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He is the founder and CEO of Oscorp Industries and the estranged father of Harry Osborn. Despite his industrial success, Osborn suffered all his life due to a degenerative disease which eventually kills him. To prevent that, Norman had Richard Parker and Curt Connors work on a possible cure, but Parker was killed after he realized what were Osborn's true intentions for his research.
Barely anything is known about Norman Osborn's early life, except for that he founded the Osborn Corporation, which he and everyone else nicknamed Oscorp, and became wealthy out of the company's success. When his son, Harry, was young, he sent him into the boarding school, causing their relationship to falter.
In The Amazing Spider-Man, Norman Osborn's existence is revealed via intercharacter dialogue and the presence of Oscorp Industries. Early in the film, he is shown as a vague silhouette on a monitor in the Oscorp lobby, referencing him as the company's founder.
Humorously, his silhouette is shown holding an orange globe of the company's logo, a subtle reference to his goblin bombs. It is mentioned that he has been afflicted by an illness, which is the catalyst for Dr. Curt Connors' development of the regenerative serum.
Osborn is never seen in person, however, but is mentioned several times. In the film, Dr. Rajit Ratha had pressured Dr. Connors to develop an antidote that would cure Osborn of a rare but deadly disease. Connors, thinking that there is too much risk, refuses to do so, and Ratha fires him as a result.
Not very much is known about Norman, other than that he had a debilitating disease called 'Retroviral Hypodysplasia' which eventually killed him. It is also mentioned that the is the founder of Oscorp. Dr. Connors' and Dr. Ratha's experiments with lizard DNA were an unsuccessful attempts to cure him, until Connors used the serum on himself, transforming into the monstrous Lizard as a result. After the Lizard was defeated (for the first time), Connors and Ratha permanently quit their works, and Connors was locked in a mental institute.
In The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Norman's estranged son, Harry, returns after many years away in boarding school and visits him on his deathbed, whereby this point Norman is in extremely sick health and barely alive. Because of his disease, Norman has greenish, scaly skin and his fingernails turned into claws. Norman explains to Harry that his sickness is genetic and that Harry is at the right age where it usually begins to show. Before his death, Norman gives Harry a mysterious device, saying that it contains his life's work. The next day, it is reported that Norman succumbed to his illness.
Later it is revealed that Norman Osborn worked along with Peter Parker's father, Richard. When Richard tried to destroy his work and escape with his wife, Mary, Norman sent his henchman after them to kill them both, which resulted in Richard and Mary perishing in a plane crash.
Personality[]
Norman was a very ambitious, intelligent, brilliant and bright person, but he was also very corrupt and self-regarding. Even though he often acted nice and calm towards others, he was actually cunning, deceitful and uncompressing since he was willing to weaponize Richard's research (unbeknownst to the latter) for foreign countries, thus he was eager to betray his own country for profits.
He was also merciless, callous, grudging and vengeful since he wanted to kill both Richard and Mary after finding out that Richard wants to destroy his work and even willingly faked evidence against Richard in order to discredit him. It is also implied that he mistreated Donald Menken in the past, suggesting that he was also abusive. To top it all off, he was extremely cold and neglectful towards his own son, Harry, sending him to boarding school at a young age, verbally abusing and insulting him during their final conversation, and giving him a means to survive their shared disease solely so Harry can carry on the Osborn legacy.
Trivia[]
Chris Cooper was uncredited for his appearance as Norman in The Amazing Spider-Man 2.
There was a post-credits scene in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 but it was deleted from the final cut. The scene shows Gustav Fiers walking through the Special Projects and going to Door 3. There, you can see Norman's frozen head. Gustav says "Wake up my friend" and Norman suddenly opens his eyes. Also, when Norman passes away, the nurses are seen rushing in to cover up his body. One of the nurses is pushing a rack with a jar on it. That could be the jar where Norman's frozen head was placed.
However, as Peter makes no mention in Spider-Man: No Way Home of having encountered Norman after fighting Electro, the Green Goblin and Rhino, it's unknown of this deleted post-credits scene is still canon or not.
Osborn, in other Spider-Man media, takes on the identity of the Green Goblin, a famous Spider-Man villain. However, in this universe, it is his son Harry who first takes on the identity of the Green Goblin since Norman dies before having a chance of doing so.
Even though Norman doesn't become a Green Goblin in this universe, he is still a villain since he is a greedy and corrupt businessman who was willing to betray his country for his own benefits, sent his man to kill two people, and even wanted to discredit Richard Parker (and succeeded in doing so).
Also, because his body was deteriorated by his disease, Norman has a goblin-like appearance.
This is the first version of Norman Osborn that never interacts with Spider-Man.
Norman was planned to return in The Amazing Spider-Man 3 before the film's cancellation.
Marc Webb confirmed that Norman would also appear in The Sinister Six film. However, as the Spider-Man franchise was rebooted in order to be part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this version of Norman Osborn is not part of that continuity.
Cinematic Villains