Original Green Goblin (Norman Osborn) Appreciation 2022

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Funny, but back in the Silver Age, Gobby didn't really commit any crime up until he kidnapped Gwen and threw her off the George Washington Bridge. As far as I know, he didn't rob banks or jewellery I guess he thought beating SpidSpsenoubhpsenoubhidey was enough to make him mob boss.

He was a bad guy but I could probably write a paper on how the Green Goblin was accidentally turned into Spider-Man's archenemy and choosing to avoid using him only thrust him further into the position

It'd be like if Superman comics retconned Brainiac into being the reason Luthor hates Superman so much, or if Batman comics retconned Two-Face into being the reason Joker is so obsessed with Batman.

From my perspective Mephisto's involvement is another way of showing Marvel's lack of respect for Peter Parker. The retcon doesn't even use his rogue's gallery. Spencer outsourced the villain. It would be like Eobard Thawne was responsible for Joker's fixation or saying Teth-Adam influenced Lex Luthor in the main universe. It would be best if that wasn't done with heroes like Spider-man.

My problem isn't so much with the retcon as it is with no-one in-story having the slightest reaction to it.

I can't really judge Osborn's behavior in the preview since Spencer established he's a good actor. If Osborn is feeling nothing, it reinforces my opinion that the Arch dynamic causes its holders to lose their personality beyond existing as an extension of their heroes and is fundamentally harmful to the villain who has it. Your threat level usually goes up in proportion to how much your hero is respected, but the cost is often losing character nuance. Before anyone points out Victor von Doom, he avoids this by being written by fanboys, relying on malfunctioning Doombots, ignoring his flaws, and vilifying Reed Richards.
There's no excuse for Peter beyond a supremely unsatisfying "Mephisto made everyone who made a deal forget again".

The retcon could have been really good! Honestly! But... I'm just baffled by it. Was it a remnant of the original OMD-related plans for that story? That's the only reason I can think of as to why it's NEVER MENTIONED AGAIN even by the characters who should have had their entire lives upended by it.

It would have worked as an Elseworld story. It's a decent backstory for this guy, in fact.
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There's not much on Ghost Goblin/Norman Osborn. Osborn could have given up his son for money. Later, when Osborn discovers what he did, he blames the societal expectations that influenced him to make that decision and destroys his entire universe. In a ultimate monkey's paw reversal, Mephisto stops Mayday from ever being born but is killed in that universe by his "creation" in revenge. Afterward, the goblin hooks up with the Multiversal masters of evil and continues his rampage in universes where Harry Osborn is dead in an omnicidal suicide run, forcing others to take Osborn out. In this scenerio, Osborn won't do it himself because the goblin considers suicide the coward's way out. This is me just me spit-balling. I don't know what they're doing with the ghost rider hybrid.

In 616, this retcon means the Osborns are quirky miniboss mooks. Norman's actions brought about what Mephisto wanted to avoid. Harry made it obvious he didn't want to hurt Mary Jane and didn't do much to stop Peter and MJ from getting together. They're Mephisto's Team Rocket. The twins are the talking cat.

Romita's jr's inks and pencils for a Norman/Peter scene has surfaced online

spoilers:

looks like Peter's starting work at Oscorp

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Dammit. spoilers:

This is far too soon to justify Oscorp. We haven't even explained how Osborn works at Oscorp.

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