In Spider-Man’s Darkest Twist, Green Goblin Was Peter Parker All Along

The Green Goblin is probably Spider-Man‘s greatest adversary. The cackling lunatic on a glider has orchestrated some of the most notable blows to Peter Parker’s life. And although it’s common knowledge today that Norman Osborn is the grinning man behind the mask, some fans may be surprised to learn that the Goblin’s true identity was withheld from readers for roughly two years following his first appearance in 1964. But even more surprising is that, among the many attempts to recapture the Goblin’s enigmatic nature since then, the most shocking was a story where The Green Goblin was unmasked and revealed to be none other than Peter Parker himself.

In the House of M storyline, the Scarlet Witch uses her reality-bending magic to create a newly constructed existence where every Marvel character’s deepest wishes are made true. In this new life, Peter Parker has it all. He’s rich and famous, has a son with his wife Gwen Stacy and his beloved Uncle Ben is alive and well. Eventually, this vacation from reality is shattered and the memories of Peter’s true life come flooding back to him. But during his time spent in paradise, Peter was burdened with a subconscious suspicion that it was all a lie. So, naturally, he set out to sabotage it.

In the miniseries, Spider-Man: House of M by Mark Waid, Tom Peyer and Salvador Larroca, J. Jonah Jameson leads a miserable life as Peter Parker’s publicist, constantly humiliated and berated by his boss. That is until the mysterious Green Goblin comes along and gifts Jameson with Peter Parker’s journal, declaring it as instrumental in their destroying Spider-Man. Unsure of who the Goblin is or how he attained Peter’s journal, Jameson flips through the revealing notes to find Peter’s greatest kept secret: though everyone believes him to be a mutant, Peter is actually a human who acquired his powers by accident. While this information would hold no weight in the standard Marvel Universe, in the House of M Universe, it’s a reputation shattering reveal, because in this world humans are the oppressed minority and mutants run the culture and rule over all.

Jameson takes the information to the media and revels in watching Spider-Man’s life turn upside down as the wall-crawler becomes publicly disowned. Hoping to find out just who the Green Goblin is and why he set out to ruin Peter’s life, Gwen and the Rhino (a friend and bodyguard to Peter in this universe) manage to capture the crazed Goblin and pin him down. When they lift his mask off, they discover that a crazed Peter was the Goblin all along. It turns out Peter had been racked with vague remnants of guilt from his actual life, driving him to sabotage this spurious one – all as a twisted way to make himself feel more “normal.”

House of M reveals a lot about Peter Parker. Even with his memories wiped clean and the life he longed for served to him on a silver platter, his base self still rejects it. On one hand, being wise to his fabricated utopia shows just how astute Peter really is, even with his most basic resources stripped away from him. But on the other, it reveals just how deep Peter’s guilt runs. Despite nothing in his reality telling him otherwise, Peter still feels undeserving of all his fortunes and seeks out misfortune. Whatever the case, Spider-Man being revealed as the Green Goblin goes down as one of the most self-destructive moments in the web-slinger’s history.

About The Author

Andrew Cavalluzzi
(107 Articles Published)

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Andrew is a Los Angeles based entertainment writer. As an indulger in all things movie, comic book, video game and TV series related, he spends most of his breathing time racking up knowledge in all those categories. His obsession with the Marvel Universe knows no bounds and his endless pursuit to find the perfect formation of words that best captures his adoration for storytelling will probably be the end of him.

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