After 60 Years, Marvel Reveals the Green Goblin’s Horrifying True Form (Without Norman Osborn)

Warning: Spoilers for The Amazing Spider-Man (2022) #54 ahead!The Green Goblin has terrorized Spider-Man for decades, acting as a major force in Peter Parker’s life and setting up a classic, dynastic rivalry between the Parkers and the Osborns. Now, with the conclusion of the “Easy Being Green” story arc, an unexpected twist gives readers good cause to question everything they know about the Green Goblin, as his true form is finally revealed.

In The Amazing Spider-Man (2022) #54 by Zeb Wells, Ed McGuinness, Mark Farmer, Mark Morales, Wade von Grawbadger and Marcio Menyz, Spider-Man has once again been infected with Norman Osborn’s “sins,” and is essentially possessed by the Green Goblin. A strange three-way fight ensues between Peter, Norman, and the Green Goblin, which manifests as a crimson, spectral entity.

The “spirit” of the Green Goblin even proves capable of hopping back and forth from host to host at will throughout the fight and speaking on its own, emphasizing its unique and separate nature.

Marvel Reveals The Green Goblin’s True Nature, Changing Everything Readers Know About The Villain

The Amazing Spider-Man (2022) #54 – Written By Zeb Wells; Art By Ed McGuinness, Mark Farmer, Mark Morales, Wade von Grawbadger, Marcio Menyz, & More

Norman Osborn’s characterization throughout the current Amazing Spider-Man (2022) series has been heavily influenced by the events of The Amazing Spider-Man (2018) #50, in which he was “cleansed” of his sins and the factors that led him to become the Green Goblin. The Green Goblin wasn’t destroyed, however; Gold Goblin(2022) #2 reveals that the “sins” were passed on to psychologist Ashley Kafka, transforming her into the villainous “Queen Goblin.” Kafka then managed to transfer the sins of the Green Goblin into a spear in The Amazing Spider-Man (2022) #32, which could “infect” whoever it pierced with the Green Goblin’s identity.

All of this serves to reinforce the fact that the Green Goblin is now treated as his own entity, completely divorced from Norman Osborn. Case in point, The Amazing Spider-Man #51 heavily emphasizes the fact that, when possessed by the Green Goblin, Norman Osborn does not recognize Kamala Khan as someone he has worked closely with in Oscorp; rather than having access to all of Norman’s memories, the Green Goblin is its own distinct consciousness. This dramatic shift from the character’s origin emphasizes that, moving forward, Norman has nothing to do with his former supervillain self.

Whether The Green Goblin Was Ever Really Norman Osborn Remains An Open Question

Instead of a mask used by Norman Osborn to express his violent, homicidal urges, the Green Goblin’s true form is now a red spectral entity that can sustain itself from host to host. The severe degree of separation that now exists between Norman and the Green Goblin leaves room for conjecture whether Norman and the Green Goblin were ever truly the same person; the groundwork is now laid to suggest that, rather than being a split identity or personality (as has been previously attributed to the character), the Green Goblin has instead been a truly unique consciousness all along.

Whether the Green Goblin is a specter, a demon, or the concentration of one man’s hate, the character has become utterly transformed from his origin and now exists as this strange psychic entity. Ultimately, the Green Goblin is defeated at the end of The Amazing Spider-Man #54; however, with the reveal of the Green Goblin’s true form as this malevolent mass of hate, Spider-Man’sclassic nemesis will never be the same again, suggesting that a new era has arrived for both Norman Osborn and his evil alter ego.