How many Green Goblins are there again?
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00:00 Despite the fact that he's Spider-Man's most iconic rival, Green Goblin is still shrouded
00:04 in mystery.
00:05 So let's unravel that mystery, as I'm Will for What Culture and here are 10 Things You
00:09 Didn't Know About The Green Goblin.
00:11 10.
00:12 He Wasn't Meant To Be Human
00:14 Spider-Man was horrified when he learned the Green Goblin was none other than Norman Osborn,
00:19 the father of Peter's best friend, Harry.
00:21 Up until this point, none of Spidey's supervillains had a personal connection with the wall-crawler,
00:26 so this was a monumental moment in comics.
00:29 But the character's creators never intended the Green Goblin to be Norman Osborn.
00:33 Originally, Stan Lee wanted the Goblin to be an ancient creature that was discovered
00:37 in an Egyptian sarcophagus.
00:39 Steve Ditko talked Lee out of this idea on the grounds that it was "pretty stupid"
00:44 and the character was all the better for it.
00:47 9.
00:48 The Reason Why He Killed Gwen Stacy
00:50 The Goblin's most infamous moment is when he tossed Gwen Stacy off a bridge, causing
00:54 her to plummet to her death.
00:55 This incident was so shocking, it overshadowed every other aspect of this story arc.
01:00 As a result, many readers completely forget why Gobby killed her in the first place.
01:04 At the time, Norman Osborn had been seemingly cured of his Goblin persona and had no recollection
01:09 of his tenure as a supervillain.
01:11 But when Harry Osborn's drug addiction became public knowledge, Oscorp's stock tanked,
01:15 causing Osborn to revert to his demented alter ego.
01:18 Blaming Peter Parker for failing to protect Harry, Norman murdered Gwen Stacy out of spite.
01:23 However, this was completely retconned in the six-part series, Sins of the Father.
01:27 In this storyline, it's revealed that Gwen and Norman slept together, causing her to
01:31 fall pregnant with twins.
01:33 Or so you'd think, because…
01:35 8.
01:36 He Never Slept With Gwen Stacy
01:38 Because Gwen Stacy was a well-liked character, it kind of ruined her a bit when it was revealed
01:42 she had bared Norman Osborn's children in the Sins of the Father storyline.
01:46 Readers hated this retcon so much, they wished it could be written out of existence.
01:51 But in the Sinister War story arc, that's exactly what happened.
01:54 When Osborn learned he was on the verge of bankruptcy years ago, Mephisto agreed to save
01:58 his company in exchange for Harry's soul.
02:00 Norman agreed, which caused his son to be corrupted by demonic power.
02:04 Mephisto also revealed Norman's deal had tainted his own soul, causing tragedy to follow
02:08 him everywhere he goes.
02:10 This means Mephisto is directly responsible for Norman's transformation into the Green
02:14 Goblin.
02:15 After Gwen died, Harry Osborn, now corrupted by Mephisto, devised clones from her DNA and
02:20 spliced it with his father's to create their children.
02:23 Harry then hired Mysterio to hypnotise Norman to convince him he slept with Gwen.
02:28 Even though the Sinister War plot was supposed to retcon the Sins of the Father storyline,
02:32 it ended up making everything more ridiculous.
02:35 Since Gwen did not bare Norman's children, this means he killed her for absolutely no
02:39 reason.
02:40 7.
02:41 He Has More Powers Than You Realise
02:43 Because Norman Osborn has been a burden to the superhero community for years, you may
02:47 wonder why no one's ever put him down for good.
02:49 But it's not that simple.
02:50 The formula that turned Norman into a masked psychopath endowed him with bulletproof skin
02:55 and a healing factor.
02:56 His strength has been enhanced so he can lift up to 9 tons.
02:59 Although that's only half the strength of Spider-Man, Osborn can still hurl a tank,
03:03 a small plane or an African bush elephant with ease.
03:06 This formula also amplified his intelligence, turning him into one of the smartest people
03:10 on Earth.
03:11 He proved his genius in 2009's Deadpool 12, when he discovered a cure for cancer.
03:15 Unfortunately he chose not to share this revelation with the world, because he's Norman Osborn.
03:20 6.
03:21 He Became An Actual Goblin
03:23 During the millennium, Marvel created a rebooted comic line called Ultimate Marvel.
03:27 Because some iconic characters were considered too old-fashioned or silly for a modern audience,
03:32 many heroes and villains were revived, including Green Goblin.
03:35 Instead of being a costumed supervillain who flies on a glider, this incarnation of Norman
03:39 Osborn transformed into an actual goblin when he injected himself with an experimental formula.
03:44 In this form, the Green Goblin has super strength, can leap 100 feet in the air and shoot fireballs
03:49 from his hands.
03:50 At first, he could only transform into the goblin when he consumed the formula.
03:54 But over time, his body began producing the chemical on a molecular level, allowing him
03:58 to change into his worse half at will.
04:00 The scariest thing about this goblin is his healing factor.
04:03 He's been impaled through the spine, shot in the face, burnt to a crisp and lived to
04:07 fight another day.
04:08 His healing abilities are so outstanding, he can recover from death.
04:12 As scary as the traditional Green Goblin is, the Ultimate version's apparent immortality
04:16 makes him a far more dangerous foe.
04:18 5.
04:19 Gwen Stacy isn't the only person he killed
04:21 Gwen Stacy may have been the first life Goblin took, but she was far from the last.
04:25 When he initially faked his death, Norman Osborn strangled a drifter and placed it in
04:29 the casket he was meant to be buried in.
04:31 He then joined an Illuminati-like cult called the Brotherhood of the Scryers and used its
04:35 resources to shape events across the world.
04:37 He then killed all the high-ranking Scryers and named himself its sole leader.
04:41 Although Spidey defeated him, Norman had an agent poison a heavily pregnant Mary Jane
04:46 Watson, causing her to suffer a miscarriage.
04:48 As horrific as those murders are, it's only a small sample of the evil Norman has committed.
04:53 Over the years, he's slaughtered employees, police officers, Atlanteans, Asgardians, Skrulls,
04:58 S.H.I.E.L.D.
04:59 agents, Ben Reilly, Swordsman, Dr. Octopus's old girlfriend and Flash Thompson.
05:04 4.
05:05 He saved the world
05:06 During the secret invasion events, the Skrulls used their shapeshifting abilities to infiltrate
05:10 Earth.
05:11 When the Avengers realised this, they battled the Skrull Queen, knowing the Skrulls would
05:15 surrender if she was killed.
05:16 By a complete fluke, Norman Osborn managed to get the kill shot, ending the Skrull invasion
05:21 and saving humanity.
05:22 Blaming S.H.I.E.L.D. for allowing the infiltration to happen, the President scrapped the counter-terrorist
05:27 agency and hired Norman to lead his own protective unit, Hammer.
05:31 Being a master manipulator, it was easy for Norman to turn the world against most heroes,
05:35 declaring them to be just as culpable as S.H.I.E.L.D. for not recognising the Skull threat sooner.
05:40 He then formed his own Avengers, with himself as the leader, the Iron Patriot.
05:44 While this was going on, Norman led a cabal called the Cabal, where he allowed supervillains
05:49 like Doctor Doom and Loki to do as they pleased if they supported him.
05:53 3.
05:54 Norman Osborn wasn't the only Green Goblin
05:56 In the aftermath of Gwen Stacy's death, Norman Osborn accidentally impaled himself
06:00 with his own glider, seemingly ending his life.
06:03 Although Norman was later revealed to be alive, he didn't return for 23 years.
06:07 But because of Goblin's popularity, the Marvel team cooked up other characters to
06:11 take the guise of Spider-Man's arch-nemesis.
06:13 Unsurprisingly, the second Goblin was Harry.
06:15 After being exposed to the Goblin Formula, Harry Osborn adopted his father's mantle
06:19 and became Spider-Man's enemy.
06:21 But after speaking to his counsellor, Bart Hamilton, Harry was seemingly cured of his
06:25 psychosis.
06:26 However, Bart used Harry's knowledge to locate Norman's weaponry and tech, turning
06:30 himself into the third Goblin.
06:32 While Daily Bugle reporter Ben Urick was covering a story in Oscorp with his son Phil, the facility
06:38 was besieged by terrorists.
06:40 In the conflict, Phil got doused with Goblin Formula, turning him into Goblin 4.
06:44 However, Phil tried to use the Goblin tech to protect humanity, earning him the moniker
06:48 of "Good Goblin".
06:49 However, despite his many imitators, there's no question Norman will always be the one
06:53 true Green Goblin.
06:55 2.
06:56 His Wife Faked Her Death
06:57 As callous as Norman Osborn comes across, he truly loved his wife, Emily.
07:02 Although they had a blissful marriage at first, Emily caught glimpses of Norman's dark side,
07:06 which encouraged her to leave him.
07:08 After she gave birth to Harry, she faked her death and lived abroad for decades.
07:12 However, Emily came out of hiding when she learned Norman was preparing to kidnap Harry's
07:16 own children, Normie and Stanley.
07:18 Stanley was actually the son of Harry's clone, but that's neither here nor there.
07:22 Disguising herself as a nanny, called Emma, Emily kidnapped her grandchildren to ensure
07:26 Norman couldn't find them.
07:28 Norman managed to track his grandsons down and manipulated Normie into thinking Spider-Man
07:32 was the enemy.
07:33 Believing Norman was a hero, Normie allowed his grandfather to bomb them both to the carnage
07:37 symbiotes, transforming them into the Red Goblin and the Goblin Child.
07:41 Normie eventually realised his grandfather was manipulating him and thus abandoned his
07:46 cause.
07:47 After Norman was defeated, Harry confronted Emily and told her she was justified to abandon
07:51 him in order to get away from his tyrannical father.
07:54 1.
07:55 He Wielded The Infinity Gauntlet
07:57 What if Infinity Dark Reign explored an alternate reality where the Green Goblin came into possession
08:02 of the Infinity Gauntlet?
08:04 Using the glove's godly power, he killed the Avengers, destroyed Asgard, reduced Thanos
08:09 to bones and reformed the world in his image.
08:12 Norman also trapped Spider-Man in an eternal time loop, so his mortal enemy would relive
08:17 the moment he failed to save Gwen Stacy over and over.
08:20 After he accomplished all his desires, Norman used the Infinity Stones to transport his
08:25 abusive father, Amberson, before him.
08:27 Because Amberson believed his son would never amount to anything, Norman used this opportunity
08:31 to brag how he achieved more than his father could ever imagine.
08:34 Unsurprisingly, Amberson was horrified at what his child had become, telling Norman
08:38 he was a monster.
08:39 With a snap of his fingers, Norman transformed Amberson into a doting parent.
08:43 Sadly though, it wasn't enough.
08:46 Acknowledging there was nothing he could do to make his father genuinely be proud of him,
08:50 Norman erased Amberson from the time-space continuum.
08:53 However, since Amberson never existed, neither did Norman, causing him to vanish out of existence.
08:58 And there you have it folks, 10 things you didn't know about the Green Goblin.
09:01 Feel free to drop this video a like if you enjoyed it, and drop me a follow on Twitter
09:05 at @UseSlideDialU.
09:06 I'm Will Fort Culture, thanks for hanging out, and I'll see you next time.