did not consciously want to. He was also limited in how many powers his body could hold, as the A.I.M. scientists warned him that absorbing too many powers at once could overload his systems. In the end, he inadvertently absorbed the abilities of all the Avengers and New Avengers when they all touched him at once, and the unstable combination of their multiple different powers caused significant damage to his body chemistry, resulting in him going into a coma.^[120] After he regained consciousness, these powers were apparently burnt out, returning him to his Goblin-level strength instead.^[121]

Powers as the Red Goblin

After gaining control of the Carnage symbiote's desire for mindless slaughter, Osborn has used it to form a new attire in the form of the 'Red Goblin', which essentially resembles a red version of his Green Goblin outfit without the purple and green clothing, as well as a long tail and flaming breath.^[122] With the symbiote, he can create his own Goblin Glider and what he terms 'Carnage bombs', which are essentially pumpkin bombs that can actually talk to and bite their targets before exploding, as well as the Carnage symbiote's traditional enhancements.^[123] Due to the combination of the symbiote with the new Goblin formula injected into his system, Osborn is immune to the symbiote's traditional weaknesses of fire and sound, although the touch of Anti-Venom is still dangerous to him. He also revived its ability to spread its constituent matter to others.^[124]

Characterization

Norman Osborn has consistently been depicted with several unusual weaknesses related to his psychosis and to his personality. He suffers from manic depression, has a pronounced narcissistic personality disorder co-morbid with severe anti-social psychopathic traits,^[125] and in some depictions, a multiple-personality disorder. For some of his early appearances, he and the Goblin were separate personalities; his Goblin side disdaining his human weaknesses, while his Norman Osborn persona was primarily motivated by his concern for Harry.^[48] Although the stress caused by his son's failing health as Norman helped to provoke his transformation back into the Goblin,^[126] this supposedly separate and more compassionate side of him never reappeared after he was believed dead. Norman is also highly sadistic, showing a complete lack of empathy for the lives of innocent people who stand between him and his objectives. These weaknesses have often been referenced in stories featuring him and exploited by his enemies.^[127]

Norman Osborn is shown to be severely manic depressive.^[125] This has been referenced several times in a myriad of Spider-Man stories. When he is not under the direction of a psychiatrist and taking medication, he has dangerous mood swings.^[128] At the apex of his mania, he is paranoid, delusional, and suffers from visual and auditory hallucinations, including hearing the voice of his Green Goblin persona and seeing its face in the mirror rather than his own.^[129] Previously, Osborn's arrogance caused him to refuse to submit to psychiatric treatment unless forced to; he viewed mental illness as an imperfection and therefore would not admit that he is mentally ill.^[130] In later conversations with the Sentry, Osborn revealed that he had come to accept his own mental illness.^[131] After having rid of his powers after the confrontation with the Superior Spider-Man (Doctor Octopus), Osborn's sanity apparently restored but remains a villain.^[132]

Superhuman psychologist Leonard Samson says of Osborn: "In clinical terms, the words psychotic and psychopathic are far from synonymous... but in Norman Osborn's case, both apply. I'd characterise him as a bipolar psychotic with concurrent aspects of psychopathic megalomania and malignant narcissism. In layman's terms, a lethal cocktail of intersecting personality disorders that makes him one of the most dangerous human beings on the planet."^[133] There are many examples of Osborn's pronounced superiority complex, to the point that he will rarely, if ever, admit that he has made mistakes. He often transfers blame for his shortcomings to others or claims that he was better than he was; even before his accident, he spent more time providing Harry with gifts or outings rather than actually being there for his son or trying to listen to his problems, and nevertheless claims that he was still a good father, likely due to the abusive nature of his own father.

Having become the Goblin, he generally views other people as dim-witted pests, lacking in creative vision, unworthy to be graced by his presence. He goes out of his way to remind others of their personal failures and shortcomings and to remind those in close relationships with him, such as his son, that they are incapable of measuring up to his achievements. When he first learned Spider-Man's identity, he claimed that, when Spider-Man had defeated him in their previous battles, none of those victories counted because Spider-Man had only beaten his lackeys, or been rescued by the intervention of other super powered beings such as the Human Torch, despite the fact that he always departed the battles after Spider-Man's victories rather than trying to defeat his foe himself.^[134]

He also missed the opportunity to lead the original Sinister Six because he felt that joining the group would mean admitting he needed the help of others to rid himself of Spider-Man.^[135] Although he later formed the 'Sinister Twelve' when Spider-Man sent him to prison, he expressed anger at Mac Gargan for acquiring the Venom symbiote rather than using the new Scorpion suit provided for him simply because Gargan was not doing what he wanted, despite Venom being more powerful than the Scorpion.^[136] When he participated in the mystical ritual known as the Gathering of Five, he appeared convinced that he would automatically receive the gift of power from the ritual – which would bestow upon the participants power, immortality, knowledge, madness and death, respectively – only to receive the gift of madness instead,^[137] subsequently requiring an elaborate cocktail of drugs to restore himself to a semblance of sanity.^[138] During his time in charge of H.A.M.M.E.R. he was provoked into attacking Asgard by his Goblin side because his ego couldn't allow himself to consider the possibility that the Asgardians wouldn't threaten his power.^[139] Later events revealed that Loki at least slightly influenced Osborn's decision to further Loki's own goals.^[140] During his attempted takeover of Earth's superhuman security defenses, he was shown reflecting that humans are all barbarians who require the strong like him to control them, dismissing the Avengers as no better than him despite the obvious distinction between Osborn's demands for power and the straightforward respect that the general public have for the Avengers.^[141]

It has been shown that since having suppressed the rampaging Green Goblin personality and becoming the more dominant personality, Osborn has proven to be just as (if not more) evil and cruel. Osborn has demonstrated a high degree of sadism: while in prison, a guard once asked him for his advice in helping his critically ill wife; Osborn's advice led her to a quicker and more agonizing death.^[142] As director of H.A.M.M.E.R., he directed his officers to shoot down an airplane full of innocent people just to see whether his enemy Pepper Potts was powerful enough to rescue the passengers with her Rescue armor.^[143] His Goblin persona vied for control of his body, as depicted in the January 2010 issue of Dark Avengers, where he is shown writhing on the floor and imploring, apparently to himself, "Why won't this face come off...?", and finally took over when Osborn's Iron Patriot armor was defeated by Captain America and Iron Man at the end of the "Siege" arc.^[144] Since being cured of the Goblin formula, Osborn claims that his sanity has also been restored. However, he has expressed satisfaction at plastic surgery that 'restored' him to a twisted version of his original features, and intended to use a modified version of the formula to essentially 'infect' the entire country of Symkaria to become goblin-level soldiers without the intellectual capacity to defy him.^[104]

Other versions

A number of alternate universes in Marvel Comics publications allow writers to introduce variations on Osborn, in which the character's origins, behavior, and morality differ from the mainstream setting.^[145] Marvel 2099 depicts the Goblin has a radical trickster who wants to prove that Spider-Man (Miguel O'Hara) is in the pay of a megacorp. He has bat-like glider-wings and a bag of "tricks", similar to the 20th century version. He also has the ability to project illusions.^[146] In Earth X, Osborn's business ventures have completely taken over the United States. Citizens work in his businesses, shop in his stores and eat his food and is partially responsible for the deaths of the Avengers as he sent them to battle a now Super Intelligent Absorbing Man.^[147][148] In the Marvel Noir universe, Osborn is a former circus freak who was mistreated from the audience for his reptile-like skin disorder. This fueled his ambitions in earning his "respect" by becoming the major Crime Lord in New York.^[149] The Ultimate Marvel version of the character was an industrialist and scientist who is trying to perfect the Super Soldier drug for S.H.I.E.L.D., an obsession that leads to the neglect of his wife and son.^[150][151]

In other media

Norman Osborn has appeared in comics, cartoons, films, video games, coloring books, novels, records, and children's books.^[152] Osborn also appeared in other print forms besides the comics, including novels, children's books, and the daily newspaper comic strip The Amazing Spider-Man, which debuted in January 1977, with the earliest installments written by Stan Lee and drawn by John Romita, Sr.^[153] Osborn has been adapted to other media including games, toys, collectibles, and miscellaneous memorabilia, and has appeared as the main character in numerous computer and video games on over 15 gaming platforms.^[152]

In television, he first was featured in the ABC animated series Spider-Man (1967–1970)^[154] and later on other animated series featuring the superhero include the syndicated Spider-Man (1981–1982),^[155] Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends (1981–1983),^[155] Fox Kids' Spider-Man (1994–1998),^[156] Spider-Man Unlimited (1999–2000),^[155] The New Animated Series (2003),^[155] The Spectacular Spider-Man (2008–2009),^[157] Ultimate Spider-Man (2012–2017),^[158] The Avengers (2014–2015),^[159] and Spider-Man (2017–present).^[160]

Norman was featured in a trilogy of live-action films directed by Sam Raimi and played by Willem Dafoe. He was the main antagonist in the first Spider-Man film, and later made cameo appearances in Spider-Man 2 (2004) and Spider-Man 3 (2007) as a hallucination.^[161][162] Marc Webb's 2012 Spider-Man film reboot, The Amazing Spider-Man featured many references to Osborn, and the character appeared in the sequel The Amazing Spider-Man 2 portrayed by Chris Cooper.^[163]

Osborn was one of the characters portrayed in the 1987 live adaptation of Spider-Man's wedding at Shea Stadium.^[164] Osborn appeared as the main antagonist in the Broadway musical, Turn Off the Dark, began previews on November 14, 2010 at the Foxwoods Theatre on Broadway, with the official opening night on June 14, 2011.^{[165][166][167]} He also appears in the 2014 Marvel Universe Live! stage show.^[168]

Reception

Comics journalist and historian Mike Conroy writes of the character: "Of all the costumed villains who've plagued Spider-Man over the years, the most flat-out unhinged and terrifying of them all is the Green Goblin."^[169]

References

External links

• {{Marvelwiki|Green_Goblin_(Norman_Osborn)|Green Goblin (Norman Osborn)}}
• The Green Goblins Hideout for a complete Norman Osborn biography
• {{Marveldatabase|Norman_Osborn_(Earth-616)|Norman Osborn}}
• [https://comicvine.gamespot.com/norman-osborn/4005-58812 Norman Osborn] at Comicvine

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