The Amazing Spider-Man has been relaunched again, but some things haven’t changed since the last run, inculding one controversial relationship. The Amazing Spider-Man #1 established that Peter was in a very different place in his life, also bringing back one of Spider-Man best villains — Hobgoblin. Hobgoblin’s latest caper seems to involve a powerful mind control drug, seemingly supplied by new villain Hellgate, and Spider-Man falls victim to it, fighting a hallucination of his greatest villains. The effects of the hallucinogen stay with him throughout the issue, and he is saved from its worst effects by his greatest villain — Norman Osborn, usually known as the Green Goblin.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Spider-Man and Green Goblin’s relationship has taken a rather strange turn. Green Goblin has been trying to kill Spider-Man since he was fifteen, but the two of them have become allies in recent years. This is a huge turn for their relationship, and fans have wondered when the Green Goblin was going to return to his villainous ways. The whole situation has been one of the strangest situations in Spider-Man history, which is saying something when it comes to the relationship between Spider-Man and Green Goblin.
Green Goblin Has Become One of Spider-Man’s Most Trusted Allies
So, we have to go back to the Red Goblin to see how this whole situation started. Osborn bonded with the Carnage symbiote, becoming the Red Goblin. Spider-Man was sorely tested by Red Goblin, but was able to break the bond between Osborn and the Carnage symbiote. Spider-Man incinerated the symbiote, and psychic backlash of its death gave Norman brain damage, making him think he was Kletus Casidy. Osborn was left in Ravencroft, and eventually freed by Kindred, who was secretly his son Harry. He got pulled into the “Absolute Carnage” storyline and Carnage’s defeat saw his mind restored to normal. Osborn blamed his latest sins on the Carnage symbiote, and everyone believed him. Osborn was able to return to his life as a wealthy industrialist, and when Wilson Fisk, the man also known as Kingpin, became mayor of New York, he hired Osborn to serve as a consultant at the Ravencroft Institute.
RELATED: The Amazing Spider-Man Swings Into a New No. 1: What to Know
Osborn played his usual games, working with the organization known as J.A.N.U.S. to make John Jameson regain his power to transform into Man-Wolf. Osborn was successful at this, with Fisk promoting him to director of Ravencroft, and would soon be pulled into Kindred’s attack on Spider-Man. Kindred resurrected the villain Sin-Eater, giving him the ability to cleanse someone of their sins, who decided to target Osborn. Spider-Man and Osborn fought side by side against Sin-Eater and his army, with Sin-Eater even gaining the power of Juggernaut. However, when Osborn started taunting Spider-Man over Gwen Stacy — he met Ghost Spider-Man and figured out that she was a Gwen — Spider-Man threw him to Sin-Eater, who used his powers to cleanse Norman of his sins. This led to the current situation, where Spider-Man could only turn to Norman Osborn for help after Mary Jane was left in an alternate reality. Spider-Man started working with Osborn, the two of them making a better team than anyone could have imagined.
Osborn Warns Spider-Man About His Current Situation, but Spider-Man Ignores Him
The Amazing Spider-Man #2 kicks off with Spider-Man dosed with a powerful hallucinogen, believing himself to be surrounded by his greatest enemies. He ends up destroying a bunch of cars and the street around him, before somehow ending up at his new job. Suddenly, he’s on top of the building, not knowing how he got there. Norman saves him, bringing him to the lab to analyze his blood. Norman lets him know that the toxin is still in his system and that he should take it easy. Of course, Spider-Man doesn’t listen to Norman, leading him to a startling discovery at Ravencroft.
Seeing Norman Osborn being helpful to Spider-Man will never not be weird. The last run of The Amazing Spider-Man used this situation to its advantage, forming a bond between the two former enemies that no one ever would have expected. While it does rob Spider-Man of his greatest enemy, it’s also proved to be a very interesting relationship. While we’ve already been teased with its eventual dissolution, for now it remains one of Spider-Man’s closest relationships. The friendship between Norman and Peter has been very fruitful for both of them and it honestly, it’s going to be sad to see it go.
The Amazing Spider-Man #2 is on sale now.
