Spider-Man is About to Become Marvel’s Next Green Goblin – But How?

Norman Osborn's sins have finally been unleashed, and this time, they're going to turn Spider-Man into the world's next supervillain.

While Peter Parker has been reeling since his life coming completely unraveled over the past year, he's had Norman Osborn to lean on. As unlikely as it seems, the former Green Goblin's attempts to redeem himself have all been made in perfectly good faith. Unfortunately, that hasn't kept Norman's enemies from trying to pull him back into his old role, nor from unwittingly thrusting his sins upon Spider-Man.

Amazing Spider-Man #32 (by Zeb Wells, Patrick Gleason, Marcio Menyz, and VC's Joe Caramagna) finds Peter and Norman spending another night hard at work in the lab, only to be caught off guard by a sudden loss of power that leaves them trapped. Soon enough, Kraven the Hunter reveals himself as the one behind this attack, and he has come with one very specific goal in mind. Rather than hunting Spider-Man as would otherwise be expected, this time Kraven has come to claim the Green Goblin as his prey. In order to do so, Kraven must first return to Norman all the sins that were stolen away from him. While the Hunter absolutely has the means, his wantonly violent methods effect Peter instead.

How Was Norman Osborn Cured of the Green Goblin?

Although it sounds almost unfathomable for Peter Parker to be effectively injected with Norman Osborn's sins, the return of Norman's dark side is something fans have been looking forward to for years. It was during the events of 2020's Amazing Spider-Man #50 (by Nick Spencer, Patrick Gleason, Edgar Delgado, and Joe Caramagna) that Sin-Eater caught Norman in the sights of his magical shotgun. Rather than killing Norman, this attack cleansed him of his sins, aka his Green Goblin persona. In the immediate aftermath of the Sin-Eater's assault, the world still saw Norman as a monster. However, the public soon began taking Norman seriously — treating him like a human being instead of a supervillain.

In the time since being "cured" of the evils that ailed him, Norman has gone to every length possible to prove he is a changed man. Apart from using his scientific and technological advancements to make the world a better place, Norman has used those same resources to reinvent himself as the Gold Goblin. As easy as it would be to assume these endeavors were merely covering for another villainous turn, Norman invested the very same technologies into Spider-Man's new suit and gear. This made it clear he wasn't keeping any secrets to himself. By inviting Peter into the fold as both a peer and confidant, Norman left no doubt that this version of himself was dedicated to keeping things that way.

Why Norman Osborn's Sins Have Been So Sought After

Of course, just because Norman Osborn has been on a consistently upward trajectory since he was cleansed of his sins doesn't mean the same is true of everyone else who's been dragged into his world. In the case of Doctor Ashley Kafka, Norman's sins were the means by which her old employers at the Beyond Corporation transformed her into the villainous Queen Goblin. On top of turning her into a literal monster in her own right, this has imbued Ashley with a deep-seated hatred that can never truly be quenched. As such, she turned to any means necessary to return that hatred to its rightful owner, including the rest of Marvel's worst Goblins.

Not only has the Queen Goblin gone so far as to ruin the lives of multiple people by dragging several Hobgoblins back into the spotlight, she's turned to magics she has little to no understanding of to accomplish what science can't. This has clearly brought her some amount of success. However, despite transferring Norman's sins from herself to Kraven's spear, Ashley couldn't cure herself of her condition. She may be less evil on some level, but Ashley is still very much the Queen Goblin, even without Norman's sins. This calls into question the details behind the various processes that concern Norman Osborn, the Goblin identity, and Norman's sins. More importantly, it makes it impossible to guess Peter Parker will be affected now that he's been subjected to them.

What Spider-Man Could Become as a Goblin

Upon being stabbed with Kraven's spear, Peter Parker immediately underwent an unsettling sort of rebirth. He emerged with an ominous energy and an even more unnerving laugh that makes it painfully obvious he is no longer the Spider-Man fans know best. On the surface, this would be the most logical effect of Peter Parker being imbued with Norman's sins. Digging deeper, however, and there are simply too many variables to say for certain that Spider-Man will be carrying on the Green Goblin's legacy, or at least not any easily recognizable iteration of it. If he did, it would mean Peter Parker had been infused with the Green Goblin persona itself, but that isn't what Sin-Eater took from Norman in the first place.

"Sins" as they are referred to in these Spider-Man comics remain something of a vague term, but it clearly doesn't mean a complete personality culled from one of the Sin-Eater's victims. If anything, it refers to the innate evil that resides at their core, the very same which acts as the seed for whatever villainous persona they end up taking on. At that rate, what fans can expect from Peter next is for him to begin embodying whatever genuinely evil persona it's that the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man already has buried within himself. Under other circumstances, this might look a lot like Peter's stint as the Superior Spider-Man under Doc Ock's control. Given the elements at hand, whatever form Peter Parker takes on next is guaranteed to be infinitely more horrifying than even the worst version of Spider-Man his enemies could ever dream of turning him into.