If Green Goblin Is Going to Stay a Hero, He Needs to Return to This Patriotic Mantle

Spider-Man has some of the best villains of any solo hero in the Marvel Universe. You can make the argument that he has the best villains in comics, although some out there would say it’s Batman or the X-Men. Spidey’s bad guys hit different and there’s one that always rises to the top – Norman Osborn, the man known as Green Goblin. He was the father of Peter Parker’s best friend Harry, a wealthy genius at the head of his own corporation. He was everything Peter could want to be, but he was also insane. This insanity burst out of him in mercurial bouts of rage, and he became the Green Goblin to indulge it. His battles with Spider-Man became the stuff of legend and would end on the night Gwen Stacy died, her death his fault.

His life would end, but this is comics, so he would return in the late ’90s and be revealed as the brain behind the Clone Saga. Since then, he’s returned to his place as Spider-Man’s greatest villain. Currently, he’s in the one of the weirdest places he’s ever been as a character. He was a victim of the Sin-Eater and the evil that had defined him for so long was taken from him. Instead of villainy, he wanted to make up for what he did, leading to him working with Peter Parker. In fact, he’s even become Spider-Man when Peter went into space. Osborn as a hero is weird, but it works. We all know that eventually, he’ll be a villain again, but before that happens, it might be time to return him to mantle that defined several years of Marvel, a patriotic armor set that made him the top cop of the Avengers: the Iron Patriot.

If Norman Osborn Is Going to Be a Hero, He Needs to Look the Part

Making Norman a hero was a huge step for a character who fans had loved for years. Osborn always played well off the Wall-Crawler and we’ve got to spend lots of time with him. His return in the late ’90s would lead him to his greatest success ever, starting with Civil War. During the blockbuster ’00s event, he was recruited by Iron Man to fight a secret war against the Atlanteans, who were mad about the death of Namorita. This was outlined in the book Civil War: Frontline and his actions would see him given control of the Thunderbolts when they were basically the Suicide Squad. They’d help defend the Earth against the Skrulls in Secret Invasion and Osborn killed the Skrull Empress Veranke. He was granted control of the Superhero Initiative, gaining the power of the superhuman national security apparatus.

This was the dawn of his “Dark Reign”. For most of two years, Osborn would be in charge of his own Avengers in Dark Avengers (and appeared across various other books) but he was without his Goblin serum powers at the time. One of things he was given by the government was Iron Man’s armors and he decided that the one thing that his team was missing was their big symbol. Hacking an older suit of armor, he became the Iron Patriot, mixing the iconography of Iron Man and Captain America. The armor looked amazing and it allowed him to fight against the worst villains out there… who wouldn’t listen to him. As Iron Patriot, he was a wrecking ball and it was fantastic.

After his defeat, James Rhodes tried to take up the armor, but it’s basically completely died away. However, with Osborn as a hero, it might be time to dust it off. One of the things about Osborn since his redemption is that you could feel Marvel trying to find a costume to put him in and giving up. Green Goblin has too many negative connotations, but they still wanted recognition, so they went with Gold Goblin. It didn’t really catch on and since then, the only costume he’s worn was Spidey’s. While there’s something fun about this idea, it’s not one that’s sustainable.

Most of us have assumed that his lack of a distinct costumed identity has meant that he’s going to turn back sooner rather than later, but Marvel keeps stretching it out. I think that unless they want us to always think they’re going to turn him back soon, they should give him a distinct identity and the Iron Patriot is perfect. To begin with, Osborn was right about it being a symbol that people would flock to. It looks like the love child of Cap and ol’Shellhead, putting people at ease, which is something that someone with Norman’s history could use.

While a known villain did use it, the public only really got to see the positives of his actions, meaning that to general public, Iron Patriot is a trusted name and image. They know he’s there to save the day. Becoming Iron Patriot could lead Norman to something that he’s always wanted and it could make his eventual return to villainy even better. One thing that Norman has always wanted is adulation. He hates that the people love Peter and wants them to love him instead (yeah, he’s basically the Joker mixed with post-Crisis Lex Luthor). Iron Patriot was him trying to take the love that Cap and Iron Man had, and it can be again.

This time, though, he’s doing it for the right reasons. As Iron Patriot, he could save the day on a daily basis, patrolling the city and letting the people know that he’s their neighborhood protector. In Infernal Hulk, he was already brought into the inner circle of science heroes like Bruce Banner and Reed Richards, helping plan the war against the Eldest-possessed Hulk. The Iron Patriot armor is perfect for him right now. He can use it to get the love and applause he’s always wanted, which would make his fall to evil even better.

The Goblin has been shown to be a persona inside Norman, so what if all the adulation brought him back? What if Norman being good in the armor of someone else, wearing symbols that aren’t his own, awakens it? It’s an intriguing prospect and it shows why the Iron Patriot armor is perfect for him. You can put him in bigger stories and adventures with it, even solo ones, and you can use it as a catalyst to bring him back as the Goblin. The best costumes say something about the person who wear them, and the S-tier costumes can become part of the story. That’s the potential of the Iron Patriot armor right now.

The Iron Patriot Armor Is Too Good to Leave in the Dark Reign

Green Goblin is Spidey’s most storied villain and an icon in his own right. I started reading comics years after his death, so I got to witness his return in real time. He quickly became one of my favorite villains and the years between Civil War and Siege are some of my favorite in Marvel history because of him. He was perfect as the Iron Patriot; in public he was the consummate hero, playing the role beautifully, and in private he was wielding it and its image like a weapon. It showed that he could be the biggest villain around, but it also showed that he had what it took to be a hero.

Osborn as a good guy took a little bit of getting used to, but it’s started to grow on fans. Marvel is stretching this story out and in order to keep it from snapping back on them they need to bring in the Iron Patriot armor. It’ll add some interesting subplots and it’s a natural way to bring back the Goblin. Plus, if it does work and he gets more popular as Iron Patriot, it will make the shock of his turn to villainy that much better. The Iron Patriot needs to return and there’s no better time than now.

Do you think Norman should be stay a good guy? Do you want to don the Iron Patriot armor? Do you love Dark Avengers too? Sound off in the comments below.

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