Harry Osborn
| Green Goblin | |
|---|---|
| File:Harryosborn23.png | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Amazing Spider-Man #31 (December 1965)Italic text |
| Created by | Stan Lee Steve Ditko |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Harold "Harry" Osborn |
| Notable aliases | Green Goblin II, New Goblin |
| Abilities | Superhuman strength, speed, stamina, agility and durability, Goblin-themed weapons and paraphernalia |
Harry Osborn is a Marvel Comics character, both one-time friend and foe to Spider-Man. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #31 (December 1965).
Son of industrialist Norman Osborn, who was secretly the supervillain the Green Goblin, Harry became the unlikely friend and college roommate of the nerdy Peter Parker. After witnessing his father battle with Spider-Man and die, Harry swore vengeance on the hero. After discovering that Peter was secretly Spider-Man, Harry became psychotic and took on the mantle of the Green Goblin.
Harry managed to regain his sanity temporarily, marrying and taking over his father’s company. Still, he would inevitably experiment with Norman's old chemicals again and soon menace Peter as the Green Goblin once more. Harry, insane with power after ingesting a new version of his father’s superhuman strength formula, physically beat Spider-Man and trapped the hero in a house rigged to explode. Though Harry came to his senses long enough to save both Spider-Man and Spider-Man's wife, Mary Jane Watson, the chemicals Harry drank were toxic.
Dying slowly from the poisoning, he confessed to Spider-Man that Peter would always be his best friend before passing away.
Fictional character biography
Early life
Harry was born in New York City to industrialist Norman Osborn and his wife Emily. Unfortunately, the circumstances of Harry's birth weakened Emily, and she died after several years of illness. Heartbroken, Norman became a cold and unloving father, either dismissing Harry or lashing out at him in fury. Harry would spend the rest of his life trying desperately to earn his father's approval.
When Harry graduated high school, he enrolled in Empire State University. Among the wealthiest students in the school, Harry soon became one of the most popular faces in the school, despite his aloof manner. He soon formed a clique of rich, popular students around him. One of these students was the lovely Gwen Stacy. Gwen soon became intrigued with a new student, a bookish, studious fellow named Peter Parker. Harry took a dislike to Parker, as he resented the amount of attention he was getting from Gwen, and he assumed that the reason Peter was so standoffish was because of snobbery. After confronting Parker, however, Harry discovered that Peter was painfully shy and worried about his ailing aunt, May. Despite this rocky early start, Harry and Peter became friends, eventually sharing a luxury apartment.
What Harry didn't realize was that Peter was the superhero Spider-Man, and that he had twice battled his father, who had become the Green Goblin in an accident while attempting to create a super-serum. When the Goblin discovered Spider-Man's identity and captured him, he revealed his own identity to Peter. Horrified that his greatest enemy was his best friend's father, Peter's loyalties were torn during their battle. However, Osborn then fell onto an electric transformer and the resulting shock removed all memory of being the Green Goblin. Spider-Man removed the Goblin's costume and equipment, hoping it was the end of the Goblin menace.
However, Norman's memories would resurface from time to time and he would periodically battle Spider-Man, only to lose his memories again when the fight was over. These were difficult times for Harry. Having experimented with drugs since his teenage years, Harry gradually began experimenting with harder substances, which affected his mental stability and relationships with his friends. Spider-Man used this to his advantage on one occasion when, in battle with the Green Goblin, he was able to stop the fight by showing Norman his son's emaciated condition, brought on by an accidental cocaine overdose. The sight shocked Norman so much that it brought him back to sanity for what was to be the last time.
It wasn't long after, though, that stress caused Norman to become the Green Goblin again. Harry's life had fallen apart. His relationship with Peter's friend Mary Jane Watson had come to an end when she dumped him, fed up with his self-destructive lifestyle. A disconsolate Harry turned to drugs and suffered an LSD overdose. He survived, but this tragedy, compounded by imminent bankruptcy, drove the Green Goblin over the edge. He kidnapped Gwen as bait for Spider-Man, and then threw her off the George Washington Bridge. When Peter pulled her back up with his webbing, she was already dead. A vicious battle between Spider-Man and the Green Goblin ensued, with Peter barely able to control himself from killing the villain. The Goblin then directed his goblin glider to impale Spider-Man, but the wall-crawler jumped out of the way, and the Goblin was impaled through the chest himself, and seemingly killed. Peter was wracked with guilt and sorrow, but took comfort in the fact that the Green Goblin was finally gone.
The Second Goblin
However, Harry had secretly witnessed the battle. Wanting to protect his father's identity, he stripped Norman's body of the Green Goblin costume and hid it. Blaming Spider-Man for his father's "murder," Harry swore vengeance. Having inherited his father's company, Harry managed to get the business back in shape as he planned his revenge. One day, to his shock, he found a Spider-Man costume in Peter's apartment, and realized that his best friend was the man he blamed for his father's death. Using his father's old equipment, Harry confronted Peter as the new Green Goblin.
Not wanting to hurt Harry, Peter avoided fighting his old friend. Eventually Harry was knocked unconscious and taken into police custody. There he raved that he was the true Green Goblin and Peter Parker was Spider-Man, but was dismissed as a lunatic. He was put in the care of criminal psychologist Dr. Bart Hamilton, who extracted the secrets of the Green Goblin from Harry through hypnosis, and buried the knowledge deep with Harry's mind. However, this was not altruistic on Hamilton's part - he then raided one of Harry's hideouts and became the third Green Goblin, hoping to become the new boss of the underworld. However, his power was no match for his enthusiasm - he never even bothered to use the strength-enhancing formulas on himself, seemingly believing that just being the Green Goblin would enable him to defeat Spider-Man, and, despite an elaborate plot to kill Silvermane, the power-mad psychologist was killed by a bomb he had planted for Spider-Man. Although he suffered a brief setback during the confrontation with Hamilton, Harry was released and considered cured, sustaining a concussion that made him forget his knowledge of Spider-Man's identity, and he and Peter rekindled their friendship.
For a while, Harry's life seemed back on track; His company began turning profits once more, and he developed a romance with Liz Allan, whom he met at the wedding of Betty Brant and Ned Leeds. Not long after, the two were married, and eventually they had a son, whom Harry named Normie in memory of the boy's grandfather. Harry also gave his blessing to the marriage of Peter and Mary Jane. However, Harry was forced to act as the Green Goblin a few times during these years, once to defeat Jason Macendale, the second Hobgoblin. Macendale sought the Goblin formula that gave the Green Goblin superhuman strength; Harry was able to defeat Macendale by doubling back during an aerial chase and emptying his entire supply of pumpkin bombs onto the Hobgoblin. Harry even wondered if he could use the Goblin persona for a career as a superhero, but Peter convinced him that the Goblin had too much baggage for such a role, and Harry buried the Goblin menace within his mind once more, and focused on his business and family.
Death
This tranquility was shattered when the aftereffects of the Inferno crisis sundered the barrier between Harry's conscious and subconscious minds. Once again he remembered being the Green Goblin - and his irrational hatred of Spider-Man (Harry had now convinced himself that Peter resented the Osborns' 'stable family life' due to never having been wanted by his own parents or guardians, when in fact it was the complete opposite). His sanity shattered, he declared that their next confrontation would be their final one, and only one of them would be alive at the end. To ensure that he was the victor, Harry researched his father's chemical notes, hoping to recreate the original Goblin's superhuman strength. Harry made his own modifications to the formula, and upon ingesting it, it proved better than he had dreamed. The new Goblin Formula had made him stronger than both Spider-Man and his father. Now a physical match for Spider-Man, Harry planned his final revenge.
Harry took to stalking Peter Parker on his Goblin Glider, claiming that there was no law against just soaring around town in a colorful costume, and taunting Peter that someday he would destroy him, but he relished keeping Peter in suspense in the meantime. After weeks of this, Peter finally lost his cool and struck at Harry, only to be sent flying when Harry hit back, demonstrating his new strength. He then rocketed away, taunting Spider-Man's inability to stop him.
Not long after, Harry held a prestigious dinner at his townhouse, inviting many of his father's old business associates. However, it was actually a trap, and Harry had planted explosives throughout the townhouse, which he planned to detonate, thus destroying everybody who had slighted the Osborns.
Spider-Man, fearing the worst, dropped in to investigate, only to be confronted by Harry as the Goblin. The two former friends engaged in an explosive battle, which ended when Harry injected Peter with a drug that left him immobile but still conscious. However, even as he gloated over his victory, he realized that Mary Jane and his son Normie were also in the townhouse, and that the explosives would detonate in two minutes. Despite protestations that he was not a hero, Peter convinced Harry to use his glider to get the two to safety. Once Normie and Mary Jane were safe, Harry's sanity finally returned, and he realized that he had left Peter to die. Harry rescued Peter from the explosion in the nick of time. However, as his friends thanked him, he suddenly collapsed. The Goblin Formula was imperfect, and while it had increased his strength, it was also lethally poisoning him. Paramedics were called, but Harry died en route to the hospital. With his final words, he apologized to Peter, and confirmed that despite everything, they were still, and would always be, best friends.
Post-Mortem
However, Harry had one last trick up his sleeve. Sometime before his final confrontation with Spider-Man, Harry had employed the Chameleon to construct Life Model Decoys of Peter's parents to play with his emotions. The plot ended with both constructs revealed to be fake when both "died," shattering Peter's mind. After nearly killing the Chameleon, Peter found a tape Harry had left before he died, revealing his role in the plot and mocking Peter. Peter went temporarily insane from the shock, which proved that Harry could be as manipulative and cruel as his father ever was when gripped by insanity; Peter even briefly rejected his identity as Peter Parker, until the return of his clone Ben Reilly snapped him out of his "funk".
Planned Return
Towards the end of the Clone Saga, the writers of the Spider-Man books planned to end the series by reviving Harry Osborn, who would be revealed to be the semi-zombified cyborg known as "Gaunt". Gaunt was a late entry towards the controversial storyline, created mainly as a plot device to return Harry to life, as the plan for the character included Harry regaining his humanity, taking credit for tricking Peter Parker into thinking he was a clone, and resuming his identity as the Green Goblin fulltime. But the plotline was nixed by newly promoted Editor-In-Chief Bob Harras, who disliked Harry Osborn and instead demanded that the plotline be aborted and Norman Osborn resurrected instead as the mastermind of the Clone Saga.
So Gaunt was revealed to be Mendel Stromm- the man who originally created the Goblin formula before becoming the villain known as the Robot Master- and Norman Osborn was the real main villain. Norman would reveal, upon his return, that he had in fact died when the glider impaled him, but the unexpected healing factor effect of the goblin formula regrew his internal organs and reanimated him. After killing someone with a similar body-type to be buried in his place, Norman fled to Europe, hoping to give Harry a chance to prove himself after seeing him trying on the Green Goblin costume. A year after Harry's death, Norman returned to America, nearly driving Spider-Man insane with the Clone Saga (where Osborn tried to convince Peter that he was his own clone to make Peter lose the will to live) and regaining the mantle of the Green Goblin when he finally revealed himself as the mastermind, shortly before the death of Ben Reilly (the real clone). If anything, Harry's death has made the rivalry between Spider-Man and the Green Goblin even more bitter than before, as each blames the other for Harry's death.
Powers and abilities
For most of his life, Harry Osborn had no superhuman abilities. When he exposed himself to the experimental Goblin Formula, his strength was perhaps augmented beyond that of either Spider-Man or the Green Goblin. His durability, agility and intelligence likewise increased, but the extent of these augmentations is unknown.
Harry had all of the Green Goblin's equipment, including the explosive "pumpkin bombs" and the razor-edged boomerang blades. He also rode on a modified version of the Goblin Glider that was even faster and more mobile than the original.
Ultimate Harry Osborn
In the Ultimate Marvel universe, Harry Osborn is a rich kid who meets Peter Parker in public school. Despite the difference between them, the two bond; Harry improves Peter's social status, and Peter helps Harry with his homework. He also had a brief romantic relationship with Peter's soon-to-be girlfriend, Mary Jane Watson.
Harry's father, Norman Osborn, is an industrialist who creates the Oz Formula, an experimental solution intended to turn ordinary humans into superhumans. When a spider injected with the Oz Formula bites Peter, he gains superhuman strength and agility and secretly becomes Spider-Man. Under the pretense of fearing for Peter's health, Norman takes a sample of Peter's blood, and realizes that Oz has made him stronger. Norman then subjects himself to the Oz Formula, becoming a hideous demonic monster: the Green Goblin.
Insane, Norman attacks his family and destroys his house, killing his wife and almost killing his son. The next day, the Goblin attacks the school but is stopped by Spider-Man. Peter believes that the Goblin had come for him, but Harry says that his father had come to kill him. Harry is then taken into custody and sent to live with his uncle.
When Harry later comes back, he is once again living with his father and is brainwashed by Miles Warren into believing that his mother had died in a freak accident. He later walks in on a fight between the Green Goblin and Spider-Man, and literally stabs his own father in the back with a shard of glass from a shattered window pane, reverting the creature back into his father. Harry is taken into custody again, but this time by S.H.I.E.L.D..
Later, during the events of Ultimate Six in which Norman once again escapes and teams up with Spider-Man's old rogues to siege the White House, Harry is used by Nick Fury to negotiate with his father. It almost works as Harry reaches out to his father, but a trigger-happy Iron Man blasts Osborn with his DNA cannon. His genetic structure now rapidly out of control, Norman lashes out in blind fury only to be gunned down by soldiers right in front of Harry.
Traumatized, Harry vengefully promises to Peter, "All of You. I'll kill all of you for this." (Referring to everyone Harry knows to be involved in the incident.) Harry returns to school, seemingly back to normal, but Peter is suspicious. Harry blames Peter for stealing his girlfriend Mary Jane and later tells her that Peter killed his father.
Through the hypnotic therapy he had Harry under for years, Norman Osborn had planted a post-hypnotic suggestion in the form of his henchman, Shaw. 'Shaw' takes Harry to an OsCorp bunker in New Jersey, where there are reserves of the Oz Serum. (It also appears that the bunker has a copy of Doctor Octopus' mechanical arms and, in an inside joke, all three versions of the Green Goblin face; the classic, the movie version, and the Ultimate one).
Later, Peter (as Spider-Man) confronts Harry, demanding to know why he had told Mary Jane that he killed his father. Shaw then provokes Harry to unleash his hidden abilities. Harry bursts into flame, transforming into the Ultimate version of the Hobgoblin. 'Shaw' goads the mutated Harry to battle Spider-Man, but after a lengthy battle the Hobgoblin breaks down and begs Peter to kill him. Peter tries to help Harry, when the 'Shaw' persona takes over once again and attacks Peter.
S.H.I.E.L.D. arrives and Harry attacks them, trying to provoke a lethal counterattack. He is promptly shot down, to Peter's horror. Spider-Man then attacks Nick Fury before leaving. It later turns out that Harry is not dead, just seriously wounded.
It is later revealed that Harry was caught in the same accident that created both The Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus, with Norman grabbing him by the throat. Whether this or the Oz bunker later caused the transformation is uncertain.
Like the 616 version, the Ultimate Hobgoblin conceived his powers via an acquaintance showing him the Green Goblin's 'Hideout', and he is marginally less insane than the Green Goblin. Also, he has shown a remarkable healing factor - regrowing teeth and skin within minutes - and bullet-proof armor. He is also able to immolate himself in flame, and possesses tremendous strength.
In other media
Television
Despite his early importance in the Spider-Man mythos, Harry made few to no appearances in most Spider-Man animated series until the 1990s.
In the 1994 Spider-Man series, Harry is voiced by Gary Imhoff.
In this adaptation, Harry was Peter Parker's roommate in college. Their friendship seemed less strained and Gwen Stacy was not featured. Harry played an overall minor role, though he did act as a something of a rival for Mary Jane Watson's affections in at least one episode.
After the original Green Goblin becomes trapped in the Negative Zone, he appears to Harry. Soon, Harry unwilling made into a replacement for and by the original Green Goblin, who contacted him while in limbo. Harry tried to kill Spider-Man numerous times while the Green Goblin promised to allow Harry to see his presumed deceased father, Norman Osborn. However, Harry always failed, once getting into some trouble with the Punisher as well. In the end, Harry realized in horror that the Green Goblin was his father and instead of wanting to quit, he began to lose his sanity. Now acting as if he enjoys becoming the new villain, he continued to want Spider-Man dead. This led to a fierce confrontation where Spider-Man knocked him out while on the George Washington Bridge. He was then taken to Ravencroft by Spider-Man.
Later, when Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson were getting married, Harry found out and grew insane, as he was in love with MJ. He interrupted the wedding and threatened to blow up the church the wedding was taking place, wanting Mary Jane to marry him instead of Peter. In the end, Liz Allan appealed to Harry, convincing him not to blow up the church nor marry Mary Jane. Told by Liz that he is loved, he walked out peacefully and the wedding resumed.
- In the 2003 MTV Spider-Man series, which ties in with the Spider-Man movies, Harry is voiced by Ian Ziering. Harry had a dark tone in this series due to his hatred of Spider-Man, blaming the hero for Norman Osborn's death.
Films
In the Spider-Man film series, Harry is played by actor James Franco.
Spider-Man
In the first film, Harry is one of Peter's high school classmates, who resents the fact that his father spends more time at his job than being with him and seems to understand the brilliant Peter better than him. This is evident when Norman learns that Peter is able to understand his nanotechnology papers, wins the science award, and expresses his desire to make his own way in the world. Harry is constantly trying to live up to his father's expectations, including trying to make girlfriend M.J. look stunning. He decides to date Mary Jane despite his knowledge of Peter's interest in her and fails to tell him. Later, he says that Peter never made a move. In the past, Harry protected Peter from bullying, and Peter tutored him in science. After graduation, Harry's father gets them a loft apartment next to the university. Early in the movie, Peter becomes Spider-Man and Norman becomes the Green Goblin, but Harry remains unaware that the two are his best friend and his father. As he is growing more terrified of the Green Goblin persona, Norman begs Harry for forgiveness for not being a good father, and the two reconcile somewhat after Harry's break-up with M.J..
However, at the end of the film, the Green Goblin is killed by his own glider (he is impaled in the lower abdomen, where he dies from internal bleeding, whereas in the comics he temporarily dies from a chest impalement to the heart; whether Norman still possessed the healing factor has yet to be revealed), after attempting to kill Spider-Man. Following Norman's last wish to not let Harry know about his villainous identity, Spider-Man removes the Goblin's costume and returns Norman's body to the Osborn mansion. Harry, seeing Spider-Man carrying Norman's body, assumes that Spider-Man has murdered his father. Harry grabs a gun from a drawer, but Spider-Man leaves before Harry can react. At Norman's funeral, a brooding Harry tells Peter that Spider-Man will pay for the death of his father. In the film interpretation, Harry is more of an odd duck who lacks the popularity that he had in the comics. He is also more angry and bitter in his relationship with his father, though the two begin rebuilding their relationship before Norman's death.
Spider-Man 2
In Spider-Man 2, Harry takes over his late father's career but his business failures and unresolved resentment towards Peter, who he feels is siding with Spider-Man rather than him, cause him to slowly spiral into alcoholism. His vendetta against Spider-Man brings him into an alliance with Doctor Octopus. Harry agrees to supply Doc Ock with the tritium that Ock needs for his experiments if Ock will hunt down and deliver Spider-Man. After a long battle, Spider-Man is beaten by Doc Ock while civilian bystanders nobly try to defend him. Spider-Man is brought before Harry, who prepares to kill Spider-Man with a dagger. Before he does so, however, he removes Spider-Man's mask, and is shocked to see Peter's face. A dazed Peter regains consciousness, and he convinces Harry to let him go and rescue Mary Jane.
At the end of the movie a confused Harry hallucinates, seeing his father's image in a mirror, demanding that Harry avenge him. Harry shatters the mirror, only to find his father's hidden lair, with the Green Goblin equipment within. The scene starts with Harry going through a spooky and empty walkway. He runs into the Goblin mask and is terrified until he backs up into the shelves holding pumpkin bombs, realizing that his father was the Green Goblin. He turns and sees the serum that made his father the Green Goblin. He steps out of the shadows as he walks closer to the Goblin Glider with dramatic music playing and the camera zooming back. His last appearance in the movie is at Mary Jane's wedding ceremony, being the only guest wearing a green bow tie, during which she runs away for Peter.
Spider-Man 3
In the 2007 feature film, Spider-Man 3, Harry becomes a supervillain, and later, a superhero. Though remaining unnamed throughout the film, this new villain is credited as The New Goblin and is jokingly referred to by Peter Parker as "Little Goblin Junior." The New Goblin wears a dark costume with some green features. In contrast to the Green Goblin costume worn by his father, which was intended to, among other things, terrorize people in general, Harry wears a more streamlined suit that is not meant to terrorize anyone, and is constructed for the sole purpose of defeating and killing Spider-Man. The suit is armed with retractable arm blades. He also wields a short green sword, which seems to generate green electrical energy every time it hits something. He doesn't wear a demonic-looking mask like his father, but retractable facial gear consisting of a pair of reflective green goggles and a green mouthpiece, similar to a paint-ball mask.
The New Goblin rides a hi-tech snowboard-shaped glider called the Sky Stick, which also goes unnamed in the film. The glider houses the Goblin's pumpkin bombs, rockets, a flamethrower and razor-sharp pikes. Much like its Goblin predecessor, the Sky Stick can fly in all directions using two high-powered propellers and jets on its underside. It is also used as a striking weapon by him. The Sky Stick is integrated with the New Goblin's suit, and can home in on its rider whenever the two are separated.
After an intense battle with Spider-Man, Harry Osborn is knocked out and given amnesia to the point where he doesn't recall Peter being responsible for Osborn's death. As such, the two work on rekindle their old friendship. However, visions of Norman Osborn persist, forcing Harry to remember. Taking Norman's advice of attacking the heart, Harry attempts to destroy Peter and MJ's relationship by blackmailing MJ to dump Peter and claim that Harry is dating her. This leads to yet another brutal fight with Peter at his mansion, this time resulting in half of Harry's face being scarred from one of his own pumpkin bombs.
After Sandman and Venom kidnap Mary-Jane to force Spider-Man into action, Peter goes to Harry for help. Harry at first refuses, but once his butler informs him that he knew all along that Norman's death was a result of his own weaponry and not due to Spider-Man, he goes to help Spider-Man rescue Mary-Jane. In the ensuing conflict, Harry is impaled and fatally wounded by Venom. As he dies, Peter and Harry finally forgive each other, with Harry telling him that Peter's his best friend.
Video games
- Harry makes an appearance in the Spider-Man: The Movie video game in Peter's scrapbook. After the player beats the game on the Hero difficulty level the player is able to play through the game with an altered storyline while playing as Harry on the Goblin glider and suit. He investigates when he discovers an old memo of his father's after his death that states he hired the Skull Gang to commit crimes. Further through the game, it is revealed that an assassin hired by the Goblin who was given a Goblin Glider and arsenal is attempting to take over Oscorp, and is killed by Harry.
- He also makes an appearance in the Spider-Man 2 video game.
- He appears as the villain New Goblin in Spider-Man 3. The PlayStation 3 exclusive collector's edition of the game features him as a playable character, outside of a small section at the Finale mission at the end of the game
- He has been confirmed to be appearing as an unlockable ally in the upcoming game Spider-Man: Friend or Foe.