Ultimate Spider-Man: Who Is Marvel's New Green Goblin?

[Warning: This story contains spoilers for Ultimate Spider-Man #1.] Who is the Green Goblin? And are they villain — or hero? Those are the burning questions left in the wake of this week's Ultimate Spider-Man #1, which saw the 35-year-old Peter Parker of Earth-6160 embrace his destiny as the Spider-Man of the new Ultimate Universe reshaped by the Maker. But just after Wilson Fisk forced Peter's (still-living) Uncle Ben and J. Jonah Jameson out of their long-held positions at The Daily Bugle, a masked assailant nearly killed Fisk with a missile launched from a high-tech glider. The only hint to their identity was the marking on their goblin-esque armor: OBSTRK Mark 004. 

That suggests a link between Stane/Stark Industries and Harry Osborn, the heir to Oscorp Industries. Harry's father, billionaire businessman Norman Osborn, died in the terror attack that the Maker's secret council committed and then blamed on the teenage Tony Stark (who is secretly the armored superhero Iron Lad). While Tony assembles a team to free this world from the Maker, the New York City of Earth-6160 is now home to two new superheroes: Spider-Man and the Green Goblin. 

Marvel Comics is keeping the new Goblin's identity under wraps, but the secret may be out: artist Mateus Manhanini's Ultimate Spider-Man #2 variant cover appears to confirm that Harry Osborn is the heroic Green Goblin of Earth-6160. Unlike his counterpart on Earth-616, Harry isn't Peter's best friend, and his father never poisoned the Osborn family legacy as the maniacal supervillain the Green Goblin.

See Manhanini's cover for issue #2 below. The issue hits stands alongside the Ultimate Spider-Man #1 second printing on February 21.

Here, we've rounded up the official solicits for issues #2 and #3, and the recently-revealed cover for April's issue #4:

Ultimate Spider-Man #2

THE MOST SURPRISING SPIDER-MAN STORY OF THE 21ST CENTURY CONTINUES! Spider-Man faces his first super villain! J. Jonah Jameson's quest to uncover who is really pulling the strings of this new Ultimate Universe leads to a shocking revelation! And New York City welcomes its newest hero…the Green Goblin!

Ultimate Spider-Man #3

PETER PARKER'S NEW LIFE GETS EVEN MORE COMPLICATED… Spider-Man sizes up the new hero Green Goblin! As they team up to fight a new super villain, secrets about the corporations running North America are revealed… And you'll never guess who discovers Spider-Man's secret identity!

Ultimate Spider-Man #4

The Ultimate Guide to the Ultimate Universe

• Ultimate Explainer: The History of Marvel's New Ultimate Universe
• Earth-6160 101: The Ultimate Character Guide
• Ultimate Comics Reading Order
  
• Ultimate Spider-Man #1 Recap: With Great Power...