Spider-Man has always had an impressive rogues’ gallery — from the early years of the comics to some of the most recent adaptations adding old and new villains alike. Some of these villains have seen the likes of almost every Spider-Man incarnation.
One such villain is Norman Osborn, the father of Peter Parker’s best friend Harry Osborn — and he’s set to appear in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. Norman has been depicted as a father who sees his son as part of his own legacy, leading to many times when Harry feels unappreciated. In many cases, though, it has been shown that Norman does possess true fatherly love for his son.
Norman Osborn In The Comics
Norman Osborn has always been depicted as a fearsome business executive capable of toppling many leaders of industry. He is the founder and CEO of Oscorp, one of the greatest tech giants in the Marvel Universe. It has been seen to rival even that of Stark Industries — with Norman even being seen as a villain equivalent of Tony Stark.
He has no trouble walking on the shattered remnants of his competition and taking possession of others’ achievements for the betterment of his own company — going as far as completely stealing the foundation of research of those who made the mistake of trusting him. He would later father a child named Harry with his former wife Emily.
Norman Osborn As The Green Goblin
Norman Osborn’s supervillain alter-ego is known as the Green Goblin, and this has taken the form of many, drastically different incarnations depending on the media it is portrayed in. In the mainline series of comics, and earlier animated series, this alter-ego involves dawning a costume of a green-skinned goblin-looking creature with a long purple hat.
This incarnation also uses a special glider to achieve flight and uses his iconic pumpkin-themed bombs. In comics set in alternate universes and even the Into the Spider-verse film, the green goblin is a mutation that leaves him in the form of an actual monster that can throw fire. This alter-ego has even been portrayed utilizing a special EXO-suit that is operated by first taking a special serum to greatly enhance the user’s performance.
In many of the Spider-Man story incarnations, this alter-ego would be adopted by Norman’s own son, Harry Osborn. This is not to be confused with the villain Hobgoblin or Demogoblin, who are different characters entirely. Norman would come to adopt many other alternate identities in the comics, including the Iron Patriot and Gold Goblin.
Norman Osborn In Marvel’s Spider-Man
Marvel’s Spider-Man was a breakthrough success with many fans loving all the various aspects of the game and seeking more titles like it. Many of the core features of Norman Osborn’s comic incarnations were seamlessly translated into the game. He is still the founder and CEO of Oscorp and the father of Harry, though, while the game was spotted with hints of the supervillain he would become, that hasn’t happened yet in Insomniac’s interpretation of the character.
Norman Osborn is incredibly wealthy and able to tend to his son Harry’s dire health condition — as is seen in the game series. Throughout the game, players can come across bits of information that explain pieces of his past, such as the death of his wife Emily. The serum known as “Devil’s Breath” was in development by order of Norman and acted as a form of Genome Editor. Its purpose was to save the life of his dying wife. However, she would succumb to her illness before its completion. That research has continued in the hopes of saving his son, Harry.
Marvel’s Spider-Man features one of the several incarnations that see Norman undergo a political venture in the form of the city’s Mayor. He has made many enemies, though, and these enemies pose a great threat to his company — especially a former test subject of Oscorp, Martin Li — also known as Mr. Negative. Martin Li is made even more of a threat by commanding an entire criminal organization known as the Inner Demons, planning (and succeeding) to use the Devil’s Breath serum as a form of bioweapon — due to it compromising its victims’ immune system and being highly contagious.
Norman possessed a long friendship with fellow scientist Otto Octavius, who would also go on to help Norman found Oscorp. Over time, this friendship would be strained, and the Devil’s Breath lab incident that transformed Martin Li into ‘Mr. Negative’ would eventually result in Otto leaving Oscorp to start Octavius Industries. Norman would use his political power to get valuable funding for Octavius Industries pulled, enraging Octavius in the process.
This would lead Octavius into an arrangement with Mr. Negative to form the Sinister Six in order to get their revenge. Manhattan would be thrust into a state of emergency due to the spread of Devil’s Breath, and Oscorp would see its stock plummet after it became public that they were responsible for its creation.
By the end of the first game, Norman Osborn had no choice by to resign from his position as mayor due to his reputation now being in shambles from his involvement with Devil’s Breath. In the final moments of the game, he can be seen by the side of his ill son. This scene would also foreshadow the presence of the Venom Symbiote in the series.
Norman Osborn In Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales
Not to be outdone by its predecessor, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales would build upon the gameplay of the first game and go on to be considered one of the greatest open-world PS5 titles of all time. Norman’s presence is nowhere near as prominent as the first game. However, his involvement in the story as a whole and helping to set up the events for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 come in the form of an ending sequence during Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales.
In this scene, he can be seen entering a lab with his son and Curt Connors inside. This scene would see Norman instructing Conners to open the container with his son inside, despite Conners protesting against the potential dangers.