Norman Osborn

Norman Osborn, also known as the Green Goblin, Iron Patriot, Super-Adaptoid, Red Goblin, and currently Gold Goblin, is one of the main antagonists of Marvel Comics, commonly as the main antagonist of the Spider-Man franchise and as a major antagonist in the Avengers comics.

Willem Dafoe, one of the most known actors for having portrayed the character.

Fictional character biography

He is the former head of the multinational corporation Oscorp and father of Harry Osborn, who became the first and most well known incarnation of the Green Goblin after ingesting a serum that increased his physical abilities yet in the process drove him to insanity.

He is widely recognized as Spider-Man's greatest, most persistent and most personal arch-nemesis, even more so than Doctor Octopus and Venom, having been responsible for more hardship and grief in the hero's life than any of his other villains (most notably the murder of Gwen Stacy; the first woman he ever truly loved). He is the main antagonist of several story arcs such as The Night Gwen Stacy Died, Go Down Swinging, Superior-Spider-Man and the Clone Saga.

Despite his status as Spider-Man's arch-nemesis, Norman has also made various appearances antagonizing other heroes such as the Avengers as well, even serving as the villainous protagonist of the company-wide Dark Reign storyline. He is also set to play a major role in the upcoming Dark Web event.

In other media

The character has been in various top villain lists as one of Spider-Man's greatest enemies and one of the greatest comic book villains of all time. The character's popularity has seen him appear on a variety of merchandise, inspire real-world structures (such as theme park attractions) and be referenced in a number of media. He has been adapted to serve as Spider-Man's adversary in live-action, animated, and video game incarnations. Willem Dafoe played the character in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man movie trilogy and reprised the role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe movie Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), while Chris Cooper played the character in the movie The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014).