'Marvel's Spider-Man 2' Explained: Who is Norman Osborn?

One character whose shady legacy hangs over Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 and its preceding games is wealthy industrialist and politician Norman Osborn. The co-founder and CEO of Oscorp, Norman is the father of Peter Parker’s childhood best friend Harry Osborn and the former Mayor of Marvel’s New York. Norman’s underhanded business dealings and immoral use of science inadvertently lead to the creation of several super-powered villains across the games, while his mayoral policies drove the city into chaos.

Here’s everything you need to know about Norman Osborn, his prominent role in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 and other games in the series, and how it compares to his extensive Marvel Comics history as one of Spider-Man’s greatest foes.

Norman Osborn’s Impact Before Marvel’s Spider-Man 2

Decades ago in Marvel’s Spider-Man, Norman and Otto Octavius founded Oscorp, with Otto eventually quitting over Norman’s unethical experiments and illicit business practices. Norman created an artificial virus known as Devil’s Breath in a desperate attempt to cure his wife Emily and son Harry of the terminal Oshtoran Syndrome that they were both suffering from. Creating a deadly bioweapon in the process, one of Norman’s test subjects was Martin Li, who accidentally killed his parents after unleashing his newly developed powers and swore revenge on Norman.

After Emily’s death, Norman was elected Mayor and placed Harry in a medically induced stasis until a cure for his condition could be found, bonding him with a strange substance known as a symbiote to stabilize him. Martin resurfaced as the villain Mister Negative, leading his own gang, while Otto fitted himself with powerful prosthetics and gained the nickname Doctor Octopus. Both men held deep grudges against Norman and joined forces with other villains, unleashing a sample of Devil’s Breath on Manhattan to tarnish Norman’s legacy with plenty of collateral damage.

Norman hired Silver Sable and her army of mercenaries to restore order in New York City, imposing martial law on the city as Spider-Man hunted down the villains and searched for a cure to Devil’s Breath. After Spider-Man saved the day, Norman’s role in the creation of Devil’s Breath was exposed and he resigned from his mayoral office in complete disgrace, returning his focus to curing Harry. Norman only appears briefly in Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, forcing Harry’s physician Curt Connors to bring Harry out of stasis, despite the serious medical risks to his son.

Norman Osborn’s Role in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 revealed more about Norman and Harry’s backstory, including the day that Norman informed his son that Emily had succumbed to Oshtoran Syndrome while Harry and Peter were in high school. Norman is overjoyed that Harry appeared to be fully cured after the symbiote appeared to fully bond with him. After Harry and Peter reconnected, Norman agreed to finance the Emily-May Foundation, which researched different scientific methods to improve the world, going as far as to recruit Connors to work for the foundation.

After learning the symbiote left Harry and bonded with Spider-Man, Norman began work on the mysterious G-Serum to stabilize his son’s condition in the face of the resurgent Oshtoran Syndrome. After the symbiote re-bonded to Harry, transforming him into Venom, the foundation was destroyed and the Spider-Men were forced to destroy the symbiote, leaving Harry comatose. Norman personally blamed the heroes for what happened to his son and swore revenge, continuing development on the G-Serum and interrogating Otto for Spider-Man’s identity.

Norman Osborn’s History in the Comics

Norman Osborn was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko in THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (1963) #14, first appearing under the costumed guise of the Green Goblin, with his identity initially unknown and flying around on a broomstick. Norman was formally introduced under his civilian identity as Harry Osborn’s father and the CEO of Oscorp in THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (1963) #37. A scientific genius, Norman’s experiments gave him superhuman abilities and advanced weapons at the cost of his sanity, leading him to create his villainous alter ego.

The Green Goblin eventually learned Peter’s secret identity as Spider-Man and attacked every aspect of his personal life, culminating in murdering his girlfriend Gwen Stacy in THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (1963) #121. In the following issue, a vengeful Spider-Man defeated Green Goblin, with Norman apparently killing himself by accidentally impaling himself on his bladed Goblin Glider. Norman was presumed dead for years until he resurfaced in SPIDER-MAN (1990) #75, revealing he had faked his death and orchestrated much of Spider-Man’s subsequent misery from the shadows.

Norman made his public return shortly thereafter, regaining control of Oscorp while secretly terrorizing the Marvel Universe as the Green Goblin once again. Investigative journalist Ben Urich exposed Norman as the Green Goblin, resulting in his incarceration, before Norman manipulated his way into an early release. Recently, Norman has taken a heroic turn, with his soul cleansed by Sin-Eater in THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (2018) #50, turning his resources towards creating the Gold Goblin, New York’s latest protector.

Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is available now only on PlayStation 5. Order the title on PlayStation Store, PlayStation Direct or your friendly neighborhood retailer!

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