Responsible for some of the most harrowing ordeals in Peter Parker’s life, Norman Osborn, the Green Goblin, is Spider-Man’s greatest enemy. In addition to being the Wall-Crawler’s most malevolent foe, Osborn was once one of the Avengers’ greatest threats too. But in the end it always comes back to Spider-Man vs. the Green Goblin.
Setting his sights on Spider-Man, the mysterious Green Goblin enlists some hired thugs called the Enforcers to help him lay a trap. Establishing a sham Hollywood production of a Spider-Man movie, the Green Goblin lures the real Spider-Man out west, where he and the Enforcers attack! Their ruckus disturbs the Hulk in his desert hideaway, and Spider-Man must let his new foe escape to contend with the Jade Giant!
Spider-Man falls for a robbery ruse set up by Green Goblin, and is dosed with a Spider-Sense-disabling gas! Taking advantage of the anonymity this affords him, Goblin stalks Spidey and learns his civilian identity. With this knowledge, Green Goblin launches a surprise attack on Peter Parker, binding him with a steel cable, and revealing his own name: Norman Osborn, the father of Peter’s close friend, Harry!
When his memories of being the Green Goblin return (along with his insanity), the villain kidnaps Gwen Stacy in a revenge plot against Spider-Man. The Web-Slinger tracks them to the George Washington Bridge, where he battles his arch nemesis (flying atop his ‘Goblin glider’). In the ensuing fight, Osborn knocks Gwen off the bridge, and Peter is unable to save her life.
Following the events of Civil War, Norman Osborn is placed at the head of the Thunderbolts, a team of reformed super villains. Osborn is briefly able to conceal his true nature, but when his team is sent to apprehend the vigilante Steel Spider, Osborn associates the renegade hero with his old nemesis Spider-Man and spirals back into psychosis. Will the Goblin gear be donned once more?
Hailed as a hero for killing the Skrull queen Veranke at the end of Secret Invasion, Osborn is appointed Director of H.A.M.M.E.R., a replacement for S.H.I.E.L.D. As one of his first acts, Osborn (now known as the armored hero Iron Patriot), puts together a new team of Avengers, with many of its members having pasts as nefarious as his own.
Drunk with power, Osborn decides that the displaced realm of Asgard doesn’t belong in America, and that he should be the one to remove it from the map. Behind the scenes, he orchestrates the destruction of Soldier Field in Chicago, and sets up the Asgardian hero Volstagg as the scapegoat. Read the entire Siege event, available as a Discover reading list!
Osborn laid low for several years, slowly amassing resources and followers. As the self-proclaimed Goblin King, Osborn concocts yet another revenge plot to take down Spider-Man, beginning with an attack on Mary Jane Watson’s club. Unbeknownst to him, the mind of Otto Octavius (aka Doctor Octopus) was in control of Peter Parker’s body!
This time around, Spider-Man makes the first move against Osborn! When it’s revealed that Osborn has been covertly experimenting on the people of Symkaria and supplying their corrupt government with advanced weaponry, Spider-Man teams with his old ally, the Symkarian hero Silver Sable to take down Osborn once and for all.