Norman Osborn (also known as the Green Goblin) is a fictional supervillain in the Marvel Comics, appearing as the main antagonist of the Spider-Man comics and a supporting antagonist in the Avengers series.
The Green Goblin is depicted as a criminal mastermind who uses an arsenal of Halloween-themed equipment, including grenade-like Pumpkin Bombs, razor-sharp bats, and a flying Goblin Glider, to terrorize New York City.
While the original Earth-616 incarnation isn't Pure Evil because he still possesses a genuine (albeit very twisted) love for his son Harry, there have been several other particularly vile incarnations of this psychotic supervillain over the years.
In Spectacular Spider-Man, the Green Goblin is shown to be the outlet for Norman's more psychopathic, sadistic urges that he hides under the sophisticated, cultured exterior that he's cultivated for himself. He's also shown to be completely evil.
Norman adopts the Green Goblin identity with the goal of being the leader of organized crime in New York City, and intends to cement his position by defeating Spider-Man.
What Makes Willem Dafoe's Green Goblin So Terrifying
Why is Green Goblin so evil?
Norman Osborn's experiments increase his strength but lead to a mental breakdown, as he becomes a cackling, evil presence often driven by a very personal vendetta with Spider-Man.
The Goblin formula had an unfortunate side effect of making Osborn insane; defects in his personality were strongly augmented by the serum, resulting in dangerous mood-swings and hallucinations.
The most crippling weakness of the Green Goblin, namely the Norman Osborn version, is the character's outlandish madness. The Goblin Formula had a drastic effect on Norman's mind, which when combined with his previous megalomania made him a villain hellbent on destruction and mayhem.
As Green Goblin, Osborn became the first great enemy of Spider-Man. Both alters eventually discovered that Spider-Man's identity was Parker and became enemies with Mary Jane Watson. In their final battle, he was accidentally impaled and killed by his own Goblin Glider.
A complete parallel to himself, Green Goblin takes control of Norman, compelling him to kill and destroy anybody and everything. He would soon be challenged by the new local hero, Spider-Man, leading to them becoming enemies.
He was originally considered Pure Evil, however that was changed when it was discovered he did care for his son Harry despite how twisted that love is.
Whether he's building a criminal empire as a ruthless businessman or leading a goblin army, as a sadistic madman, The Green Goblin is one of the most dangerous villains in the Marvel Universe.
More than what the Green Goblin has done to Spider-Man, the supervillain has his own surprising set of superpowers and is physically stronger than his arch-nemesis, making him a truly dangerous villain in Spidey's extensive cast of enemies.
Spider-Man: No Way Home's finale confirmed Green Goblin is a better villain than the Joker when it comes to breaking a hero. WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Spider-Man: No Way Home, now playing in theaters.
Initially unaware his best friend is Spider-Man and father is the Green Goblin, Harry secretly witnessed Norman apparently die fighting Spidey and learned the truth about both men. Swearing revenge on Spider-Man, Harry became the new Green Goblin after inheriting Oscorp from his father.
Before he dies, however, he has one last thing to say. But this time as Norman Osborn: "Peter... don't tell Harry." In the end, despite their differences and Norman's unfair treatment of Harry, he still cares for his son and doesn't want him to know the monster he had become.
By far the most brutal death is when Deadpool kills Spider-Man while wearing the Venom symbiote. Deadpool uses the symbiote's ability to bypass Peter's spider-sense in order to ambush him. He then quickly overpowers Spider-Man, and horrifyingly, eats his brain while Peter is completely helpless to stop him.
Spider-Man and Green Goblin have been battling it out for years. Norman Osborn hates Peter Parker with a passion and his Goblin formula enhanced physique has served him well over the years. Green Goblin is Spider-Man's superior when it comes to strength.
Comics-wise Goblin is marginally weaker than Spider-Man, but makes up for it with his glider and gadgets. Yes. But no. Almost by definition, any classic spider-villain is going to be Stronger But Slower than Spidey — that's the basic language of how Spidey fights.
Another version of Parker (nicknamed "Peter-Three"), throws Peter-One a cure Parker developed, which he injects the Green Goblin with, curing a remorseful Osborn of his Green Goblin persona.
He is the best friend of Peter Parker/Spider-Man, who would later turned to villainy and adopted the Green Goblin persona in an attempt to avenge his father In later years, however, Harry would come to redeem himself and reject his father's legacy.
Disconsolate, Harry turns to drugs and overdoses on amphetamines. He recovers at home instead of at a hospital, as Norman wanted to keep the matter quiet, and a doctor diagnoses him with schizophrenia.
