Norman Victor Osblonde/The Duck Goblin ( • ) (2024)

NOTE: This article is about The Duck Goblin from the Walt Disney film series. For mainstream The Duck Goblin, check out: Green Goblin (Marvel). For his novelization's counterpart by Peter David, see: The Duck Goblin (1992 Novelization).

Norman Victor Osborn, also known as The Duck Goblin, is the main antagonist of Walt Disney's Spider-Mouse film franchise.

He appears as the main antagonist of the 1992 blockbuster superhero film Spider-Mouse, the first installment of Walt Disney's Spider-Mouse film franchise, the posthumous overarching antagonist of its 1994 sequel Spider-Mouse 2, one of the two posthumous overarching antagonists (alongside Dennis Carradine) of its 1997 sequel Spider-Mouse 3, a mentioned character in its 2001 sequel Spider-Mouse 4.

He is the sad*stic split personality of Norman Osborn, the founder and CEO of Oscorp Industries and the father of Harry Osborn, who befriended Peter Baker. After being exposed to the Goblin Serum during the year 2002, Norman was driven into insanity, causing his mind to create a psychotic alternative persona called the Duck Goblin, who took control of Norman's mind and compelled him to kill anybody and destroy everything. While Norman would become aware of his alter ego, the latter still managed to manipulate and brainwash him into doing his bidding, as he had more control of Norman’s mind than Norman himself. Green Goblin uses a glider he stole to fly around and help commit his crimes.

However, after learning that Spider-Man is Peter Parker, Green Goblin becomes obsessed with destroying Peter and everything he cares about, and as such, compels Norman to help him destroy Spider-Man, thereby becoming his arch-nemesis. He is ultimately killed while fighting Spider-Man, as he is impaled by his glider, he attempted to use to kill Spider-Man. Despite his death, he would continue to haunt Spider-Man for years.

Portrayals[]

He was played by Flintheart Glomgold and voiced by the late Alan Young, who also played Scrooge McDuck in The Walt Disney Franchise.

Appearance[]

Norman wore the Green Goblin armor, which has a shiny metallic green and purple shaded suit that's pressed and manufactured where it fits the mask and glider and the person wearing it. The mask is a grinning goblin mask with yellow eyes and an opening for his mouth. On his left leg is a button that slides the eyes of the mask up for Goblin to see. On his right arm is also a button for the glider to come. He has a metal green layer on his arms and chest without weighing him with heavier armor. On his wrists are buttons as well for the sleeping gas he used against Spider-Man. As for his abdomen, back and legs which instead of mostly green armor it is smooth out where the wearer can move easily and not be restricted.

After being transported into Earth-199999, Green Goblin initially retains his typical appearance, but Norman smashed his helmet into pieces in an attempt to escape the Goblin persona. He then dons a purple hoodie and a green jacket and pants while still wearing the Goblin suit underneath. When the Green Goblin retakes control of Norman's mind and battles Spider-Man throughout his apartment building, most of his clothing is tattered leaving him with his armor and purple hood. During the final battle at the Statue of Liberty, the Green Goblin wears a satchel, large goggles as a substitute for his helmet, gauntlets, and rides a slightly redesigned glider.

Biography[]

Early life[]

Norman Osborn was born in 8th October, 1946 in Massachusetts to Ambrose Osborn and an unnamed mother. As a child, Norman did well in school. His teachers noted how his brilliance outshone that of the other kids and he managed to skip a few grades. His personal life, however, was less rewarding. His father, who was a failed businessman and inventor, would regularly abuse his wife and son. This likely caused Norman to further turn his attention to where he was valued: school. As he matured, he eventually attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and graduated in 1963 at the age of 17. He set a new record for MIT as their youngest graduate. His academic accomplishments made him think he was destined for greatness, and he set to work founding a firm known as Oscorp Technologies. At first it seemed all was well, and Norman moved to New York City and purchased a palatial residence with his early profits. He also married a woman named Emily .

However, there were signs that Norman was doomed to be the same failure his father was. In 1976, the company suffered a downturn, and Norman had to mortgage his residence and make use of every line of credit he could to keep the company afloat. By the 1980s, the scientists who worked at Oscorp privately questioned Norman's ability to run his own company, and several were concerned their own careers were endangered as the future of the company remained in doubt. In 1983, Norman had spent two entire workdays on the phone trying to dissuade board members from staging a boardroom coup.

Sometime later, Norman met a fellow scientist in Otto Octavius and befriended him. Also, Norman helps fund Otto's work through Oscorp. In June of 1984, Harry was born but his wife died later on. Norman was displeased that his son was known to flunk every fancy Private School he was sent to until he went to Midtown High School in New York.

Spider-Man[]

Trying the Goblin Serum[]

One day, during the year 2002, Norman drops Harry off to a field trip for school where he met his best friend Peter Parker and was quickly impressed with his intelligence. Later, Norman arrived at Oscorp as he had been attempting to recreate a Super Soldier Serum; however, Oscorp began to struggle, with Osborn's promised performance-enhancing serum for a military contract having been hit with setbacks, not the least of which being that rodents that it had been tested on have displayed violence, aggression, and insanity. General Slocum of the United States Army visits Oscorp to see the results of their new super soldier formula. When one of Norman's top scientists, Dr. Stromm warns him that the formula was unstable, General Slocum threatens to pull all of the military's funding from Oscorp.

Later that night, Norman exposes himself to the formula as its first human trial, gains superhuman strength and agility but is driven partially insane and kills Stromm then steals two other Oscorp inventions, an exoskeleton suit, and a jet glider. The following morning, Norman was found unconscious on the floor in his mansion by Harry as he woke him up and helped him to a couch nearby. When Harry asked as to why he was on the floor, Norman told his son that he didn't know. Norman also told Harry that he doesn't remember what happen that night. However, after learning that Dr. Stromm was dead, he was shocked and was stunned to hear that two of his company equipments were stolen, unaware that he killed his own colleague and stole those things himself.

Sometime later, Norman was reading a newspaper in his home as he found out that he could be going out of business then heard an evil laughter echoing the room, much to his confusion. Another night, Slocum visits Quest Aerospace, Oscorp's chief competitor, to view their progress towards the contract. While viewing a demonstration of a new battlesuit, Norman appeared as a menacing figure, as he was wearing the stolen Oscorp exoskeleton and riding the jet glider. Norman then attacked the weapon test at Quest Aerospace as their prototype was destroyed and General Slocum was killed.

Helping Harry and Peter[]

Norman attended Harry's high school graduation as he expressed pride and admits that it wasn't the first time he was proven wrong. Also, Norman was pleased to see Peter won the science award as he offered some advice and comfort of his Uncle Ben's recent passing. Norman even got a place for Harry and Peter to live together in for collage.

Norman would sometimes visit Harry and Peter at their place for a weekly inspection to ensure they were doing okay. During one of the visits, Norman spent half of it on the phone, much to Harry's annoyances.

Getting fired[]

Norman basks in his company's eventual success: Quest has to reorganize after the debacle that killed Slocum, Oscorp has been given more government contracts and the company's stock is soaring. However, Norman was crestfallen to learn that the board of directors has chosen this moment to accept a buyout offer from Quest and he would lose his job.

Hearing this, Norman had an outburst at his own board of directors, as they told them that he was out. Through those events, Norman's insane aggression manifests itself in a split personality, the driven yet confused Norman, and the murderous, scheming villain who will soon become known as "The Green Goblin".

Festival fight[]

As The Green Goblin, he goes to attack Oscorp's annual Unity Day street fair as he throws a pumpkin bomb to explode a hotel, making the balcony fall off. He then throws another pumpkin bomb that kills the Board of Directors to prevent the sell out. Then, Spider-Man fights off The Green Goblin and saves the day. Despite losing the fight, he warns Spider-Man that they'll meet again.

That next day, the Green Goblin decides to show himself to Norman as he became aware of his presences within his mind. He accuses the confused Norman of always knowing who he is. Norman looks at his mirror where he meets the Green Goblin, as he finds out that he is his alter ego, due to the accident in the laboratory. Norman becomes shocked and horrified that he killed Oscorp board members while under the influence of the Green Goblin, and comes to the realization of the other crimes he had done. Norman's evil side then manipulates him into believing that he and Spider-Man should work together as partners. As Green Goblin, He attacks The Daily Bugle offices, threatening J. Jonah Jameson to tell him who took Spider-Man's photos, but Jameson refused to tell him in order to protect Peter.

Spider-Man arrives and the Green Goblin uses sleep gas to render him unconscious, causing the human web-slinger to fall but the Green Goblin catches him and takes him to a nearby New York building. The Green Goblin offers Spider-Man a chance of partnership then leaves, giving the latter a few days to think over his offer of partnership. He did warn Spider-Man the city will eventually turn against him, and that they should rule it together. The Green Goblin stood corrected as The Daily Bugle did say Spider-Man was a criminal and wanted him arrested.

Finding out Peter Parker is Spider-Man[]

A few days later, on Thanksgiving, the Green Goblin stages a fire in an apartment building to get an answer from Spider-Man. Spider-Man refuses to join forces with the Green Goblin, and the two fight. They are evenly matched, although Green Goblin uses his razor bats and gains a slight advantage. Spider-Man received a bad cut on his arm from one of razor bats.

Despite the injury, Spider-Man gets the upper hand in hand-to-hand combat before escaping, due to Green Goblin being too strong, leaving Green Goblin in disappointment from Spider-Man's choice. As Norman and Peter respectively, the Green Goblin and Spider-Man are due at Peter and Harry's loft for Thanksgiving dinner.

They each race back separately. When Peter arrives to dinner with fresh blood from the cut on his sleeve, Norman then realizes that Peter is Spider-Man and hastily leaves. On his way out, he insults Harry's girlfriend Mary Jane and she leaves angrily too, hurt that Harry didn't defend her after what Norman had said. Before his plan to finish Spider-Man, Norman contemplates with Green Goblin, saying he can't go through with it as he doesn't want to hurt Peter, but the Green Goblin says that Spider-Man has to be stopped. The Goblin has a plan to attack Spider-Man's loved ones as a way to easily distract him and defeat him.

The bridge fight[]

That night, the Green Goblin attacks Aunt May at her home, sending her to the hospital. After learning from Harry, who broke up with Mary Jane, that Peter loves her more than anything, the Green Goblin then decided to strike at Spider-Man through her. He kidnaps Mary Jane from her home, then sabotages a trolley car along the Roosevelt Bridge. Spider-Man arrived and the Green Goblin gives him the choice of saving either Mary Jane or the trolley car, then drops them both from the bridge. However, Spider-Man managed to save both, with assistance from a passing barge and pedestrians on the bridge who pelt the Green Goblin with debris and delay him from his attempt to kill Spider-Man.

Furious that citizens take Spider-Man side and he saves them yet again, the Green Goblin grabs Spider-Man using a cable cord and throws him into an abandoned Smallpox hospital so no one will interfere. After Spider-Man crashes through the building, the Green Goblin throws a pumpkin bomb into the building, severely injuring and weakening him. After hopping off his glider as it extinguishes the flames, Green Goblin reels his yellow shades back and looks at his struggling adversary trying to recover with his identity revealed from the ripped mask. The Green Goblin expresses pity and contempt for Spider-Man for betraying his proposal; he begins the battle by intercepting Peter's block and punches him in the chest where his spider symbol is. Throughout the fight Goblin brutally beats Peter, capitalizing on Peter's injuries, nullified spider-sense, and exhaustion.

The Green Goblin nearly wins when he taunts how he will finish off Mary Jane with a painful and slow death. The Green Goblin draws a shiny green trident and tries to kill Spider-Man, but what Green Goblin said about M.J enraged Spider-Man and causes him to regain his strength, stamina, senses. When Goblin tries to stab Spider-Man with his trident, Spider-Man grabs it and in a fit of rage, throws him on to a brick wall. Goblin gets up, but Spiderman uses his webs to pull him to the ground and then bring down the brick wall on him. Goblin gets up, but is dazed. Spider-Man uses his web to swing, grab Goblin and throw him against a wall. Spiderman then starts punching him, but stops after Norman pleads him to stop and takes off his Green Goblin helmet to reveal himself. Peter is shocked to learn that the evil Green Goblin is Norman.

Death[]

Norman reasons with Peter that it was the serum and the evil side of him that made him turn to crime. However, he is still being possessed by the Green Goblin, who is controlling his jet glider and aiming to to stab Spider-Man with it. Norman says he is like a father to Peter and asks him to hug him but Peter claims his father is the recently deceased Ben Parker. Angry, Goblin attempts to stab Peter with his glider, but he leaps out of the way in the last second, since his spider-senses has been regained, just before it collides with Osborn, who is unable to stop the glider.

Norman is fatally stabbed by the glider. Just as he is about to succumb to his wounds, Norman begs Peter not to tell Harry of his misdeeds and then dies. Peter is left depressed due to the heavy burden given to him.

Spider-Man takes Norman's body back to his penthouse apartment. He returns the Goblin gear back to Norman's secret lair. He places his body on a sofa, but Harry sees them and thus blames Spider-Man for Norman's death. At his father's funeral, he vows revenge and thanks Peter for being such a great friend.

Spider-Man 2 / Spider-Man 3[]

Postmortem and legacy[]

Two years after the Green Goblin's reign of terror over New York ended, Norman's death still haunts both Peter and Harry, as Harry starts to feel that Peter is being selfish by not telling him who is Spider-Man despite that Peter often takes photographs of him for The Daily Bugle. After the Norman's death, Harry has taken over his position as Head of the Research Department at Oscorp and funds the project of Dr. Otto Octavius. However, after Otto's experiment goes horribly wrong and becomes Doctor Octopus, Harry leaves a bad business impression among his father's colleagues and has a fight with Peter, estranging their friendship.

Later on, Doctor Octopus demands Harry to find more tritium to make his experiment again, so Harry makes a bargain with Octopus by asking him to kill Spider-Man to avenge his father, only to change his mind shortly afterward and request Octopus to deliver Spider-Man to him so he can kill him personally. Doctor Octopus does so and Harry gives him the tritium before preparing to kill Spider-Man with a dagger, but first chooses to see his face and reacts in horror when he realizes that Peter Parker is behind the mask. Horrified that Peter killed his dad, but knowing that Mary Jane's safety is more important, Harry lets Peter go by telling him where Doctor Octopus was hiding.

Subsequently, Norman appears in a hallucination in a mirror to Harry, demanding him to seek vengeance against Peter in a similar fashion to how King Hamlet haunted his son to avenge him in Shakespeare's play. Harry refuses leading to Norman calling him weak. Enraged, Harry broke the mirror, revealing the secret Goblin lair, and therefore his father's true identity.

Months later in 1995, Norman's hallucination returns to encourage his son to again destroy Spider-Man. This time Harry acts on his father's words and dons the Oscorp gear and glider as "The New Goblin" and attacks Peter, but is knocked out and suffers from immediate memory loss, forgetting his promise to Norman for revenge.

In time, Harry has flashbacks and remembers Peter's alter-ego. He again sees his father in the mirror, telling him this time to attack Peter's heart. He threatens Mary Jane and blackmails her into breaking up with Peter, then lies that he was the one she dumped him for.

Later, Peter shows up at the penthouse to confront Harry (secretly donning the symbiote version of his Spiderman suit that has corrupted his mind). Peter attacks Harry after he boasts about kissing Mary Jane. Harry finds that he is no match this time for the enhanced Peter and is defeated. While sitting beaten up against the wall in his Goblin Lair, he asks if Peter is going to kill him as he did with his father. Peter laments he's done trying to convince Harry of his innocence and boasted of how Norman never truly loved Harry. When he tries to throw a Pumpkin Bomb at Peter as he's walking away but Peter dodges and deflect it back at Harry. The pumpkin bomb goes off against the wall next to Harry's face but doesn't kill him, instead disfiguring half of his face. Later the Oscorp Penthouse butler Bernard tells Harry that Spider-Man was not to blame for his father's death and that the wounds were from his own glider.

He subsequently drops his father's vendetta, then aids Peter (who has since returned to his old self after getting rid of the symbiote) against The Sandman and Venom at the cost of his own life. Before he dies, he forgave Peter for Norman's death.

Over the years, Parker has thought about the possibility that he could have made an Anti-Goblin Serum for Osborn.

Personality[]

Norman Osborn was a wealthy individual who possessed a keen intellect and familiarity with bio enhancement and business. His familiarity with science also allowed him to bond with Peter Parker instantly upon first meeting him, who acknowledges him for his talent and work, much to Norman's delight and appreciation. At the same time, however, he was a workaholic who was fixated on his projects, and due to this, this created a strained relationship between him and Harry. Despite this, he genuinely loves Harry and wants the best for him.

However, as he progresses with his super soldier serum project, Norman notably becomes increasingly frustrated and agitated, due to not being able to produce successful results and meeting the deadlines that his project is due. As such, this frustration of his makes him more paranoid on achieving his goal, to the point that he was willing to use the serum on himself, without running through proper procedures. Unfortunately, this led to his descent into insanity, developing his alternative personality, the Green Goblin: a sinister, malicious villain with a clear sad*stic and cunning streak to boot.

As the Duck Goblin, he is consistently cheerful, playful and merry in tone, in stark contrast to the viciousness and violence of his actions. He takes everything in stride, having no value for human life, and finds amusem*nt in wanting destruction. While he comes off as silly at first, the Green Goblin is constantly scheming, orchestrating incredibly elaborate plans. He also has a nihilistic sense of humor and what is entertaining to him is disturbing and horrific to others. He shows strong hatred towards the very concept of morality, believing it weakens people and makes them suffer, and even goes as far as calling it an illness.

Furthermore, he can assess an opponent and accurately deduce their mindset and desires - exploiting their impulses for his own gains. His greatest strength lies in his ability to understand his opponents' capacity for empathy and love, and twist it in order to bend their will to suit his own needs. The Green Goblin is sharply perceptive of other people's mindsets, which makes him much more insidious and dangerous than other typical villains. While many villains fail to grasp empathy or believe in selflessness and kindness, the Green Goblin understands these qualities well and exploits them to psychologically break the will of others.

While Norman Osborn becomes aware and horrified of his actions as the Green Goblin, the latter has more control of Norman's mind and actions than Norman himself, which leads to the Goblin manipulating and brainwashing Norman into committing crimes just for his own amusem*nt. Even if he says the contrary, it's more than evident that the Green Goblin never cared for Norman, given how he endangers Norman's son Harry during the festival or how he drives Norman into hurting Peter Parker, who is not only his son's best friend but a gifted young man Norman sees as a surrogate son, upon finding out that he is Spider-Man by persuading Norman to attack Parker's loved ones to hurt him in the heart. The Green Goblin's later comments of his other self being a coward essentially prove that he only sees Norman as a vessel for him, not even concerned if he gets caught in the crossfire of his fights, leading to their deaths when the Goblin tries to use their glider against Spider-Man just as Norman explained his motives. While considering himself separate from his "weaker half," the Goblin carries echoes of Norman's own frustrations, such as murdering the Oscorp board because they had ousted Norman; similarly, he establishes a connection, if warped, with one he sees as akin to himself, as Norman had bonded with Peter, the Goblin tried to bond with Spider-Man. Though, Norman is able to succeed at building relationships due to being predominantly a decent person, while the Goblin fails because of his malevolence; and yet once the Goblin begins to overrule Norman's mind, Norman himself ends up becoming incapable of compassion when under his influence.

However, it's unknown whether the Green Goblin knew what releasing the spell would unleash or if he just thought it would prevent Doctor Strange from sending him back to his home universe to die. Either way, even if he had become aware of the catastrophic consequences he could provoke, the Goblin wouldn't have cared less as long chaos ensued on his name and the near-collapse of the MCU was still his fault as well as getting the chance to further spite at the legacy that his two archnemesis Raimi Peter and MCU Peter stood for. Which is reinforced by whenever MCU Peter gained an advantage over him in a fight, since he'd merely laugh maniacally; and upon hearing MCU Peter's desire to personally kill the Goblin, the lunatic was pleased as he felt he was successfully corrupting the young hero into falling to his dark level.

Abilities, Powers and Skills[]

Abilities[]

• Genius-Level Intellect: As Osborn, the Goblin is an expert businessman, as he was able to create his company from the ground up in his universe. He was described as "brilliant" by the likes of Doctor Octopus, an accomplished scientist in his own regard. He was described as a "brilliant scientist" in the field of military research by Doctor Octopus. He helped Spider-Man in his endeavor to cure the other villains while Osborn was in control.
  • Weapons Creation: The Goblin was also able to create with Osborn's company through the creation of several advanced weapons. His best work as an engineer includes his Green Goblin Armor, Glider, Pumpkin Bombs, and Razor Bats. He also helped Spider-Man fabricate an improved Neural Inhibitor Chip for Doctor Octopus utilizing Stark technology, which is technology far beyond what he has ever seen and still able to use it efficiently.
• Master Martial Artist: While having no known formal training, the Green Goblin is a skilled hand-to-hand combatant and martial artist, using an aggressive and methodical fighting style, as seen when he repeatedly went toe to toe with his universe' Peter Parker and grappled with an alternate Spider-Man. The Goblin also has a retractable blade along the gauntlet of his armor. He managed to stab his Spider-Man in the back, although he failed to kill him.
• Accuracy: The Goblin can throw his Pumpkin Bombs and Razor Bats with great accuracy. He threw one of his bombs into the Machina de Kadavus with considerable ease, destroying it to unleash the spell.

Powers[]

• Artificially Enhanced Physiology/Goblin Formula Enhancements: Norman decided to expose himself to a formula being developed by his company that was specifically made to create Super Soldiers for the military. As Norman's alternative personality, the Green Goblin is far stronger, durable, faster, and agile than Norman or any other normal human. However, the performing-enhancing gas resulted in him in his creation, where the Goblin often takes over whenever he wants and his voice also changes between the two personas. Osborn often sees his Goblin persona while staring in a mirror and have no memory of the Goblin's actions. The Goblin continued to be at the peak of his power until he was rehabilitated by the MCU Spider-Man who chose not to kill him, but by injecting him with an anti-serum that undid his mutation, ridding the Goblin persona and thereby restoring Norman's sanity.
  • Strength: The Goblin is stronger than any normal human, being strong enough to fight and overpower his Spider-Man, slamming him through multiple floors, and destroying an entire apartment building. He showed his strength when he punches a wall when Spider-Man ducks in the final battle and he busted the wall completely showing his strength in his blows. He also easily broke his helmet with a rock. Later in his battle with the alternate Spider-Man, he was able to take the young hero down and sent him smashing through the hotel walls.
  • Durability: The Goblin's body is tougher and far more durable than a normal human's, which allowed him to withstand physical strikes attacks from an enraged Spider-Man and MCU Spider-Man without facing any fatal injury all the while laughing it off. However, he did have his limits, as his own glider was capable of impaling him and Spider-Man and MCU Spider-Man were eventually able to best him during each of their final confrontation. The Goblin also has far more stamina than any normal human, which allowed him to easily keep up with the likes of the powerful Spider-Man himself who was holding back his power.
  • Speed: The Goblin is far faster and more agile than any normal human, being almost as fast as Spider-Man and being able to make maneuvers to best his opponents.
    • Reflexes: The Goblin also has incredible reflexes to react much faster than any regular human and can keep up with Spider-Man during his fight. He can keep up with Spider-Man during his fight, going as far was able to block some of his attacks and react from an intense blow Peter attempted to give.
  • Agility: The Goblin is far more agile than any normal human, being able to use it to make maneuvers to best his opponents. Osborn can use his glider with little issues with his superhuman equilibrium and sense of balance and dodge certain attacks from an enraged Peter.
    • Athleticism: Because of the performance-enhancing gas Osborn experimented with, the Goblin was capable of great athletic feats as seen during his battles with Spider-Man.
  • Stamina: Osborn's musculature produces far fewer fatigue toxins during physical activity than the musculature of an ordinary human, allowing him to easily keep up with the likes of the powerful Spider-Man himself who was holding back his power. Osborn continuously laugh and enjoy the every punches Parker gave and continued the fight.
  • Regenerative Healing Factor: The enhancing gas also gave the Goblin the ability to heal more quickly than a regular human, he did have his limits, as his own glider was capable of killing him in seconds.

Weaknesses[]

• Split Personality Disorder: The effects of the Formula caused mental instability in the test subjects before Norman decided to expose himself to the formula, after being exposed to the formula, he developed a personality different from his own that was thirsty for blood and vengeance who would be the Green Goblin.
• Limited Combat Knowledge: Although the Green Goblin's a skilled fighter, he relies more on offense than defense as shown during his fights with his Spider-Man, as well as MCU Spider-Man and thus had to rely on his gadgets to even the playing field, even laughing off both Raimi and MCU Peter's punches banking on his durability to pull through. This was made even more evident with his final battles with his Spider-Man as well as the MCU Spider-Man, Where the former angrily pushes him back, webs his legs, disorienting him by causing a brick wall to fall on him and then started to beat him to a pulp. Whilst the latter uses Capoeira like fighting maneuvers to dodge his attacks and hitting his weak spots which was his back and face.
• Arrogance and Spite: As he is the embodiment of Norman's dark side, the Green Goblin is arrogant to a fault thinking he's a god and that others like him should think the same way and that having morals is a weakness. This causes him to spitefully ruin the lives of others who think otherwise like Raimi Peter and MCU Peter. Not caring of the consequences it might bring. His death in the original timeline was caused since he was so focused on killing Peter that he failed to realise that he was in the flight path of his glider should the hero dodge it. With his feud with MCU Peter being the most prominent example of spite as he starts the feud with the MCU Peter as a way to spite Raimi Peter and that MCU Peter by this point has more experience at fighting other superpowered beings like Captain America and Thanos and a primary reason he won in their first fight was because of MCU Peter holding back and having Electro and Lizard's indirect assistance. This even extends to him blowing up the Machina de Kadavus and taunting MCU Peter in his final moments. Which leads to the near destruction of the MCU and his death via Goblin Anti-Serum.

Equipment[]

• Green Goblin Armor: The Green Goblin wore a technologically advanced battle-suit that enhanced his strength and durability. The suit has control over the goblin glider, as he is able to remotely control it. His helmet can reveal his eyes while the rest of his face remains hidden when he wears it. Shortly after entering Spider-Man's universe, Norman smashed his helmet into bits in a futile attempt to escape the Goblin. He then received a purple sweater from MCU May Parker when he sought refuge at F.E.A.S.T., which became tattered as the Goblin took over and fought Spider-Man. The Goblin would later equip a satchel to hold many Pumpkin Bombs and Razor Bats and goggles as a substitute for his broken helmet for the battle at Liberty Island.
  • Sleep Gas: The original Goblin suit was equipped with sleep gas that come out from the arms. He used this to kidnap Spider-Man when he attacked the Daily Bugle.
  • Retractable Blade: The Goblin suit became upgraded with a retractable blade. He attempted to use this weapon against MCU Spider-Man.
• Pumpkin Bombs: The Goblin uses these specialized pumpkin-themed explosives/bombs to blow up or disintegrate his targets. He used one to destroy the Machina de Kadavus. These bombs are stored and can come out of his glider.

• Razor Bats: The Goblin uses small bat-shaped boomerangs. These Razor Bats are drones to slice his enemies, they could be used to sever Spider-Man's web-lines. The Razor Bats were a variant of Pumpkin Bomb that sprouted rotating wing-shaped razor blades when thrown, and were capable of flight and homing in on a target.

• Goblin Trident: The Goblin utilizes a special weapon he briefly wields in his final battle with Spider-Man. His shiny trident was made specifically to kill Spider-Man. The Goblin didn't have his trident with him due to being transported to Earth-199999 by Doctor Strange's spell.
• Goblin Glider: The Goblin utilizes a special transportation device to fly where he wants to, store his weapons, and impale his enemies. A number of Pumpkin Bombs are stashed in the machine, which the Green Goblin can retrieve at any time. Osborn can also control the Glider remotely to either summon it or attack his foes with it. At the front of the Glider are sharp prongs which the Goblin can use to impale his enemies, usually with lethal results. He impaled and killed himself while trying to murder the Spider-Man native to his universe and managed to fatally injure May Parker, who was the aunt of an alternate Peter Parker. The Goblin himself was almost killed by his own glider once more by a vengeful MCU Peter Parker but was stopped by Raimiverse Peter Parker.

Relationships[]

Family[]

• Emily Osborn † - Wife
• Harry Osborn/New Goblin † - Son and Temporary Successor

Allies[]

• Dr. Octavia Octavius/Doctor Sea Witch - Former College (In Norman´s case)
• Frank Frye/Electro - Former College (In the Norman´s case)
• Dr. Henry Jekyll - Former College (In the Norman´s case)
• Peter Baker/Spider-Mouse - Former Archenemy turned Friend, Former Attempted Killer and Former Attempted Victim (In Norman´s case)
• Peter Parker/Amazing Spider-Man - Ally (In Norman Osborn´s case)
• Ned Leeds - Ally (In Norman Osborn´s case)
• Dr. Mendel Stromm † - Former employee (In Norman Osborn´s case)
• MCU May Parker † - Ally (In Norman Osborn´s case)

Enemies[]

• Mary-Jane Walters - Kidnapee and Attempted Victim (In The Goblin´s Case)
• Grandma Mae Baker - Attempted Victim (In The Duck Goblin´s Case)
• Henry Balkan † - Former Board Member turned Enemy and Victim (In the Goblin´s case)
• Maximilian "Max" Fargas † - Former Board Member turned Enemy and Victim (In the Goblin´s case)
• General Slocum † - Former Board Member turned Enemy and Victim (In the Goblin´s case)
• Dr. Mendel Stromm † - Victim (In the Goblin´s case)
• Doctor Strange - Former Capturer and Attempted Victim (In the Goblin´s case)

Quotes[]

Said By Norman Victor Osborn/The Duck Goblin[]

Spider-Mouse (1992)[]

Spider-Mouse 2 (1994)[]

Spider-Mouse 3 (1997)[]

Other[]

To Be Added...

Referring to Norman Victor Osborn/The Duck Goblin[]

Spider-Mouse (1992)[]

Spider-Mouse 2 (1994)[]

Spider-Mouse 3 (1997)[]

Reception[]

Dafoe's performance as The Duck Goblin was widely praised and is considered to be one of the greatest superhero movie villains.

Vulture ranked The Duck Goblin 19th on the top 25 superhero film villains in 2018, while Collider ranked him the 5th greatest Spider-Man film villain in 2020. Steven Scaife of Vice wrote that "Dafoe's Goblin represents everything that’s fun about superhero villains, as well as everything that’s great about Raimi's campy films." He also commended Dafoe's voice and body language, which helped overcome the bulky Green Goblin costume that he compared to that of a Power Rangers villain. Looking back at the Sam Raimi trilogy, Tom Holland, who portrays Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, in addition to his co-star Jacob Batalon, praised Dafoe's performance in the trilogy, calling the Green Goblin a "landmark villain". The two actors praised Dafoe's ability to "bring a difficult character to life" and particularly the mirror scene where he portrays both Norman Osborn and the Green Goblin persona.

David Germain of Peninsula Clarion stated, "Dafoe's best moments come in schizoid debates between the tremulous Osborn and his snarling alter-ego, his internal struggle eliciting occasional compassion among viewers."

Tulsa World stated "Willem Dafoe shoots the moon as Norman Osborn, an unhinged scientist who becomes a masked supervillain called the Green Goblin. Encased in gleaming armor and cackling maniacally as he zips around on a one-man jet glider, he provides some of the film's most dynamic images. However, the Goblin is only half as scary as Dafoe without the mask. In one memorable scene, he debates the nature of his own evil with his reflection in a mirror, successfully taking more risks as an actor than Jack Nicholson in Batman or his own tour de force in Shadow of the Vampire. As much fun as Dafoe is to watch, it's in some of his scenes where the film nearly goes off the rails. At times the Goblin is almost too menacing for this otherwise good-hearted adventure."

Stylistically, there was heavy (though not universal), criticism of the Green Goblin's costume, which led IGN's Richard George to comment years later, "We're not saying the comic book costume is exactly thrilling, but the Goblin armor (the helmet in particular) from Spider-Man is almost comically bad... Not only is it not frightening, it prohibits expression."

William Dafoe won a New York Film Critics Online Award for Best Supporting Actor and was nominated for an MTV Movie Award for Best Villain. Dafoe was even nominated for a Seattle Film Critics Society Award for Villain of the Year for his performance in Spider-Man: No Way Home.

Audio Samples[]

The Goblin's jump-scare monster bird screech[]

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Trivia[]

• During the final battle scene, it was supposed to be more brutal with more blood and the use of razor-sharp weapons again and Spider-Man's beating was supposed to be more brutal, but they decided to tone it down to meet a PG-13 rating. This was later salvage in No Way Home in his Battles with MCU Spider-Man where he modified his suit with Wolverine style-claws as well as using Wrestling Moves to brutalize his second Archnemesis, with the latter using mix martial arts moves to beat him to a bloody pulp in the final battle.
• Willem Dafoe portrayed the Green Goblin in each of the three films of the Raimi Spider-Man trilogy. Although his character was killed during the climax of the first film, the Goblin appeared in the other two films as a vision/hallucination to his son Harry Osborn, thus, he liked to manipulate him and drive him into trying to kill Spider-Man.
  • Aside from appearing as a vision of Norman Osborn in Spider-Man 3, Dafoe appears in a cameo as a customer in a club that Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy go to.
• Norman Osborn, a.k.a. the Green Goblin, also appeared as the main antagonist in the 2002 video game based on the film. In the game, his main scheme was to take Spider-Man's blood and inject it into himself, in order to improve himself, but in the film, his scheme was to defeat and kill Spider-Man, kill his loved ones and destroy the city with his equipment. In the game, unlike in the movie, he was also killed by his glider's blades, which hit him straight in his body, and not in his stomach, which left him to die alone while the glider flew away.
  • Norman's Goblin character model was also a playable character in the game, although it is actually his son Harry.
• Willem Dafoe performed 90% of his own stunts.
• The Green Goblin was chosen as the film's main villain since Sam Raimi felt the father-son theme (Norman and Harry Osborn and Peter Parker) would make the film deeper.

• The Green Goblin's costume was originally designed to be more bulky and armored, but Willem Dafoe, having decided to film his own stunts, rejected it in favor of a more streamlined and athletic costume. The final outfit was composed of 580 pieces and took Dafoe half an hour to put on.
  • Aditionally, in early concepts of the film, Norman was supposed to physically turn into the Goblin, with a practical Goblin mask with animatronic expressions having even been finished. This idea would be scrapped before Willem Dafoe was even cast for the role, as Sam Raimi believed the mask could have been too scary for younger viewers, noting it was also very difficult to put on.
• During the fight between the Green Goblin and Spider-Man near the end, Willem Dafoe accidentally clipped Tobey Maguire on the chin with one blow.
• The smoke in the lab during Norman Osborn's transformation scene was originally white but was then digitally altered to green. Director Sam Raimi wanted to use real green smoke but went with the CG effect when prop designers could not create a colored smoke that was nontoxic.
• Both Tobey Maguire and Willem Dafoe incorporated a Yoga technique called Ashtanga into their training regimens for this film. "Ashtanga" translates into English as "eight-legged", like a spider.
• Before Willem Dafoe received the role of the Green Goblin, the role was originally intended to be played by Billy Crudup, who even dropped out of other projects to act in this film, but he was considered too young to play the part of Norman Osborn and was declined the role. Many other actors, including Robert De Niro and John Travolta, turned down the role. De Niro was also considered for Otto Octavius/Dr. Octopus (another villain), in the sequel. The final actor in line to play Norman was the late Bill Paxton, but Sam Raimi was finally convinced that Dafoe was right for the part after a few meetings. Paxton's father still appears in the film as Osborn's elderly housekeeper.
• Willem Dafoe's own face bears an uncanny resemblance to the original Green Goblin mask from the comics, designed almost 40 years before he was cast in the role.
• Norman Osborn's home is decorated with masks from around the world. The filmmakers did this to suggest that Norman is a collector of masks, thus offering an explanation for how he was able to provide a mask for his Green Goblin outfit.
• The film was supposed to feature Doctor Octopus and Green Goblin. However, Sam Raimi decided against using two villains, to focus on a more straightforward story.
• Willem Dafoe was never an intended choice to play the Green Goblin but, after the script fell into his possession, he began lobbying for the role and met with Sam Raimi, who had intended to cast Billy Crudup in the role. Sometime later, while filming a movie in Spain, Dafoe was approached and shot some test footage inside the hotel room he was staying in. It led to his being cast. Once he received the role, Dafoe asked that he be allowed to perform his own stunts so that the character and movements would feel authentic, or else the audience would notice the difference. He performed about 95% of his own stunts, and unlike many of the stunt crew, learned how to handle the Goblin Glider after just 15 minutes. Having such a great time during filming, he offered to return for Spider-Man 2 (2004) and asked if they could write him in somewhere, his character having died in this movie. Sam Raimi took him up on the offer and both of them set aside a specific day of filming on Spider-Man 2 for Dafoe to shoot Norman Osborn's cameo in other characters' dreams and memories.
• Willem Dafoe had to be fitted with prosthetic teeth when he took the role of the Green Goblin. Producers didn't feel a person as rich as Norman Osborn couldn't afford to get his teeth straightened out. Willem Dafoe's real teeth can be seen in the scene where Norman Osborn is having a conversation with himself in the mirror.
• Willem Dafoe agreed to come back to play Green Goblin in Spider-Man: No Way Home because he got to do his own stunts. This initially concerned Kevin Feige and Amy Pascal, due to Dafoe being around his sixties by the time No Way Home was shot, but Dafoe still insisted and ultimately proved himself to have no issues with the stunts like twenty years ago.
• While filming Spider-Man: No Way Home, Willem Dafoe wore a cloak to conceal his identity and costume on the set to prevent his appearance from being leaked and preserve the film's secrecy. Tom Holland actually met Dafoe during filming when they accidentally bumped against each other.
• The Green Goblin has the distinction of being the only main antagonist of a film of the Spider-Man film series within the Marvel Cinematic Universe whose origins aren't linked in any way to Tony Stark/Iron Man, given how the Vulture lost his job thanks to Tony founding Damage Control to clean up the remains of the Battle of New York and Mysterio was fired by Stark due to his unstable nature.
  • He also has the distinction of being the first non-MCU villain to appear as the main antagonist of an MCU film, due to having been the main antagonist of the Raimi trilogy before becoming the main antagonist of No Way Home.
• He appears in the Chad Kroeger and Josey Scott "Hero" music video.
• In Spider-Man: No Way Home, Peter is able to create a cure for Norman, telling the MCU Peter that he'd been "thinking about it a long time," suggesting that even with the Goblin long gone, Peter had still cared for and wanted to help Norman if he could.
• During the fight against MCU Spider-Man in the apartment complex, the scene where the Green Goblin maniacally laughs as Peter punches him in the face repeatedly was improvised by Dafoe. Tom Holland's unnerved reaction to this was genuine.
• So far, the Green Goblin is the only villain in Spider-Man: No Way Home, alongside Doctor Octopus' Tentacles, who doesn't redeem himself by his own volition: the Green Goblin is technically killed when the MCU's Peter Parker injects the Anti-Goblin Serum on Norman Osborn, allowing him to regain control of his body again and purging the Goblin persona from his psyche for good.
• The point at which Norman was pulled in Spider-Man: No Way Home isn't clear, but it is implied he was pulled prior to his final battle with his Spiderman, as his suit was intact and he was on his glider when he arrived in the MCU.
• In Harry's apartment in Spider-Man (2002) a mug can be spotted with the picture of infamous dictator Mao Zedong, probably a gift from Norman taken in one of his journeys just like his collection of masks (since it's quite unlikely to say the least that these kind of items could be found on sale in America back then). This detail may be foreshadowing for Norman's and/or Harry's respective evil and vengeful nature.

External Links[]

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• The Duck Goblin on the Wikipedia

Navigation[]

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