Every hero needs an archnemesis. Joker and Batman, Sherlock and Moriarty, Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort. AndSpider-Manand the Green Goblin. Marvel’s flagship character, Spider-Man, has one of the best rogues' gallery in comic books. But of all his iconic adversaries, no one gets under Spidey’s skin quite like the Green Goblin. He established himself as Spider-Man’s archenemy ever since the original Green Goblin, Norman Osborn, killed the web slinger’s first love, Gwen Stacy, in the comics.
TheSpider-Manlive-action films helped cement the Green Goblin as Spider-Man’s archnemesis. We got an iconic performance from Willem Dafoe as Norman Osborn in 2002’sSpider-Man,a role that he reprised in 2021’sSpider-Man: No Way Home. We also got the Harry Osborn version of the character, who became the New Goblin (James Franco) in 2007’s polarizingSpider-Man 3and the Green Goblin (Dane DeHaan) in 2014’sTheAmazing Spider-Man 2.
But Norman and Harry Osborn aren’t the only ones who don the Goblin alias in the comics. A number of goblin villains have popped up in Manhattan over the years, all looking for a piece of the city’s most famous hero. And we’ve only seen a fraction of them fight Spider-Man in live-action and on the big screen.
Who says that Goblins can only be men? Carlie Cooper is a supporting character and forensic scientist, who’s best friends with Lily Hollister (more on her in a bit). Carlie found herself in Peter Parker’s circle when Lily started datingPeter’s best friend, Harry Osborn,one of the Green Goblins. At one point, the Green Goblin sprays Carlie with his Goblin formula, turning her into a Goblin that he nicknames Monster.
Despite her name, Monster isn’t as monstrous-looking as other Goblins on our list. For the most part, she looks like a woman with pointy ears and flecks of green skin. Monster becomes a member of Goblin Nation, an army of goblin-themed soldiers led by none other than Norman Osborn. Carlie is later cured of her transformation, and Monster hasn’t been seen since.
Lily Hollister was dating Harry Osborn when she found a hidden door in his closet. Using a journal she finds there, she uncovers a secret location that belonged to Norman Osborn, which is filled with Goblin equipment and experimental formula. Hollister accidentally knocks over some Goblin formula (because ofcourse,she does)and gets it on her skin. This classic comic book mishap transforms her into a superpowered, gray-skinned goblin named Menace.
One of Menace’s first plots is attacking her father’s political rallies to earn him sympathy points, believing this will help his campaign in becoming New York City’s mayor. We guess your heart is in the right place, Lily, but your mind definitely is not.
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7Goblin King
Phil Urich discovers one of Norman Osborn’s Goblin lairs (apparently, this guy had Goblin hideouts all over New York City). Urich starts out as a superhero version of the Green Goblin, beforebecoming another villainous variant of the Hobgoblin. Unable to resist the Goblins, Urich joins Goblin Nation and upgrades his weapons and suit. He becomes a close ally to the Green Goblin, who crowns himself the Goblin King and the leader of Goblin Nation. After training Urich and upgrading his gear, the Green Goblin dubs him the Goblin Knight.
After the Green Goblin’s defeat, Urich assumes leadership of Goblin Nation. He then changes his name from Goblin Knight to the new Goblin King. He’s killed, however, when Norman Osborn returns as the Red Goblin (more on him later) and rips out his heart. Urich’s long and rocky history with the Goblins could make him the perfect Goblin, not named Norman or Harry Osborn, to face off against Spider-Man next.
6Fury the Goblin Queen
You can’t have a Goblin King without a Goblin Queen. Enter Fury the Goblin Queen. Poor Elan DeJunae didn’t have a chance at avoiding the Goblin legacy; she was essentially born into it. DeJunae was raised by parents who were members of the Goblin Cult, a group of fanatics who worshiped Norman Osborn’s Green Goblin. She was trained and raised to become the Goblin Queen, alongside Norman’s grandson, Normie (he became yet another variant of the Green Goblin). And with that training came exposure to the Goblin Formula, transforming her into Fury.
This character bears a striking resemblance to the Green Goblin, more than most other Goblins on our list. Fury was arrested after several run-ins with Spider-Man. She hasn’t been seen since 2009, which might make her an unlikely candidate for a live-action adaptation.
5Gray Goblin
Years after the death of his beloved Gwen Stacy, Peter Parker learns that Gwen gave birth to a set of twins, Sarah and Gabriel. The twins convince Peter that he’s their biological father. But in a shocking twist, they’re revealed to be the children of none other than the original Green Goblin himself, Norman Osborn. That’s right. In this particular story arc, Gwen had an affair with her future murderer. After Gwen’s death, Norman abducts the twins and raises them as their uncle, manipulating them to believe that Peter is their estranged father.
Spider-Man tries telling the twins the truth. But Gabriel Stacy refuses to accept it and remains convinced that Peter abandoned them. Gabriel finds yet another one of Norman’s Goblin lairs and injects himself with the Goblin Formula. Ah, a tale as old as time. He then transforms into a gray version of the Green Goblin, who is appropriately called the Gray Goblin. In his final battle with Spider-Man, the Gray Goblin crashes his glider and suffers amnesia. He conveniently forgets all about his Gray Goblin persona, and the character hasn’t appeared in the comics since.
This could be an interesting story arc to explore on screen. Plus, the Gray Goblin is a near-replica of the Green Goblin, which could make him a good villain for casual Spider-Man fans. But, if you’re looking for a Goblin that’s a little different, then perhaps our next couple of entries will be more to your liking.
4Demogoblin
Demogoblin is perhaps the most unique Goblin on our list – and that’s probably because he’s not even mortal. The story begins when an unnamed demon, who had been banished long ago to Limbo, fuses with one of the Hobgoblin variants, Jason Macendale. After getting defeated in battle, Jason manages to expel the demon that’s attached itself to him. Doing so gives birth to the Demogoblin, a darker, magical version of the Hobgoblin.
A deranged and demonic entity, Demogoblin is capable of projecting hellfire and summoning demons from the depths of Hell. He came to Earth believing that he was on a holy mission to rid the world of sinners – which was basically everyone except children. Demogoblin wasn’t just an enemy of Spider-Man. He also clashed with Moon Knight, Blade, and Ghost Rider. Perhaps this mystical villain won’t appear in Tom Holland’sSpider-Manmovies, butmaybe we’ll get him if the MCU ever makes a Ghost Rider movie.
3Red Goblin
This is undoubtedly one of the coolest Goblins in Marvel Comics. As mentioned earlier, Norman Osbon is famously known as the Green Goblin. But in comic book writer Dan Slott’sSpider-Manrun, Norman got his hands on the same symbiote that created another iconic Spider-Man baddie, Carnage. Osborn bonded with the Carnage symbiote, but that wasn’t enough. Osborn then injected himself with his Goblin formula, morphing him into a villainous entity known as the Red Goblin. Part Carnage, part Goblin, this enemy is stronger than both characters – and perhaps more mentally unstable. He’s also capable of creating Carnage-Bombs and a fiery Goblin Glider using the symbiote.
Red Goblin is so powerful that Spider-Man is forced to recruit Silk, Clash, Human Torch, and Agent Anti-Venom to fight him. In typical Norman fashion, Red Goblin killsone of Spider-Man’s loved ones, Flash Thompson. As great as Red Goblin is, it’s unlikely that we’ll see him in a movie. If Norman Osborn is going to be in a movie, then he’ll probably appear as the Green Goblin. Our best hope is that we get an adaptation of Slott’sRed Goblinarc.
2Proto-Goblin
Everyone thinks that Norman Osborn is the first Goblin that Spider-Man faces in the comics. But thanks to a 1990s retcon, that’s technically not true. Long before he became the Green Goblin, Norman Osborn was still experimenting on his strength/intelligence enhancement formula, which would later become known as the Goblin formula. After completing an early version of it, Osborn tested the formula on his research assistant at the time, a poor guy named Nels van Adder. To the surprise of no one, the formula transformed Adder into a red, blonde-haired monster known as Proto-Goblin – the prototype for the Green Goblin.
Enraged, Proto-Goblin abducts Harry Osborn and threatens to kill Norman. It’s actually police captain George Stacy – not Spider-Man – who saves the day and thwarts the monster. The story arc ends with Proto-Goblin still at large. Most fans assumed that this would lead to a confrontation with a young, rookie Spider-Man. But instead, Proto-Goblin was dropped like a bad habit, turning him into a forgotten character and a huge question mark inSpider-Manlore.
Proto-Goblin finally surfaced again last year, in the 2024 story arc,Spider-Man: Shadow of the Green Goblin.This story arc returns to the story of Nels van Adder and addresses what happened to him all those years ago.
It would be cool to see this storyline play out on film, making Proto-Goblin a precursor to Norman Osborn’s evil alias. Back in 2011,it was reported that Proto-Goblin would be the villain ofThe Amazing Spider-Manand would be played by Indian actor Irrfan Khan. But Khan wound up playing an original character in the film instead, Dr. Rajit Ratha.
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1Hobgoblin
The most famous Goblin that Spider-Man has yet to face in film is Hobgoblin. Born under pressure to create a new Goblin adversary for Spider-Man, this enemy is Green Goblin with a medieval twist. Like his counterpart, Hobgoblin wields Halloween-themed weapons and rides a glider. But unlike Green Goblin, he didn’t start out with superhuman abilities. He does eventually get them, though, after ingesting the Goblin Formula.
Hobgoblin’s true identity is one of the longest-running mysteries in theSpider-Mancomics. Many people have donned the Hobgoblin alias over the years – and the very first one of them was Ned Leeds. Yes, that’s right. Good old Ned, Peter Parker’s best friend and the comedic relief in Tom Holland’sSpider-Manfranchise, was revealed to be the first Hobgoblin,paving the way for theories on Ned’s future in the MCU.
However, this was later retconned, and it turned out that Ned was framed. The true Hobgoblin, and the character’s most famous secret identity is Roderick Kingsley, a fashion designer and Mary Jane Watson’s former boss. Will Ned actually wind up facing off against his best friend in the MCU? Or will Roderick Kingsley appear and give us the Hobgoblin? We’ll just have to wait and see.
