This Avengers Villain Was Actually Right (And I Can Prove It)

The Avengers gained their reputation as Earth’s Mightiest Heroes by fighting some of the greatest villains in the history of comics. The Avengers have had some epic adventures, and the villains were a key part of that. The Avengers have faced off against every kind of villain imaginable, from street-level foes to cosmic destroyers of life. Most of the time, these villains are in the wrong, their schemes meant to aggrandize themselves at the expense of everyone who gets in their way. The Avengers stand as a righteous brand of justice against them, doing their best to save the day. However, not every Avengers villain was in the wrong and I can prove it.

To find that villain, we’re going to have to go back to the ’00s. After Civil War, the superhero community fragmented, allowing the Skrull’s invasion plan to work even better. The heroes finally got their act together in Secret Invasion, but a most surprising villain saved the day — Norman Osborn, the once and future Green Goblin. For his actions, Osborn was chosen to replace Tony Stark as the head of the superhero national security apparatus and began the storyline known as “Dark Reign”, where Osborn and his Dark Avengers protected the world while cementing their power. Osborn did some terrible things during this time, but he was also right. His actions were justified and if you read on, I’ll lay out why.

Norman Osborn Made the Hard Decisions to Protect the Innocent.

To understand why Norman Osborn was right, one must first have to look at the situation post-Civil War. Iron Man was in charge of S.H.I.E.L.D., but he wasn’t in charge of the superheroes. The New Avengers team of Luke Cage, Wolverine, Jessica Jones, Doctor Strange, Spider-Woman, Iron Fist, Spider-Man, Ronin/Hawkeye, and Echo were all rebels. The X-Men were off in San Francisco basically doing whatever they wanted. The Fantastic Four was led by Black Panther and Storm, who weren’t allies of Iron Man. Thor had returned and hated him. The Hulk attacked the Earth, causing widespread destruction, Ultron returned, and Doctor Doom unleashed a plague of symbiotes. Red Hulk showed up and wreaked havoc everywhere, even targeting S.H.I.E.L.D. And all the while, the Skrulls were insinuating themselves deeper into Iron Man’s administration. Iron Man was so busy fighting against his former friends and threats with his team of Mighty Avengers — Captain Marvel (she was Ms. Marvel at the time), Wasp, Black Widow, Wonder Man, Sentry, and Ares — he never even noticed the Skrulls take over StarkTech.

Norman Osborn inherited a S.H.I.E.L.D (and the Superhero Initiative) that was full of holes after the Skrulls were defeated. The heroes of the world still all basically hated each other and none of them trusted him, so he was forced to do things his own way. He reorganized S.H.I.E.L.D. into H.A.M.M.E.R. and put Victoria Hand, a former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, as his second-in-command, trusting her to keep an eye of things when he couldn’t. He gathered his own team of Avengers, keeping the Sentry and Ares from the previous group while adding Bullesye as Hawkeye, Daken as Wolverine, Moonstone as Ms. Marvel, Venom as Spider-Man, and Noh-Varr as Captain Marvel. He formed the Cabal with Doctor Doom, Emma Frost, the Hood, and Loki. He enlisted Hood’s gang of villains as muscle. He did his best to shore up all of the holes.

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As for himself, he used a suit of modified StarkTech armor to become the Iron Patriot, fighting on the frontlines with his team whenever possible, while Hand watched things for him. He ingratiated himself with the Sentry and the Void, making sure that he had control over this powerful ally/enemy. When mutant stuff got out of hand, he swooped in and did what he could to defuse the situation, although his idea of defusing the situation was to break the X-Men’s power over the mutant race and replace it with his own Dark X-Men. He sent Bullseye and Daken out after anyone who would cause too much trouble, slaughtering them silently. When Doom was under attack from Morgan La Fey, he helped his ally, and then defeated the threat of the Molecule Man.

Did Osborn do a lot of bad things? Absolutely. However, he really didn’t have any choice. Iron Man was a terrible leader on a large scale — there’s a reason his corporations are always taken from him — and his very presence at the top of the S.H.I.E.L.D. made people hate him more. Osborn faced much of the same thing, but he formed powerful alliances in order to not only make sure he was secure, but also to protect the world. During Osborn’s tenure, the Skrulls were no longer a problem, because he had them hunted down and killed. With Hand as his second, no one was going to surprise him, except his own allies, and if that were to happen, he could throw the Void at them. Osborn was able to keep a lid on the major threats in a way that Iron Man never was able to, and only failed when he overreached and tried to take over Asgard, uniting everyone against him.

Norman Osborn’s Tenure Was One of the Safest in the History of the Superhero Community

Norman Osborn is mentally ill. He almost certainly suffers from DID, with the Green Goblin forming a second persona inside of him. He has anger issues, as well, making him seem like someone quite unhinged. However, during his time in the saddle, Osborn was able to keep control of things until the very end, all while outmaneuvering every enemy who go the best of him. Even when Osborn and the Dark Avengers lost, he still found a way to spin it so the public felt safe, which was the most important thing. They believed him because supervillains weren’t almost nuking New York City every five minutes.

There were no large-scale invasions while he was in charge. He kept everything running relatively smoothly, even while the entire superhero community was gunning for him. Looking at what he was able to accomplish and the threats that he was able to stop, it’s easy to see that he was right to do all of it. Osborn was given a mess as a reward and he cleaned up, in his own way, and made a weak organization into a strong one. He did what he thought was right and the fact that nothing major happened until the end of his tenure, when the Void showed up and he wasn’t around to control it, shows just how right he was, and what a capable leader he could be.

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