Marvel Officially Confirms Why Green Goblin Is Evil, And It’s Sadder Than You Think

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Warning! The following contains SPOILERS for the Amazing Spider-Man #1000 special guest anniversary story “Requiem for a Goblin.”

For Spider-Man’s biggest milestone ever (so far), Marvel Comics took the opportunity to tell wonderful stories about the web-slinger, many of which commemorate either a fantastic creative team that has contributed indelibly to Spider-Man’s legacy or a nostalgic era from the last 64 years of Spider-Man lore. For instance, even though Noah Hawley and Patrick Gleason’s special guest anniversary story tells a story where Peter Parker is a nursing home resident, “Still Standing” chiefly reflects on Peter’s history with his later lover Gwen Stacy and the supervillain Mysterio.

After all, Spider-Man has amassed an astonishing rogues’ gallery of villains. Now, a special guest anniversary story in The Amazing Spider-Man #1000 has revisited a legendary milestone issue from the past and given it a stunning epilogue in “Requiem for a Goblin.”

Marvel Comics Says A Heartfelt Goodbye To Harry Osborn

The legacy of Harry Osborn is examined and honored in J.M. DeMatteis, Humberto Ramos, Victor Olazaba, Edgar Delgado, and Joe Caramagna’s special guest anniversary story, “Requiem for a Goblin,” in The Amazing Spider-Man #1000. Harry died in a much earlier milestone issue, The Spectacular Spider-Man (1976) #200, and “Requiem for a Goblin” depicts the funeral held for him thereafter. Here, Peter grapples with the uncertainty of whether Harry truly died as his best friend or the Goblin, and, as a result, his psyche manifests spirits of both Harry and Norman.

The ensuing conversation obviously doesn’t actually take place anywhere but within Peter’s mind, but it’s an interesting glimpse at how Peter reconciles the Osborns’ evil. For instance, Peter blames Norman for why Harry is the way he was and why he was a Green Goblin heir. Indeed, it’s tough not to look back on Harry’s life and acknowledge how plagued he was by the “emotional abuse” Norman doled out, which Peter refers to as “the poisons of his childhood.”

Norman soon appears and instead blames Harry’s grandfather, Amberson Osborn, for why he and Harry turned out the way they did. Norman claims that generational trauma and rage are the “Osborn legacy,” with their capacity for evil having seemingly been passed down from father to father in the Osborn family.

The implication made here is that Norman himself is only as evil as he is—or was, seeing as he’s since turned a considerable leaf and is incredibly close with Peter and the Spider-Heroes—because it was inherited. Whether or not this is true, Peter refuses to concede to the idea that Harry’s fate was inevitable or destined. This ‘conversation’ gives Peter a massive sense of closure he probably didn’t expect, as he challenges Norman’s short-sighted and cynical view of Harry by declaring:

We all have a choice! Harry made his choice at the end! He chose decency! He chose self-sacrifice!

Green Goblin Is An Expression Of Evil, Not The Root Of It

By the end of this special guest anniversary story, Peter comes to terms with the fact that all that matters is what he chooses to believe, and what he chooses to believe is that Harry was his best friend and loved him. It’s all thanks to Mary Jane Watson’s words of wisdom, too, echoing in Peter’s own reassessed sentiments.

For MJ to sympathize with Harry’s sickness and remind Peter that he and Harry are best friends is consistent with how DeMatteis wrote her 33 years ago, as she was tearfully grateful that Harry not only saved her, but also Peter. MJ arguably had even more reason to fear Harry and have her whole perspective of him tainted by how he invaded and violated her and Peter’s life (her own thoughts, as per The Spectacular Spider-Man #199), much less how Harry snatched her and took her to the bridge where Gwen died, even if it was only to talk.

It’s been made fairly clear for a while that Norman’s alter ego and the Green Goblin formula are not the source of his evil, though it is a perpetually pestering voice in his ear that tempts him to don the mask yet again. It’s also surprising that Marvel Comics has actually kept Harry canonically dead for more than three decades now, but “Requiem for a Goblin” confirms that Harry’s death is as iconic and untouchable as Gwen’s, no matter how many retcons threaten to uproot it.

How do you feel about The Amazing Spider-Man #1000’s Harry Osborn funeral/epilogue story?

The Amazing Spider-Man #1000 is out now.