Green Goblin in other media


The Green Goblin is a fictional Marvel Comics supervillain that has appeared in a range of media, usually in association with his archenemy, the superhero Spider-Man. Multiple characters have assumed the Green Goblin alias in comics. The first and most well-known iteration is Norman Osborn, who was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko and debuted in The Amazing Spider-Man #14, though the Goblin's identity as Osborn was not revealed until #37. The second character to adopt the Goblin alias was Norman's son Harry Osborn, in The Amazing Spider-Man #136.
The character has been substantially adapted from the comics into various forms of media, such as feature films, television series and video games. In most versions, Norman is the Green Goblin, though some also depicted Harry becoming the Goblin. Norman was portrayed by Willem Dafoe in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man film trilogy and Chris Cooper in the 2014 film The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Among others, Neil Ross, Alan Rachins, Steve Blum, Steven Weber and Josh Keaton provided the character's voice throughout various animated Spider-Man series over the years. Harry, meanwhile, was played by James Franco in the Spider-Man trilogy and by Dane DeHaan in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, while Gary Imhoff, Ian Ziering, James Arnold Taylor, Matt Lanter, and Max Mittleman all voiced the character in various Spider-Man television series.

Television

''Spider-Man'' (1967–1970 TV series)

The Norman Osborn version of the Green Goblin appeared in the 1960s Spider-Man animated series, voiced by Len Carlson. The character is depicted as a dimwitted, spoiled robber who is obsessed with magic and the supernatural - fields of expertise that the original iteration is never interested in, preferring to use technology to commit crimes.

''Spider-Man'' (1981–1982 TV series)

The Norman Osborn version of the Green Goblin appeared in the 1981 solo Spider-Man animated series, voiced by English actor Neil Ross. This depiction was much closer to the comic book original than the preceding animated incarnation. He appears in the episode "Revenge of the Green Goblin". In the episode's continuity, Spider-Man first faced and defeated the Goblin three years earlier, during which the opponents were unmasked to each other. Having regained his memory during a train accident at the start of the episode, Osborn resumes his Goblin persona and equipment, and threatens to reveal Spider-Man's true identity to the world.
Harry Osborn is mentioned in the episode "The Vulture Has Landed".

''Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends'' (1981–1983)

The Norman Osborn version of the Green Goblin appeared in Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, voiced by Dennis Marks. This incarnation is similar to the Lizard, with the Goblin being a different personality of Osborn that occasionally takes over to commit crimes. He also has a niece, Mona Osborn, who was unware of his uncle's double identity. In the series premiere, "Triumph of the Green Goblin", Osborn becomes the Goblin again after a plane crash, and kidnaps Mona to lead him to the location of his a formula that will allow him to transform New York's population into goblins. Osborn is eventually cured by lightning and sent back to a medical institute.

''Spider-Man'' (1994–1998 TV series)

Both versions of the Green Goblin appeared in the 1990s Spider-Man: The Animated Series. Neil Ross reprises the role from the1981 series as Norman Osborn, while Gary Imhoff voices Harry Osborn. In this version, Norman is the owner of OsCorp Industries, depicted as a weapons manufacturing company under the influence of the Kingpin, whom he later tries to have killed by the Hobgoblin. Norman eventually becomes the Green Goblin in the third season, after a lab accident at Oscorp causes him to develop an alternate, more violent and chaotic personality. The Goblin targets Norman's rivals, but is defeated by Spider-Man, although his identity remains a secret and Norman is shown to have no memories of the event. Later, the Goblin resurfaces inside Norman, and seeks to eliminate Spider-Man, the Kingpin, and the Hobgoblin. He obtains a time dilation accelerator and, after learning Spider-Man's secret identity, kidnaps Mary Jane Watson, whom she throws into a dimensional portal opened by the accelerator. Spider-Man then defeats him, and the Goblin ends up falling into the same portal and becoming in the Limbo.
Despite this, the Goblin later manages to contact a mentally unstable Harry and convince him to become the new Green Goblin while seeking revenge against Spider-Man. The Goblin is ultimately defeated by Spider-Man and the Punisher and sent to Ravencroft, but later escapes and crashes Peter Parker and Mary Jane's wedding. After Liz Allan reveals her feelings for him and convinces him that his friends care about his as well, Harry surrenders and returns to Ravencroft to continue his treatment.
An alternate version of the Green Goblin appears in the first part of the series finale, "I Really, Really Hate Clones". In an alternate reality where Spider-Carnage destroyed New York, the Goblin is shown to be one of his enforcers, and is defeated by a number of Spider-Men from diffrent realities.

''Spider-Man Unlimited'' (1999–2001)

A Counter-Earth version of the Green Goblin appeared in the Spider-Man Unlimited animated series, voiced by Rino Romano. This version's alter-ego is Hector Jones, and is portrayed as a hero who is helping the rebellion against the High Revolutionary. He also uses a backpack that sprouts wings instead of a glider.
The Goblin first appears in "Where Evil Nests", when mistaking Spider-Man for a villain, and soon teams up with him to save Naoko Yamada-Jones and Shayne Yamada-Jones from one of Venom's and Carnage's plans; it is also implied that the Goblin himself is Naoko's jealous ex-husband. In "Sustenance", the Goblin learns Spider-Man's secret identity and that he is from Earth, having come here to rescue John Jameson, but since Jameson refuses to leave until the High Revolutionary is defeated, the Goblin offers to help Spider-Man regain his ship from the High Evolutionary. The pair team up with the Rejects, a group of Beastials that the High Evolutionary got rid of since they proved useless, to do so, only for Spider-Man to then crash the ship into one of the High Evolutionary's towers. In the series finale, "Destiny Unleashed", the Goblin is revealed to have survived and joined the Rejects, and briefly leaves them to help Spider-Man and the rebels fight against the High Evolutionary. He is one of the characters who run off when thousands of symbiotes are unleashed upon Counter-Earth according to Venom's and Carnage's plans.

''Spider-Man: The New Animated Series'' (2003)

Harry Osborn appeared in , voiced by Ian Ziering. This version, pictured as a blonde, constantly blames Spider-Man for his father's death but shows signs of beginning to put the grudge aside in later episodes. Norman Osborn is alluded multiple times, making small cameos as both a hallucination and in a photograph.

''The Spectacular Spider-Man'' (2008–2009)

The Norman Osborn version of the Green Goblin appeared in The Spectacular Spider-Man animated series, voiced by Alan Rachins and Steven Blum. There are also hints at Harry Osborn's transformation into the Goblin.
Norman Osborn is portrayed as the cold and calculated head of Oscorp, who is known to never apologise and has a strained relationship with his son. He is later hired by crime lord Tombstone to create several supervillains to distract Spider-Man from Tombstone's men committing crimes. Norman's experiments result in the creation of the Sandman and Rhino. Later, Norman becomes the Green Goblin and poses as a mysterious criminal equipped with stolen technology from Oscorp, attempting to overthrow Tombstone as New York's reigning crime boss. The Goblin causes Dr. Otto Octavius to become the villain Doctor Octopus after a lab accident he provoked, and has two battles with Spider-Man, getting defeated in the second. Spider-Man follows the Goblin to Oscorp and is suspicious that it is Norman behind the mask, only to find Harry in the Goblin costume. Spider-Man and Norman then conclude that Harry's theft and consumption of “Gobulin Green” resulted in the Goblin persona to fight Tombstone. After Spider-Man agrees to keep Harry's secret on the condition that the villain never reappears, Norman embarks on a tour to Europe with Harry so his son can overcome the addiction. In the second season, Norman returns with Harry to New York, and hires Miles Warren to be one of the scientists to work at ESU alongside Curt Connors. He also begins to mentor Peter Parker. After Tombstone, Silvermane, and Doctor Octopus are all arrested by Spider-Man, the Goblin resurfaces and becomes the new "Big Man of Crime" in New York. He again tries to kill Spider-Man, first by using Molten Man, and then by trapping Spider-Man in an advanced prison alongside many criminals put away by the web-slinger, but both attempts fail. In the series finale, the Goblin has a final showdown with Spider-Man, and is unmasked as Norman, who reveals that he framed Harry to protect his identity, and tries to justify his actions by claiming he was only protecting Harry. A grueling battle with Spider-Man then sends him crashing into a stash of his own pumpkin bombs, where he seemingly dies, prompting Harry to swear revenge on Spider-Man for killing his father. However, Norman is shown to have survived and leaves New York under a fake identity.
Harry, meanwhile, is depicted as Peter Parker's and Gwen Stacy's best friend, who has a strained relationship with his father and longs to impress him. Later, the stress and constant disappointment in Harry's life prompt him to steal an experimental Oscorp formula code-named "Gobulin Green", which increases his self-esteem and aggressivity. He is later believed to be the Green Goblin after Norman frames him to cover up for his actions, and goes on a tour to Europe with his father to overcome his addiction to Gobulin Green. In the second season, Harry begins dating Gwen, and later helps Spider-Man unmask the Goblin after he resurfaces, learning that he was his father all along. After Norman is seemingly killed in a battle with Spider-Man, Harry vows revenge on the web-slinger.

''Ultimate Spider-Man'' (2012–2017)

Several depictions of Green Goblin appear in the Ultimate Spider-Man animated series:
Norman Osborn and Harry Osborn appear in the 2017 Spider-Man animated series, though they both adopt the Hobgoblin alias instead of the Green Goblin.
Norman serves as the main antagonist of the show's first season. He is Oscorp's founder and CEO, as well as Harry's strict father, who has high expectations from him. Norman also establishes the Osborn Academy for Geniuses as a way of saving Harry from embarrassment after being suspended from Horizon High, though it is later revealed that he caused Harry's suspension to persuade him to join the Osborn Academy. Throughout the first season, Norman recruits Spider-Man's current and future rogues, such as Doctor Octopus, Vulture, Alistair Smythe, and Aleksei Sytsevich, while plotting against the Spider-Men, Max Modell and Raymond Warren. Exposure to the Jackal's spider virus subsequently mutates him into the Spider King, but he is cured along with everyone else mutated by the Jackal. Norman later entrusts the Hobgoblin equipment to Harry in order to destroy Spider-Man, so that he would be New York's sole protector. When his son refuses, Norman dons his own Hobgoblin equipment in an attempt to kill Spider-Man himself. After a final confronation with Spider-Man and Harry in his lab results in it getting caught on fire, Norman seemingly perishes in a green chemical explosion.
Harry Osborn is Peter Parker's best friend, a student at Horizon High and later Osborn Academy, a friend to both Gwen Stacy and Anya Corazon, and the creator of the Hobgoblin technology, which he uses to fight crime as a superhero. This version of Harry is an amalgamation of his Ultimate Marvel incarnation and Phil Urich. Throughout season one, he views Spider-Man as a menace during their various encounters. He proves instrumental in curing the Jackal's Spider virus, and in the process discovers that Peter is Spider-Man, which fractures their friendship. He later becomes convinced that Spider-Man is a menace when he works with the Sinister Six, but upon learning that he is mind-controlled by Doctor Octopus, he rescues him and the two mend their friendship, becoming a crime-fighting duo. He later learns that his father has also become the Hobgoblin to kill Spider-Man, but chooses to side with his friend, and witnesses his father's death during the desctruction of his lab. Following this, Harry remains best friend with Peter, and becomes the new Oscorp CEO. In the second season, Harry dons a more streamlined Hobgoblin attire to aid the Spider Team against the Goblin Nation.
Introduced in the second season, the Goblin Nation is a cult-like organization, armed with the same technology as the Hobgoblin. They are led by the Goblin King in his personal quest for power, and divided into multiple clans. They are defeated by the Spider Team and their allies by the end of the season.

Other appearances

The Norman Osborn version of Green Goblin makes several non-speaking appearances in the anime . He also appears in Marvel Future Avengers, voiced by Hiroshi Yanaka in Japanese and Dave Wittenberg in English.

Film

Sam Raimi series

Both incarnations of the Green Goblin appear In Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy, with Willem Dafoe portraying Norman Osborn, and James Franco playing Harry Osborn:

''Spider-Man'' games