Marvel Turning Spider-Man Hero Evil Again Proves Painfully Predictable

The best efforts of Spider-Man to help one of his greatest villains become a hero have sadly, yet inevitably, failed. This is not wholly unexpected, as the theme of redemption has been a part of the Web-Swinger’s adventures since the beginning. Indeed, the whole reason Peter Parker became a hero was to make up for his failure to stand-up leading to his Uncle Ben’s death. However, despite those good intentions, not every character is capable of change.

The hero turned villain relapse occurred in Amazing Spider-Man: Spider-Versity #2 by Jordan Morris, Joe Kelly, Pere Perez, and Rafael Perez Granados. The series centers around an effort to train the more inexperienced Spider-themed heroes in Manhattan. The surprising supervisor of this effort is the former Green Goblin, Norman Osborn, who in recent years has tried to move beyond his villainous past. Despite this, and Peter Parker vouching for him, Spider-Woman Jessica Drew takes it upon herself to watch over Osborn.

This proves to be a wise decision after Drew calls Norman out after a particularly rough training session. Spider-Woman criticizes Norman’s decision to use robots programmed to copy the powers of the Sinister Six as training tools. Norman, however, defends his methods, even as their students are attacked by the robots in their teachers’ absence. This is revealed to be the work of the technopathic villain Overdrive, who was secretly hired by Osborn. The final page teases Osborn’s Green Goblin persona returning, as he grins wickedly while saying his students aren’t ready for what he has planned next.

Why Green Goblin’s return is inevitable

Morris and Kelly try to paint this as a shocking revelation. However, Norman returning to evil is no surprise. This is far from the first time that Spider-Man has tried to help one of his villains reform. Unfortunately, most of these efforts are short-lived, and quickly forgotten once a new writer takes over the series. They are also ignored by the writers of other Marvel Comics series.

Another example of this from the recent Amazing Spider-Man comics is the crime-boss Tombstone. During the Zeb Wells run, Tombstone was presented as a reasonable criminal who fought to keep order in the underworld. To that end, he helped Spider-Man and She-Hulk to keep the peace during the 2023 Gang War event. This stood in stark contrast to his portrayal in the recent Punisher comics, where he retained his original violent personality.

Beyond it being largely impossible for any villain to truly be redeemed in superhero comics, the idea of Norman Osborn as a hero is wildly unpopular. His rebrand into the Gold Goblin and donning the Spider-Man costume in Peter’s absence were met with apathy, at best. Most Spider-Man fans find it unbelievable Peter could forgive Osborn for killing Gwen Stacy, even allowing for his suffering from a dissociative identity disorder. Given all that, this shocking twist is anything but and another sign of the creative bankruptcy of Marvel Comics today.

Amazing Spider-Man: Spider-Versity #2 is now available at comic shops everywhere.