How many Green Goblins are there again?
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00Despite the fact that he's Spider-Man's most iconic rival, Green Goblin is still shrouded
00:04in mystery. So, let's unravel that mystery, as I'm Will for What Culture and here are 10
00:09Things You Didn't Know About The Green Goblin.
00:1210. He Wasn't Meant To Be Human
00:14Spider-Man was horrified when he learned the Green Goblin was none other than Norman Osborn,
00:19the father of Peter's best friend, Harry. Up until this point, none of Spidey's supervillains
00:24had a personal connection with the wall-crawler, so this was a monumental moment in comics.
00:29But the characters' creators never intended the Green Goblin to be Norman Osborn. Originally,
00:34Stan Lee wanted the Goblin to be an ancient creature that was discovered in an Egyptian
00:39sarcophagus. Steve Ditko talked Lee out of this idea on the grounds that it was
00:43pretty stupid, and the character was all the better for it.
00:479. The Reason Why He Killed Gwen Stacy
00:50The Goblin's most infamous moment is when he tossed Gwen Stacy off a bridge,
00:53causing her to plummet to her death. This incident was so shocking, it overshadowed
00:58every other aspect of this story arc. As a result, many readers completely forget
01:02why Gobby killed her in the first place. At the time, Norman Osborn had been seemingly
01:07cured of his Goblin persona, and had no recollection of his tenure as a supervillain. But when Harry
01:12Osborn's drug addiction became public knowledge, Oscorp's stock tanked, causing Osborn to revert
01:16to his demented alter ego. Blaming Peter Parker for failing to protect Harry, Norman murdered Gwen
01:22Stacy out of spite. However, this was completely retconned in the six-part series, Sins of the
01:27Father. In this storyline, it's revealed that Gwen and Norman slept together, causing her to fall
01:32pregnant with twins. Or so you'd think, because…
01:368. He Never Slept With Gwen Stacy
01:38Because Gwen Stacy was a well-liked character, it kind of ruined her a bit when it was revealed
01:43she had bared Norman Osborn's children in the Sins of the Father storyline. Readers hated this
01:47retcon so much, they wished it could be written out of existence. And in the Sinister War story
01:52arc, that's exactly what happened. When Osborn learned he was on the verge of bankruptcy years
01:56ago, Mephisto agreed to save his company in exchange for Harry's soul. Norman agreed,
02:01which caused his son to be corrupted by demonic power. Mephisto also revealed
02:05Norman's deal had tainted his own soul, causing tragedy to follow him everywhere he goes.
02:10This means Mephisto is directly responsible for Norman's transformation into the Green Goblin.
02:15After Gwen died, Harry Osborn, now corrupted by Mephisto, devised clones from her DNA,
02:20and spliced it with his father's to create their children. Harry then hired Mysterio to
02:25hypnotise Norman to convince him he slept with Gwen. Even though the Sinister War plot was
02:29supposed to retcon the Sins of the Father storyline, it ended up making everything
02:33more ridiculous. Since Gwen did not bare Norman's children, this means he killed her
02:38for absolutely no reason. 7. He has more powers than you realise
02:43Because Norman Osborn has been a burden to the superhero community for years, you may wonder why
02:47no one's ever put him down for good. But it's not that simple. The formula that turned Norman
02:52into a masked psychopath endowed him with bulletproof skin and a healing factor. His
02:56strength has been enhanced so he can lift up to 9 tons. Although that's only half the strength
03:00of Spider-Man, Osborn can still hurl a tank, a small plane, or an African bush elephant with ease.
03:06This formula also amplified his intelligence, turning him into one of the smartest people
03:11on Earth. He proved his genius in 2009's Deadpool 12, when he discovered a cure for cancer.
03:15Unfortunately, he chose not to share this revelation with the world, because he's Norman
03:20Osborn. 6. He became an actual goblin
03:23During the millennium, Marvel created a rebooted comic line called Ultimate Marvel. Because some
03:28iconic characters were considered too old-fashioned or silly for a modern audience, many heroes and
03:32villains were revived, including Green Goblin. Instead of being a costumed supervillain who
03:36flies on a glider, this incarnation of Norman Osborn transformed into an actual goblin when
03:41he injected himself with an experimental formula. In this form, the Green Goblin has super strength,
03:46can leap 100 feet in the air, and shoot fireballs from his hands. At first, he could only transform
03:52into the goblin when he consumed the formula. But over time, his body began producing the
03:56chemical on a molecular level, allowing him to change into his worst half at will.
04:00The scariest thing about this goblin is his healing factor. He's been impaled through the
04:04spine, shot in the face, burnt to a crisp, and lived to fight another day. His healing abilities
04:09are so outstanding, he can recover from death. As scary as the traditional Green Goblin is,
04:14the Ultimate version's apparent immortality makes him a far more dangerous foe.
04:185. Gwen Stacy isn't the only person he killed.
04:21Gwen Stacy may have been the first life Goblin took, but she was far from the last. When he
04:26initially faked his death, Norman Osborn strangled a drifter and placed it in the
04:29casket he was meant to be buried in. He then joined an Illuminati-like cult called the
04:33Brotherhood of the Scryers and used its resources to shape events across the world. He then killed
04:38all the high-ranking scryers and named himself its sole leader. Although Spidey defeated him,
04:43Norman had an agent poison a heavily pregnant Mary Jane Watson, causing her to suffer a
04:48miscarriage. As horrific as those murders are, it's only a small sample of the evil
04:52Norman has committed. Over the years, he's slaughtered employees, police officers, Atlanteans,
04:57Asgardians, Skrulls, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, Ben Reilly, Swordsman, Dr. Octopus's old girlfriend,
05:03and Flash Thompson.
05:044. He saved the world.
05:06During these secret invasion events, the Skrulls used their shapeshifting abilities to infiltrate
05:11Earth. When the Avengers realised this, they battled the Skrull Queen, knowing the Skrulls
05:15would surrender if she was killed. By a complete fluke, Norman Osborn managed to get the kill shot,
05:20ending the Skrull invasion and saving humanity. Blaming S.H.I.E.L.D. for allowing the infiltration
05:25to happen, the President scrapped the counter-terrorist agency and hired Norman to lead
05:29his own protective unit, HAMMER. Being a master manipulator, it was easy for Norman to turn the
05:33world against most heroes, declaring them to be just as culpable as S.H.I.E.L.D. for not recognising
05:38the Skrull threat sooner. He then formed his own Avengers, with himself as the leader,
05:43the Iron Patriot. While this was going on, Norman led a cabal called the Cabal, where he allowed
05:48supervillains like Doctor Doom and Loki to do as they pleased if they supported him.
05:533. Norman Osborn wasn't the only Green Goblin.
05:56In the aftermath of Gwen Stacy's death, Norman Osborn accidentally impaled himself with his own
06:01glider, seemingly ending his life. Although Norman was later revealed to be alive, he didn't return
06:06for 23 years. But because of Goblin's popularity, the Marvel team cooked up other characters to
06:11take the guise of Spider-Man's arch-nemesis. Unsurprisingly, the second Goblin was Harry.
06:15After being exposed to the Goblin formula, Harry Osborn adopted his father's mantle and became
06:20Spider-Man's enemy. But after speaking to his counsellor, Bart Hamilton, Harry was seemingly
06:25cured of his psychosis. However, Bart used Harry's knowledge to locate Norman's weaponry and tech,
06:30turning himself into the third Goblin. While Daily Bugle reporter Ben Urick was covering a
06:35story in Oscorp with his son Phil, the facility was besieged by terrorists. In the conflict,
06:40Phil got doused with Goblin formula, turning him into Goblin 4. However, Phil tried to use the
06:45Goblin tech to protect humanity, earning him the moniker of Good Goblin. However, despite his many
06:50imitators, there's no question Norman will always be the one true Green Goblin.
06:552. His wife faked her death
06:57As callous as Norman Osborn comes across, he truly loved his wife, Emily. Although they had a
07:02blissful marriage at first, Emily caught glimpses of Norman's dark side, which encouraged her to
07:07leave him. After she gave birth to Harry, she faked her death and lived abroad for decades.
07:12However, Emily came out of hiding when she learned Norman was preparing to kidnap Harry's
07:16own children, Normie and Stanley. Stanley was actually the son of Harry's clone, but that's
07:21neither here nor there. Disguising herself as a nanny, called Emma, Emily kidnapped her
07:25grandchildren to ensure Norman couldn't find them. Norman managed to track his grandsons down
07:30and manipulated Normie into thinking Spider-Man was the enemy. Believing Norman was a hero,
07:34Normie allowed his grandfather to bond them both to the carnage symbiotes, transforming them into
07:39the Red Goblin and the Goblin Child. Normie eventually realized his grandfather was manipulating
07:44him and thus abandoned his cause. After Norman was defeated, Harry confronted Emily and told
07:50her she was justified to abandon him in order to get away from his tyrannical father.
07:541. He wielded the Infinity Gauntlet
07:57What if Infinity Dark Reign explored an alternate reality where the Green Goblin came into possession
08:03of the Infinity Gauntlet? Using the glove's godly power, he killed the Avengers, destroyed Asgard,
08:08reduced Thanos to bones, and reformed the world in his image. Norman also trapped Spider-Man in
08:14an eternal time loop, so his mortal enemy would relive the moment he failed to save Gwen Stacy
08:19over and over. After he accomplished all his desires, Norman used the Infinity Stones to
08:24transport his abusive father, Amberson, before him. Because Amberson believed his son would never
08:29amount to anything, Norman used this opportunity to brag how he achieved more than his father could
08:33ever imagine. Unsurprisingly, Amberson was horrified at what his child had become, telling
08:38Norman he was a monster. With a snap of his fingers, Norman transformed Amberson into a doting
08:43parent. Sadly though, it wasn't enough. Acknowledging there was nothing he could do to make his father
08:48genuinely be proud of him, Norman erased Amberson from the time-space continuum. However, since
08:53Amberson never existed, neither did Norman, causing him to vanish out of existence.
08:58And there you have it folks, 10 things you didn't know about the Green Goblin. Feel free to drop this
09:02video a like if you enjoyed it, and drop me a follow on Twitter at usly.u. I'm Will Fort Culture,
09:07thanks for hanging out, and I'll see you next time.