Green Goblin

For other uses of this name, see Green Goblin (disambiguation).

The Green Goblin is the name used by several characters in the Marvel Universe.

Green Goblin (Norman Osborn)

Main Article: Norman Osborn

The Green Goblin, in his original costume.

Born to a wealthy family, Norman Osborn watched as his father, Amberson Osborn, lost the family fortune. Determined to make young Norman a man, Amberson locked him in a dark mansion for a whole night. After getting over his fear of the dark, Norman embraced it, and thus began his journey to obtain power at any cost. He worked hard and saved every cent, and soon attended college, where he took courses in chemicals and business administration. He befriended one of his professors, Mendel Stromm, and together they went on to set up Oscorp.

During this time, Osborn met and married a woman named Emily, who passed away shortly after giving birth to their son, Harry. To Harry, Norman was a poor father, more concerned with his work than raising his child, but like his father before him, Norman wanted to make a man out of his son. At some point, Osborn caught Stromm borrowing money from the company, and used this as an opportunity to take sole control of Oscorp. He had Stromm arrested for embezzlement, and began to go through his former partner's notes. At some point he discovered a formula which would grant a person super-strength and enhanced stamina, but as he created it, there was an explosion which landed him in the hospital for several weeks.

Upon being released, he was quite insane. He became obsessed with becoming the leading underworld figure in New York, and decided to use the resources and technology at his disposal to do it. He became the Green Goblin, and decided to gain the respect of the underworld by killing Spider-Man. However, he repeatedly failed. Stromm eventually returned to exact revenge as the Robot Master, but was defeated by Spider-Man. Soon the Goblin concocted a gas to dull Spider-Man's spider-sense and was able to learn his identity as Peter Parker. He captured Parker, and decided to fight him to the death, but was defeated and left with amnesia, forgetting that he was the Green Goblin.

On occasion Osborn remembered, each time resuming his war with Spider-Man. Finally, when Harry was suffering from a drug overdose, he blamed Peter Parker. Again becoming the Green Goblin, he went to attack Parker at his apartment but found Gwen Stacy there. Thus, he kidnapped her and took her to the Brooklyn Bridge. Spider-Man soon followed, and in the battle, the Green Goblin killed Gwen Stacy. Spider-Man swore revenge, and as they fought, the Green Goblin was killed when he was impaled on his own jet-glider. Or so it seemed.

Osborn regained consciousness in the morgue, having been healed by Stromm's formula. Secretly, he watched as Harry bribed the doctor to fake an autopsy report. Norman soon learned that Harry had removed his costume before the authorities arrived, so as not to be connected with the Green Goblin. Norman murdered a homeless drifter, duplicated the scars from his own body on his victim, and used the drifter's body to replace his own. Making his way back to his hideout, he observed Harry taking on the guise of the Green Goblin. Norman decided to give Harry the chance to be a man by destroying Parker, and left the country for Europe, but always made sure to keep a close eye on things back in New York.

He soon joined (and shortly thereafter assumed leadership of) the Order of the Scrier and began to plot his own revenge on Peter Parker. The goal was simple: strip Parker of his very identity and his happiness, and then destroy him. To do this, he sent one of his Scriers to contact Professor Miles Warren, and assisted him in creating clones of Spider-Man, for a plan that would take five years. Miles Warren assumed the identity of the Jackal, determined to destroy the real Peter Parker and replace him with a clone. Norman thought it was too soon to do this, so he manipulated the Jackal into believing that the true Parker was in fact the clone, and the clone the real Parker.

Norman Osborn.

Later on, Norman revived Mendel Stromm as little more than a living corpse. He outfitted Stromm with mobile life-support armor, and Stromm took the name Gaunt. Norman offered to help restore him in exchange for his services, and Stromm agreed. Soon, Harry died, and Norman blamed Spider-Man. He stepped up his campaign to destroy Spider-Man, and soon returned to New York in secret. The clone, now calling himself Ben Reilly, returned, and was falsely proven to be the real Spider-Man, as Norman planned. Parker went insane, but shortly came to accept it. He retired as his wife, Mary Jane, was with child.

Soon the time came to exact his revenge. Norman captured Reilly, and faked the death of Mary Jane's daughter right after she gave birth, having the child taken to Europe by his agent, Allison Mongrain. Norman then revealed himself to Parker and began a great climatic battle between Spider-Man and the Green Goblin, with the lives of those closest to Spider-Man at stake. In the battle that followed, Ben Reilly perished, and the Goblin was defeated and seemingly killed; but he had still taken Parker's child from him.

Norman was down, but not out. He secretly bought the Daily Bugle, and soon publically took control as well. He also retook control of Oscorp from his daughter-in-law, Liz Allen Osborn. He began a huge campaign to distance himself from the Green Goblin and discredit Spider-Man. He manipulated Spider-Man into attacking him in his penthouse apartment, and turned him into a hunted criminal. Norman was gaining power, popularity and trust from the people of New York City, which included writing the national bestseller Survivor of the Big Lie. However, he wasn't trusted by the majority of the Daily Bugle staff, including Joe Robertson (who quit in disgust) and J. Jonah Jameson, who was planning to kill him.

To further distance himself from the Goblin, Norman created a stand-in to be seen at the same time he was. His plans almost came to a halt when thanks to the Hobgoblin, Roderick Kingsley. Kingsley said that he had evidence proving that Osborn and the Green Goblin were one and the same- in the form of old journals he stole from Osborn's old hideouts- and offered it to the District Attorney in exchange for an early parole. Osborn broke him out of prison with the intention of killing him upon receiving these journals, only to discover he'd been played, as the journals were destroyed. The Hobgoblin escaped, but Osborn managed to gain control of Kingley's companies, so it wasn't a total loss.

After being targeted for assassination by the Kingpin, Osborn called the Gathering of Five, an ancient ceremony in which five gifts were bestowed, one for each: Power, Death, Madness, Immortality and Knowledge. Osborn sought Power so he could become a god and fullfill his master plan, to set off bombs with a gas that broke living beings down to their basic DNA structures. As a god, he'd then have the power to reshape them as he wished. He stopped Jameson from killing him, and went ahead with the ceremony, after which he believed he gained the gift of Power. In the ensuing battle it was revealed to all that he gained Madness, and became delusional, believing that he killed Spider-Man even as he was carted away to a penitentiary. The doctors unmasked him, and were shocked to see the face of Norman Osborn. But they did not live long enough to tell anyone, as several Scriers killed them and took Osborn to his mansion.

Several months later, he regained his sanity (at least what he had of sanity). He fell in love with his nurse Kolina, who later learned that he was the Green Goblin. Rather than kill her, he had her taken to his upstate retreat, determined to keep her love. He also reformed the Order of the Scrier as the Order of the Goblin, and had them kill his doctor (while wearing a Spider-Man costume) when he had no further use for him.

He began his latest scheme against Parker: to slowly drive him insane and turn him into his new heir. He put chemicals into Parker's toothpaste which got him to don a Green Goblin costume in his sleep and terrorize his loved ones. Osborn soon captured Spider-Man and brought him to the very mansion his father locked him is as a boy. He kept him there, depriving him of food or water for two weeks, determined to get Parker to embrace the darkness. Once he did, he would become his heir and the new Green Goblin. Even at the end, Parker resisted. Norman realized he was a fool for even trying, which led to another battle between Spider-Man and the Green Goblin. The Goblin escaped, but not before making it perfectly clear that, eventually, either the Goblin would kill Spider-Man or Spider-Man would kill the the Goblin. It was inevitable.

And as expected, the Green Goblin did eventually return. For the first time since Harry's death, Norman visited his son's grave before embarking on a plan to destroy people around Peter Parker, determined to drive him to kill. First he offered "Flash" Thompson a job driving trucks for Oscorp, only to get Flash drunk, put him behind the wheel of a truck and have him crash into the high school Peter now taught at. Osborn arrived in person the next day to pay for damages to the school and mess with Peter.

Spider-Man arrived at the Goblin's hide out to take him down. The Goblin did nothing but taunt him, threatening to kill Mary Jane and Aunt May. He even threatened to kill his own grandson, saying he was weak like Harry. Spider-Man came close to killing the Goblin, but realised that was exactly what Norman wanted. He refused to sink to his level. Spider-Man called Norman's bluff and walked out, refusing to give Norman any more satisfaction, feeling that if Norman wanted to kill his loved ones, he couldn't stop him, and that he refused to allow himself to hate Norman because deep inside, Norman was a sad, miserable person. No longer able to make Peter dance like a puppet, Osborn contemplated suicide, but did not go through with it.

Several months later, Osborn started murdering Oscorp employees at random. When a new Daily Bugle reporter named Terri Kidder came to interview him for the Bugle's Most Powerful People in Manhattan article. Osborn flipped out and murdered her in his office, later depositing her body in a lake in Central Park. Ben Urich, who was now in charge of a new edition of the Bugle called The Pulse led an investigation along with Jessica Jones which uncovered both Norman as the killer and in the ensuing confrontation, revealed him to the public at large as the Green Goblin. Jessica was injured in the battle, fearing her unborn child was dead, her boyfriend (and the baby's father) Luke Cage confronted Osborn at City Hall, where Osborn posted bail, and in the fight, was almost captured.

But the Green Goblin escaped, and took a group of people in a church hostage, refusing to let them go unless Spider-Man stabbed himself and bled to death on live television. Spider-Man arrived and the two battled all over the city. When the Goblin was flung off his glider, Spider-Man scrambled to knock him out and at the suggestion of a bystander, he hit the Goblin over the head with a mail box, knocking him unconscious. The crowd afterwards turned on Spider-Man accusing him of "brain damaging the poor guy". The police arrived and captured the Goblin, unmasking him. Shortly after, Aunt May was kidnapped by an unknown villain, and when Spider-Man arrived to confront Osborn in his cell, Osborn said he did not know where she was, but that he let Spider-Man's secret identity slip to a mutual acquantance, who was to kidnap and kill Peter Parker's oldest living relative.

Turned out, Osborn had contacted Mac Gargan aka the Scorpion, and told him Spider-Man's real identity and ordered May Parker's kidnapping, and $5 million donated to the Daily Bugle to award anyone who unmasked Spider-Man as revenge if he was ever captured. But Osborn also feared for his life, as he was part of a secret cabal of industrialists who manufactured super villains to keep superheroes busy, so they would never deal with society's real woes. With Osborn unmasked and now incarcerated, they were breaking into his offices to remove any evidence of their deeds, and had brainwashed Doctor Octopus to murder Osborn in his cell.

In exchange for returning May to Peter, Spider-Man was to break Osborn out of his cell on Riker's Island. Spider-Man and the Black Cat infiltrated the prison and broke Osborn out, but of course Osborn betrayed them. At the docks were waiting eleven of Spider-Man's enemies, all upgraded with new and deadlier weapons, now called by the Green Goblin the Sinister Twelve. With the arrival of Mac Gargan wearing the symbiote and declaring himself the new Venom, the Green Goblin flew off to kill Mary Jane.

The Green Goblin, in his new costume.

After escaping the Sinister Twelve (the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, and Daredevil showing up to deal with them), Spider-Man followed the Green Goblin, carrying a captured Mary Jane to the George Washington Bridge, the Goblin cackaling that he "picked a new bridge just for her", Parker once more tried to reason with Osborn, but their confrontation was cut short with the arrival of a brainwashed Doc Ock. In the fight, Mary Jane pulled a revolver and took a shot at the Goblin, only to fall off the bridge due to the recoil of the shot. Spider-Man webbed Mary Jane, not repeating his mistake with Gwen, saving her life. After pulling her up, the Goblin attemped to bludgeon Spider-Man to death with his glider, only to be attacked again by Doc Ock. Lightning struck the glider and both the electrocuted Green Goblin and Doc Ock fell off the bridge into the Hudson River. Though Doc Ock was soon recovered, the Green Goblin was never found.

As history has proven, the Green Goblin is a survivor, and will surely return to menace Spider-Man again sooner or later.

Earth X

Altered by Plague X, Norman Osborn became the Green Goblin in physical form as well as identity. Concealing his mutation, he used Oscorp to take over the economy of the United States and became president. He also created the threat of the Hydra as a distraction. Osborn was eventually killed by the Skull.

Green Goblin (Harry Osborn)

Main Article: Harry Osborn

Harry Osborn was the son of the original Green Goblin, Norman Osborn. Harry wanted nothing more than to please his father, but was always ignored at best, abused at worst. In college he met and befriended Peter Parker, and dated Mary Jane Watson. When Mary Jane broke up with him, Harry turned to drugs, and later watched his father- as the Green Goblin- "die" in battle. He removed his father's costume to protect his good name, and bribed the coroner to fake an autopsy.

Harry later made his way to one of his father's hideouts and took on the mantle of the Green Goblin, vowing to kill Spider-Man. He was easily beaten by Spider-Man and unmasked. To protect his father's memory, he confessed to being the original Green Goblin as well, but the police thought he was crazy and had him committed. After many treatments he suppressed the memories of battling Spider-Man, as well as the hero's identity as Peter Parker.

He eloped with Liz Allen and soon had a son named Norman II. He donned the Green Goblin costume again and fought alongside Spider-Man to defeat the original Hobgoblin, who attacked him, demanding to know the location of Norman Osborn's other hideouts.

His sanity would not last, as soon he remembered Spider-Man's identity and began a new war on Peter Parker. He found an experimental version of his father's super-strength serum and used it on himself, making him more than a match for Parker. He kidnapped his family and fought Spider-Man to a standstill before being beaten and taken to the Vault- but not before telling everyone that he would one day reveal Spider-Man's identity to the world.

Harry was soon released and he began stalking Parker, following him every where in costume, and soon set up the Norman Osborn Foundation, as part of a scheme to lure New York's rich and powerful into the building to kill them. He again fought Spider-Man to a standstill, and drugged him, right before activating the bombs in the building. However, upon realizing that Mary Jane and his son Normie were in the building, he rescued them, then returned to rescue Peter from the exploding building, then collapsed. The new Goblin formula was killing him. An ambulance picked him up, but he did not survive. He died making peace with Peter.

Green Goblin (Bart Hamilton)

Main Article: Bart Hamilton

Dr. Barton "Bart" Hamilton was a male human who by adulthood came to be a psychiatrist and later was tasked with treating Harry Osborn. While treating Harry, he came up with idea of writing a thesis about the criminal mind. Being able to hypnotize Harry, he was able to learn the entire history of the Green Goblin. After finding the secret hideout of the Green Goblin, he was able to access all of the Goblin's equipment and began experimenting with them. Feeling the sense of power that came with them, he felt that he was the one who should lay claim to the Green Goblin. This led to him attempting to take over New York's underworld. Since Harry had revealed Spider-Man's true identity to him, Dr. Hamilton set out to destroy Spider-Man and become the one true crime-boss of New York. He had Harry follow Spider-Man and take pictures of him destroying his clone. He then had Harry mail the pictures to J. Jonah Jameson and hypnotized him into forgetting all that he had done. He then enraged Harry during a session and they fought in the shadows. For weeks, he terrorized New York, until Spider-Man, assisted by Harry as the Green Goblin, defeated him. Hamilton was killed by a bomb he had set. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #180)

Over five years later, the Jackal brought Hamilton and numerous other Spider-Man villains back to life. Spider-Man, upon discovering this, fled the Jackal's base in San Francisco with the Spider-Woman of another reality. (Clone Conspiracy v1 #2)

Green Goblin (Phil Urich)

Main Article: Phil Urich

The fourth Green Goblin, Phil Urich.

Phil Urich was the nephew of Daily Bugle reporter Ben Urich where he joined his uncle in an investigation in one of Norman Osborn's old warehouses. When his uncle was besieged by attackers in the building, Phil hid and tried to find help. Stumbling upon an experimental new Goblin Armor, Phil also fell into a chamber of the Goblin Formula. Accidentally bumping into a canister of the Stromm Formula, Phil was doused with it. Donning a prototype Goblin suit (which activated the formula, giving him superhuman strength) and using its weapons, Phil fought off the thugs, becoming the fourth Green Goblin for the first time. Quickly dressing up in the suit, he scared off the hoods. Later on, he decided that the suit and equipment were worth using. (Green Goblin v1 #1)

After some uncertainty, Phil decided to become a hero, but was forced to retire after his suit was wrecked in battle with a Sentinels during Onslaught's attack.

Later on, Phil stayed in New York City where he helped out his uncle at the new Front Line offices. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #648) He would develop a crush on his co-worker Norah, who was looking into 'Goblin gangs' for a story, Phil ran off to one of the old Goblin hideouts, hoping to find something there to impress her with. Phil encountered and murdered Daniel Kingsley, the twin brother of Roderick Kingsley, who was Hobgoblin at that time. After killing him, he became the Hobgoblin. Operating as a supervillain, he attacked a local think tank, and was confronted by Spider-Man. Catching the hero off-guard with his Goblin laugh, Phil attempted to decapitate him. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #649)

Marvel 2

Phil had a brief stint as the Golden Goblin, before he eventually retook the role after the reform of Normie Osborn, the sixth Green Goblin.

Green Goblin (Construct)

Main Article: Construct

A human construct genetically engineered by Norman Osborn and Dr. Angst following the former's return to New York City. Seeking to distance himself from the Green Goblin, Osborn had the construct created to act as his stand-in. Norman had needed someone he could trust, someone who would not betray him, someone who wanted to make him proud. The Green Goblin construct started to see Norman as his 'father' and believed himself to be like Harry Osborn. (Peter Parker: Spider-Man v1 #18) After Norman is incapacitated by the Gathering of Five, the Goblin is left alone and begins to degenerate due to no longer having access to the Goblin Formula required to keep him stable. The Goblin goes after Liz Allan in a desperate bid to find a cure for his condition, but is driven off by Spider-Man. (Amazing Spider-Man v2 #18) During a second attempt to capture Liz, the Goblin unmasks himself in front of Spider-Man shuffling through a variety of faces with the most prominent being Harry Osborn after doing so. In the end, the construct decomposed as the Goblin Formula ate away at him before he could get a stabilizing formula, with his eyes, skin, and other parts of his body falling apart. (Peter Parker: Spider-Man v1 #18)

Overview

In appearance, the Green Goblin was a masked supervillain identity who wore a distinct green costume that resembled that of a humanoid goblin. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #14)

One component linked to the Green Goblin was the Goblin Formula. The chemicals in this cocktail affected a person's brain and could dramatically alter their personality. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #40)

From his gloves, he was capable of firing sparks from it. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #14) He could discharge these goblin blasts quickly at his enemies. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #39)

It was shown that the Green Goblin kept his various weapons and gadgets in a satchel carried on him that was called his bag of tricks. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #39)

One weapon he used as a bat missile that was a razor-shaped projectile that he threw with his hand. They were noted to be jet-propelled allowing them to be thrown with amazing speed. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #39)

The Green Goblin was known to possess a pliable steel alloy rope that he could use to capture a defeated opponent. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #39)

He had a range of explosives that he could use in combat including stun grenades. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #14) The Green Goblin could also throw a special asphyxiation grenade that could cause a person to fall unconscious as they struggled to breath. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #39)

Initially, the Green Goblin made use of a flying broomstick as a means of transportation and flew through the air by riding it. The controls of it were said to be simple enough that there was no chance of fatal error from occurring whilst operating it. The speeds the Green Goblin was capable of achieving on it allowed them to evade attacks from enemies. The operator was also able to use it as a makeshift flamethrower allowing the Goblin to burn through obstacles. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #14)

The glider was capable of discharging a smog of smoke to serve as a screen to hide from his enemies and cause them to struggle to breath from it. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #39)

A new set of Goblin gear that Harry Osborn had developed prior to his death. Part of it worked by increasing the wearers powers by stimulating the brain. The mask changed his voice where he was able to unleash a sonic attack that sounded like an insane laugh. It was said to sound weird but grew more intense the longer it went on to the point that targets felt like their ear-drums would shatter. (Green Goblin v1 #1)

Notes

• The Green Goblin was created Stan Lee and Steve Ditko where he made his first appearance in Amazing Spider-Man v1 #14 (July, 1964).
• In Starlog and Comics Scene Present Spider-Man and Other Comics Heroes (2002), Ditko commented on the characters creation, "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."
• In 500 Comicbook Villains (2004), comics journalist and historian Mike Conroy wrote on 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."

Alternate Versions

• In Spider-Man 2099 v1 #8 (1993), the Goblin 2099 appeared in the alternate reality of 2099 setting on Earth-928 in the Multiverse. This was the secret identity of Jennifer D'Angelo who was an ordained priest who worked at Saint Patrick's Cathedral in Downtown, Nueva York. She had created the 'Goblin' to be a rabble-rouser in Downtown who intended to take Spider-Man's place as the defender of Downtown and its people.
• In Speed Demon v1 #1 (1996), an alternate version of the Green Goblin appeared in the Amalgam Comics crossover setting between Marvel Comics and DC Comics. This version was the identity of Harvey Osborn who after becoming disfigured took on the identity of the Two-Faced Goblin that was a merger with the character of Two-Face.
• In Ultimate Spider-Man v1 #1 (2000), the Green Goblin appeared in the Ultimate Marvel setting on Earth-1610 in the Multiverse.
• In Spider-Girl v1 #73 (2004), the Green Goblin appeared in the alternate reality of Marvel Comics 2 setting on Earth-982 in the Multiverse. Elan DeJunae and her family were part of the Goblin Cult who worshipped the original Green Goblin and was promised to Normie Osborn as a child. She grew up training to be the 'Goblin Queen' to rule at Normie's side and was exposed to the Goblin Formula. Elan worships the original Green Goblin, believing him to be a visionary messiah and eventually came to New York City.
• In Spider-Man India v1 #1 (2004), the Green Goblin appeared in the alternate universe setting on Earth-50101 in the Multiverse. This version was ruthless businessman named Nalin Oberoi who operated in Mumbai and had a son named Hari. Nalin was shown to be responsible for ravaging villages for a mystical amulet to connect with evil, supernatural demons who once ruled the world. The process works and transforms Oberoi into 'Green Goblin' where he also transforms a meek doctor into 'Doctor Octopus'. He would send him to find Spider-Man Pavitar Prabhakar. Oberoi later burnt down Pavitar's village, and kidnapped MK alongside Aunt Maya. At Oberoi HQ, he tried to bring down the demons, until a reformed Octopus and Pavitar attacked where they rescued the hostages. After killing the doctor, Oberoi was later defeated by Pavitar.
• In Spider-Man: House of M v1 #1 (2005), an alternate version of the Green Goblin appeared in the House of M reality set on Earth-58163 in the Multiverse. This version was the persona adopted by the wrestler Crusher Hogan as his wrestling franchise. It was later used by Peter Parker after him feeling guilty for posing as a mutant when really he was a human given powers. He posed as the Green Goblin to reveal the information about him being a human to J. Jonah Jameson, his then publicist, and eventually the entire world. Norman Osborn is also present in this continuity, as an industrialist whose company is bought out by Peter.
• In Spider-Gwen: Ghost-Spider v1 (2018), the Green Goblin appeared in the alternate universe setting of Earth-3109 in the Multiverse. This version was Gwen Stacy who created the persona after Harry Osborn became his world's Spider-Man. She had created it to help him as both became superheroes until one day an attack from the Sandman killed Harry and George Stacy where the shock caused a feedback in Gwen's suit causing her to fully morph into the Green Goblin persona.
• In Avengers Vol 8 #50 (2021), an alternate version of the character known as the Ghost Goblin appeared to inhabit a world in the Multiverse. This version was Norman Osborn who was bonded to the Ghost Rider becoming a ghostly supervillain. He came to join the Doom Supremes Multiversal Masters of Evil that went around all realities to eliminate their version of the Avengers.

In other media

Television

• In Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, Norman Osborn appeared as the Green Goblin in the setting of the 1980s animated television series in the episode "Triumph of the Green Goblin" where he was voiced by actor Dennis Marks.
• In Spider-Man: The Animated Series, the Green Goblin appeared in the setting of the 1990s animated television series were he was voiced by actor Gary Imhoff. The persona itself emerges in the third season in the episode "Chapter IV: Enter the Green Goblin" when the Kingpin forced Norman Osborn into developing a new gas where he was accidentally exposed to it. This caused the development of a darker persona within Osborn that looked to take his revenge against all his enemies leading to the adoption of the Green Goblin masked identity.
• In Spider-Man Unlimited, an alternate version of the Green Goblin appeared in the animated television series this him being voiced by actor Rino Romano. This version was a native of Counter-Earth and was a heroic vigilante who opposed the tyrannical of the High Evolutionary and his Beastials that dominated the planet.

Films

• In Spider-Man, the Green Goblin persona appeared in the setting of the live-action film where he was portrayed by actor Willem Dafoe. Norman initially served as a father figure and mentor to Peter Parker while Harry was Parker's best friend and Mary Jane Watson's boyfriend who longed to impress his distant father. After experimenting on himself with an unstable strength enhancer to save his company, Oscorp, from bankruptcy, Norman developed a crazed alternate personality dubbed the 'Green Goblin'. While in control of Norman's body, the Goblin used stolen experimental armor and advanced weaponry to exact revenge on their enemies, seeing Norman as too 'weak' to do so himself. This brought him into conflict with Spider-Man, whom the Goblin initially tried to persuade to join him before resolving to attack his loved ones upon deducing his identity as Parker. After Norman was fatally impaled by his glider during his final battle with Spider-Man, the latter brought his body home, where Harry saw them and mistakenly assumed that Spider-Man killed his father, vowing revenge.
• In Spider-Man 3, the Green Goblin persona appeared in the setting of the 2007 live-action film where he was portrayed by actor James Franco. Harry becomes the New Goblin to avenge his father, but accidentally gets partial amnesia. After he recovered, he sabotaged Parker and Watson's relationship as part of a scheme to emotionally hurt Parker. Upon learning the truth of Norman's death from his butler Bernard Houseman, Harry reconciled and joined forces with Parker to save Watson from Venom and Sandman before sacrificing himself to save Parker from the former.
• In The Amazing Spider-Man 2, the Green Goblin persona appeared in the setting of the 2014 live-action film sequel where he was portrayed by actor Dane DeHaan. The identity was assumed by Harry Osborn after a failed attempt at curing himself from retroviral hyperplasia that was a genetic disease that has afflicted the Osborns for generations. Harry became aware of this after his father Norman Osborn had died and after being made CEO of Oscorp he looked into the missing Richard Parker's data in the hopes that it will save his life.
• In Spider-Man: No Way Home, the Green Goblin appeared in 2021 live-action film set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe where he was portrayed again by actor Willem Dafoe. This version was Norman Osborn from the Spider-Man film where prior to his death he was magically transported to another universe due to its version of Peter Parker (later dubbed "Peter-One") botching Doctor Strange's spell to make everyone forget his identity as Spider-Man, which instead results in people from across the multiverse who know Parker's identity as Spider-Man being brought to their universe. While battling the Goblin persona and attempting to regain his bearings, a lost and overwhelmed Norman seeks refuge at May Parker's shelter and meets Peter-One before being imprisoned in the New York Sanctum alongside other alternate universe-displaced supervillains. Peter-One attempts to cure them in the hopes of averting their original fates upon returning to their respective universes, but the Goblin persona takes over Norman's body and convinces the other villains to fight back instead, claiming that their powers are gifts, not curses that should be removed. In the ensuing battle, he kills May in an attempt to corrupt Peter-One before escaping. After the other villains are defeated and cured by Peter-One, his own Parker ("Peter-Two"), and another version ("Peter-Three"), the Goblin breaks the barrier between universes, fights Peter-One, and goads the latter into killing him, only to be foiled by Peter-Two. Afterwards, Peter-One and Three cure Osborn, ridding him of the Goblin persona, before Strange casts another spell to return all of the displaced individuals to their original universes.

Video games

• In Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2, Norman Osborn as the Green Goblin appeared in the setting of the video game where he was voiced by actor Armin Shimerman.
• In Spider-Man: Friend or Foe, the Green Goblin personas appeared in the setting of the 2007 action-adventure beat 'em up platform game where actor Roger L. Jackson voiced Norman Osborn whilst actor Josh Keaton voiced Harry Osborn's New Goblin.
• In Marvel Heroes, Norman Osborn as the Green Goblin appeared as a boss antagonist and playable character in the setting of the MMORPG video game where he was voiced by actor Travis Willingham.
• In Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions, Norman Osborn as the Marvel Noir version of the character named the Goblin appeared as a boss antagonist in the setting of the video game where he was voiced by actor Jim Cummings. A powerful mob boss, he tasks his enforcers Hammerhead and the Vulture with retrieving fragments of the Tablet of Order and Chaos. Though Spider-Man Noir manages to keep most of them out of his possession, Osborn eventually obtains one and absorbs its power, transforming into a monstrous form with incredible strength. Despite this, the process opens a massive sore on his back that becomes his only weak point. Nonetheless, he lures Spider-Man Noir to his carnival hideout, using hostages as bait. There, Spider-Man Noir defeats the Goblin and his men and claims his fragment.
• In Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order, Norman Osborn as the Green Goblin appeared in the setting of the video game where he was voiced again by actor Steve Blum.
• In Marvel Future Revolution, the Green Goblin appeared in the setting of the mobile video game.

Appearances

• Amazing Spider-Man v1: (1964)
• Thunderbolts v1:
• Amazing Spider-Man v4:
• Amazing Spider-Man v5:
• Amazing Spider-Man v6:

Links

Internal Links

• Goblin

External Links

• Marvel Database Entry
• Wikipedia Entry

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