Norman Osborn as a General MU villain. What do you think?

[Hypestyle]

at least the other heroes know what a horrible creep he is, and should respect spider-man's contributions in keeping him in check. for the longest time people would kind of write off spider-man as the goofball who tackled other goofballs.

[H-E-D]

I'm a big fan of the Thunderbolts-Dark Avengers-Osborn miniseries period of Norman's general MU villainy. After that last mini, it was just diminishing returns. But it was fun while it lasted. I think it worked because Norman is a great villain, but his greatest Spider-Man stories have already been told. They'll never top the Night Gwen Stacy Died, so it makes sense to push the character into other books.

[CaptCleghorn]

BWAH-HA-HA!!

[Agent Z]

It makes more sense than him only being a threat to Spider-man

Nothing indicated he was a threat to anyone but Spider-Man prior to this.

[Michael Watkins]

Nothing indicated he was a threat to anyone but Spider-Man prior to this.

right. that's my point. why would he only target Peter? as a businessman, he would logically target his competitors i.e. Stark Industries.

[Michael Watkins]

Norman Osborn has advantages in that he's practically the only American villain who can really be a Marvel-wide threat. So when he stepped up he wasn't taking anyone's place so much as carving one for himself.

If you look at most of Marvel's Earth-based villains they are usually European -- Doom, Zemo, Red Skull, Magneto -- and in the case of Mandarin, you have someone who's Asian. So if you want to do a big crossover event in the Marvel Universe but with a more grounded scale for some variation (i.e. not a battle that goes cosmic and is fought on some dumb planet or another) you don't have too many choices in terms of a villain who has star power, who has abilities and skills, and who has resources on top of that to play that role. Kingpin for instance has star power but he's largely a gangster of Hell's Kitchen and he does most of his stuff behind a board-room and so on, he wouldn't work as a Marvel-wide villain. Iron Man villains like Justin Hammer have resources but don't have abilities, and most important of all don't have star power.

So Norman Osborn is best placed to take that niche. He's got star power, he's a superhuman, he's brilliant in chemistry and gadgets, he's also really rich. So he's able to play that role well.

I will say that Green Goblin becoming a Marvel-Wide villain could have been executed better in DARK REIGN and Thunderbolts, if
A) Bendis didn't make jokes about the Goblin costume and so on. Respect the Ditko. Respect the costume, and have the Goblin be the scariest, meanest, best version of Osborn.

B) Goblin being elevated as a Marvel-Wide Villain should also be accompanied by a parallel elevation in Spider-Man. And ultimately it should be Spider-Man who takes him down.

thematically, Norman has been replaced by Dario Agger/Roxxon. but, hopefully, Osborn can rebound at some point.

[Desmark]

Osborn turning himself into a super adaptoid and melting is the lowest point of the run he had as the big bad of MU.

[Ying Ko]

I thought it was a great idea and worked pretty well for the most part, first time around. Really enjoyed Thunderbolts and Dark Avengers.

The second attempt sucked though. Haven't seen the character since, mostly because I don't like Slott / Spencer Spider-Man. I heard he has a Carnage symbiote now or something.

[manymade1]

I wasn't a big fan, just because he came across as typical big business enemy. Marvel's version of Lex Luthor, basically.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

thematically, Norman has been replaced by Dario Agger/Roxxon. but, hopefully, Osborn can rebound at some point.

Greek Immigrant dude who turns into a minotaur...whereas Norman is Old Money WASP so Norman has a richer thematic vein.

Dario is right now a Thor villain. The force is with him but he's not Sith yet.

[Derek Metaltron]

I think the saddest thing about Osborn in the MCU is he’d never get to take on Tony, as I always found the Iron Man and Iron Patriot clashes interesting. But seeing him take on the Avengers and form his own team or align with Magneto or Doom would be awesome. I think past suggestions about Phase Five being a combination of the Dark Reign and Annihilation storylines would work well, setting up Galactus and Beyonder for Phase Six.

[Agent Z]

right. that's my point. why would he only target Peter? as a businessman, he would logically target his competitors i.e. Stark Industries.

What I meant is if Osborn had so much trouble with a simple teenager I can't see him being a threat to an adult let alone a whole bunch of adults. Add in that he clearly is not very stable and it was a matter of when not if everything would blow up in his face.

[Michael Watkins]

Greek Immigrant dude who turns into a minotaur...whereas Norman is Old Money WASP so Norman has a richer thematic vein.

Dario is right now a Thor villain. The force is with him but he's not Sith yet.

being an immigrant just makes him doubly american. Roxxon is an energy giant within the marvel U.S. i like Norman more (and let's not pretend that he hasn't been operating in Europe). but Agger is still the go-to right now. he's had his hands in several storylines across multiple books. he's also got that small cabal of corporate villains (Sebastian Shaw, Wilson Fisk, Harada, Zeke Stane, Darren Cross, etc).

[Michael Watkins]

What I meant is if Osborn had so much trouble with a simple teenager I can't see him being a threat to an adult let alone a whole bunch of adults. Add in that he clearly is not very stable and it was a matter of when not if everything would blow up in his face.

kind of depends on the writer. he made Stark's life a living hell during Dark Reign. he, realistically, has the resources to do that to any superhero. and, more importantly, he's vicious enough to go after their families.

[Michael Watkins]

I think the saddest thing about Osborn in the MCU is he’d never get to take on Tony.

But Peter is the new Tony.

I wasn't a big fan, just because he came across as typical big business enemy. Marvel's version of Lex Luthor, basically.

Lex wasn't sweating profusely as a giant goblin that only he could see spoke to him.