Marvel Kills off Major Spider-Man Villain

1964's Amazing Spider-Man #14 introduced "the most sinister, most dangerous" foe Spider-Man would ever face: the Green Goblin. The issue was just the beginning of a mythology that would pit archenemies Spider-Man and the Green Goblin -- and their alter-egos Peter Parker and Norman Osborn -- in seemingly endless battle over the next 60 years . Even after he was fatally impaled by his own glider (in 1973's classic two-part "The Night Gwen Stacy Died" and "The Goblin's Last Stand"), the Goblin haunted the next two decades of Spider-Man comics before it was revealed that the still-alive Norman had masterminded a plot to destroy Spider-Man's life from beyond the grave .

And then, in 2020, the reformed Norman became the heroic Gold Goblin -- and Spider-Man's mentor and ally -- after he was cleansed of evil by Sin-Eater. Marvel had been teasing that the Green Goblin would return in the current comic run by Zeb Wells, who brought the villain back with a twist in May's milestone Amazing Spider-Man #50.

That issue saw Spider-Man battle Green Goblin for the first time in years when Norman's disembodied sins returned to him. As it turned out, when Norman's "Goblin-Sins" possessed Peter as the black-suited sinister Spider-Man , he used the mind-writing Winkler Device to secretly implant a Goblin-Sin copy in Peter's psyche. The Green Goblin activated a trigger phrase that transformed Peter into the evil Spider-Goblin , but Spider-Man snapped out of it just long enough for the Goblin to transfer the sins back into Spider-Man's body.

In this week's Amazing Spider-Man #54, Goblin-Sin Spider-Man boasts about his ultimate victory. "I beat Spider-Man," he tells the "weak" Norman. "And now... I am Spider-Man." The Goblin-possessed Spider-Man revels in corrupting the "pure" heart of Peter Parker, who has made a device capable of trapping the Goblin's consciousness. Still subject to the Goblin's programming, Spider-Man smashes the spear device and frees the Goblin-Sin, now manifesting itself like a demonic spirit.

The Goblin-Sin possesses Spider-Man, telling his former host, "This is the end, Norman. I'm done with you." But it is Norman Osborn who must bear the burden of the Green Goblin, so with a swipe of the spear, he reclaims the Goblin-Sin from Spider-Man. As Norman's Green Goblin taunts Peter -- "I've taken your mind," he hisses, "I will soon have your soul" -- Spider-Man willingly absorbs the Goblin's sins. The Green Goblin will torment Spider-Man no longer.

Inside the Living Brain-powered device , Spider-Man's last stand against the Green Goblin manifests as a metaphysical fight for Peter Parker's soul. "There is only one question I have pondered, and I have done so for my entire existence," says the Living Brain, which first appeared back in 1963's Amazing Spider-Man #8. "It is the only query that matters. And the sins of Norman Osborn are about to learn the answer. The question is as follows: Who is Spider-Man?"

The answer unfolds over a double-page spread filled with tragedy and triumph. Heartbreak and heroism. Loss and lessons. "He is broken. He is selfish. He is guilty. But he learns. In every heartbreak... every defeat... he has a choice," the Brain says. "To give in to rage, make his heart fearful and small. Or to brave. To feel deeply, and expand. Through his life, no matter the enemy... no matter the tragedy... Spider-Man keeps his heart open. He will never give up."

"Because above all else," the Brain determines, "Spider-Man is Peter Parker."

With that, the Goblin's sins are exorcised for good. "It's over," Spider-Man says. "The Green Goblin is dead."

But Norman Osborn lives on. "You sacrificed a lot. Not to destroy me, but to save me," Norman tells Peter. "It would make me very happy if we could call ourselves friends some day." Spider-Man ponders the possibility. His heart open, Peter replies: "Crazier things have happened."