Marvel is exposing a major hidden secret in Spider-Man lore, as it spills secrets 26 years in the making – secrets surrounding the existence of Marvel’s first Goblin, before Norman Osborn’s Green Goblin. However, the Proto-Goblin is no new-fangled addition to Spidey’s story, but a dangling plot thread Marvel is finally addressing.
Coming April 2024, Spider-Man: Shadow of the Green Goblin #1 will return to the forgotten story of Nels van Adder – an associate of Norman Osborn who the amoral businessman used to test his Goblin Formula before using it on himself. The testing transformed Nels into a monster who’s never been seen since.
Spider-Man: Shadow of the Green Goblin #1 (2024) | |
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Release Date: | April 3, 2024 |
Writer: | J. M. DeMatteis |
Artists: | Michael Sta. Maria |
Cover Artist: | Paulo Siqueira |
Still finding his footing as a super hero and dealing with grief over Uncle Ben’s death, Peter will find himself entangled in a dark drama involving his best friend’s family: the Osborns. The saga will revisit the now classic SPIDER-MAN -1 and tie up a plot thread that’s been dangling since 1997 involving the tragic truth behind Norman Osborn’s research assistant Nels van Adder, the first test subject for the “Goblin formula” which transformed him into PROTO-GOBLIN! Norman Osborn was not the first Goblin! Norman Osborn is the Green Goblin you know. But he is NOT the Original Goblin! It’s time to learn the shocking secrets of the Proto-Goblin, and its dramatic connection to the Osborn family! What role does a young Peter Parker, who has not yet understood his great power and responsibility, play in this unfolding of events? | |
The story takes place in the very, very early days of Peter Parker’s career as Spider-Man, with DeMatteis telling Marvel:
I’ve always been fascinated with Peter Parker’s early days as Spider-Man, a time before he fully understood what it meant to be a super hero. SHADOW OF THE GOBLIN allows us to take a deep dive into Young Peter’s mind and emotions as he makes his way through this exhilarating, and sometimes terrifying, new world. We take an equally-deep dive into the dysfunctional dynamic of the Osborn family, seeing how that generational pain sowed the earliest seeds of Norman’s Green Goblin identity and left its traumatic imprint on Harry. If you think you know everything there is to know about Peter and the Osborns, think again!
Spider-Man’s Proto-Goblin Returns
Nels van Adder Is a Major Question Mark in Spidey Lore
Introduced in Spider-Man #-1 (from Howard Mackie and Dan Fraga), Nels van Adder was hired as a guinea pig by Osborn Chemicals. Subjected to an experimental formula stolen from Mendel Stromm, Nels gained a monstrous new appearance and an irresistible urge to kill. While the Proto-Goblin is stopped from killing Osborn by George Stacy (the father of Peter’s first love Gwen Stacy), the monster survives and ends the issue at large. While the story assures readers that these events will soon ensnare a young Spider-Man, that promise went unfulfilled for several decades… until now.
Since Nels van Adder’s first appearance, a lot has changed for Norman Osborn, and a lot has been revealed about the Goblin Formula. Most importantly, it turns out that it lends its users an almost unrivaled healing factor which can essentially resurrect them from death, while also intensifying any existing violent urges. However, much of the origin of the formula and the specifics of the goblin identity have still to be explored – something which Spider-Man: Shadow of the Green Goblin will hopefully accomplish.
Proto-Goblin Will Expose the Green Goblin’s Buried Secrets
Could the Proto-Goblin Confirm a Carnage/Green Goblin Connection?
It’s interesting to note that the Proto-Goblin has several visual and behavioral similarities to the Carnage symbiote, which has been given new links to the Osborn family in recent years (Marvel’s ongoing Red Goblin follows Norman’s grandson Norman Jr. as the titular symbiote anti-hero.) It’s possible Shadow of the Green Goblin may deepen these connections, especially since Nels’ version of the Serum is an iteration before Norman stabilized and refined it, making him the ‘purest’ Goblin in Marvel lore – and thus the most connected to the Serum’s mysterious source. Of course, any hidden truths will only be unearthed at the cost of innocent lives on the line, and it will be down to a young Spider-Man to protect New York from the Green Goblin‘s predecessor.
Spider-Man: Shadow of the Green Goblin #1 is coming from Marvel Comics April 3, 2024.
