The Green Goblin (real name Norman Virgil Osborn) is a supervillain from Marvel Comics. He is an archenemy of Spider-Man, the founder and CEO of Oscorp Industries, and the father of Harry Osborn. However, upon taking an experimental serum, he became the supervillain known as the Green Goblin. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Willem Dafoe reprised his role as Green Goblin in Spider-Man: No Way Home as the main antagonist, after appearing in the non-MCU Spider-Man film trilogy directed by Sam Raimi.
The Green Goblin was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko.
Norman Osborn seems to have a calculated mind. He has a extreme distaste for his plans being foiled or executed in a way that is not what he had planned. He has shown to have lust for power. Overall, he acts like a psychopath.
Powers and Abilities
Powers
Superhuman Strength: As the Green Goblin, Norman can easily overpower humans by lifting them up with one hand or by hurling them around. He and can also lift extremely heavy objects, crush and break through wood panels and templates, bend metal, and can punch through glass without gaining injury. As shown on many occasions, Norman, as the Green Goblin, can match Spider-Man.
Superhuman Durability: As the Green Goblin, Norman is very resistant to great impact forces and blunt trauma. He can withstand powerful impacts, such as falling from several stories or being repeatedly struck by a superhuman enemy, that would severely injure or kill a normal human with little to no injury to himself.
Gifted Intellect: Norman is extremely intelligent, was extremely skilled with mathematics and science. With the mutation, his intelligence became greatly enhanced.
Weapons and Equipment
Goblin Glider: A hi-tech transport jet that the Green Goblin rides on, enabling him flight and comes with additional number of Pumpkin Bombs and Missiles.
Pumpkin Bombs: Small orange explosives that the Green Goblin uses in combat.
Role in the film
“I've watched you from deep behind Norman's cowardly eyes, struggling to have everything you want, while the world tries to make you choose. Gods don't have to choose. We take.”
Willem Dafoe reprises the role of Norman Osborn / the Green Goblin from the Sam RaimiSpider-Man trilogy in this film.
Doctor Strange's botched spell brings Norman along with other villains from their own universes into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, due to their knowledge of Peter Parker being Spider-Man. When Peter Parker confronts Doctor Octopus, they hear laughter coming along with a pumpkin bomb, a weapon used by the Green Goblin. The villain flies towards them as Doc Ock is shocked to see his former friend. When Peter, MJ and Ned Leeds are in the New York Sanctum, they learn about Norman Osborn from Doc Ock and what happened to him. Peter gears up as Spider-Man and tries to find the Goblin, whom Doc Ock refers to as a ghost since Norman Osborn died years ago.
Sometime later, Osborn finds himself in the alley way, where the Goblin persona speaks to him and scares him, begging it to leave him alone. With the mask laughing at Osborn, he destroys it with a rock and leaves it in the alley, leaving the area and finding his way to F.E.A.S.T, where May Parker works. Peter fears his aunt is in danger of the Green Goblin possibly being with her, but sees Norman Osborn there, calmly speaking to her. May discusses Osborn with Peter, saying he is out of his mind, as he mentioned his son not being in New York, or the fact that the Osborn company doesn't exist in this world. Aunt May tries to convince Peter to help Osborn and the other displaced villains, but he declines, saying it isn't his problem, which disappoints May, but Parker eventually agrees and takes Osborn to the New York Sanctum.
When Spider-Man and Norman arrive at the sanctum, the villain is shocked to see Otto Octavius there, who is just as surprised to see Osborn alive. They ask each other what happened, to which Octavius called Osborn a walking corpse and tells him that he died years prior. Not believing him, Osborn calls Doc Ock insane, to which they both learn from Sandman that they both died fighting their world's Spider-Man, where Osborn learns he was impaled by the glider he flew around on. Learning the villains' fates are to die, Spider-Man from this word agrees to help them get cured and return to their respective worlds without being killed by their Spider-Men. Although reluctant at first, the villains agree and Parker takes them to Happy Hogan's condo, where he and May have been staying.
A few hours later at the condo, Osborn is seen helping Peter create Doc Ock's cure and comments about how remarkable the young adult's work truly is. He offers Parker a job at Oscorp back in his world as the cure is successfully created. Osborn and Octavius briefly reunite until Spider-Man starts to sense danger within the apartment and Osborn starts to wander off. Parker's spider-sense takes over and he suddenly webs Osborn, which confuses everyone. Otto tries to get through to his friend, but the Goblin reveals himself, revealing he took over Osborn's mind. Spider-Man and the Goblin furiously fight, destroying the building. Outside, the Goblin holds Parker by the back of his hair as Aunt May takes her final stand and tries to stand up to him, but he takes the upper hand and throws a bomb and sends his glider into May, which impales her in the waist. Happy with what he has done, the Goblin flees as Spider-Man has one final moment with May, who dies as a result of her injuries.
A few days later, after Spider-Man meets his alternate counterparts, the trio, along with MJ and Ned, agree to lure all the displaced villains to the Statue of Liberty with their respective cures, in hopes to cure them and send them home for good. The Green Goblin finally arrives, which enrages this world's Peter (Peter-One) to an extreme. The two have a brutal battle on the replica of Captain America's shield. Overcome with far more ferocity and savagery than before, Peter-One almost impales the Goblin with his own glider, before Peter-Two stops him from doing something he may regret. However, the Goblin stabs Peter-Two and Peter-Three (The Amazing Spider-Man) throws Peter-One the Goblin cure, which he jams into his enemy's neck in far more ferocity and savagery than before, which destroys the Green Goblin alter once and for all, which restores Norman Osborn back to his normal self. Seeing Peter-Two wounded, Osborn asks Peter-One what he has done, regretting his actions, but doesn't get a response. Luckily Peter-Two's injury isn't fatal, and Osborn returns to his world with his Spider-Man, Doc Ock and Sandman, while Electro and Lizard return to their world with their own Spider-Man, with their fates completely changed.
The Green Goblin appears in the Disney Infinity: 2.0 Edition Spider-Man Play Set as both a playable character and an NPC boss. In the Play Set, the Goblin, Venom, and Dr Octopus. are releasing symbiote forces on the city that must be stopped. He is also playable in the Marvel Battlegrounds Play Set for Disney Infinity: 3.0.
In No Way Home, the Green Goblin loses his mask and gains a purple hood, making him more accurate to his comic counterpart than he was in the 2002 film.
In the 2002 film, Osborn dies via his own glider impaling him and he almost dies in No Way Home when Peter 1 (Tom Holland) almost impales him with his glider, but this time the Goblin is saved by Tobey Maguire's Peter Parker, aka Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man.
Although this version of Norman Osborn is the Green Goblin, the Norman Osborn from the The Amazing Spider-Man films does not become the Goblin and dies due to an ongoing illness. Instead, his son, Harry Osborn, takes on the alter ego like how Harry from the Sam Rami films becomes the "New Goblin" after the death of his father in the 2002 film.
The Green Goblin was originally going to be cured by MJ in Spider-Man: No Way Home, who would ride on the back of the glider with Peter-One and inject the goblin with the cure, until it changed to her boyfriend being the one to finally destroy the goblin once and for all, with the help of Peter-Two and Peter-Three.[1]
