Warning: contains spoilers for Ultimate Spider-Man #3!For months, fans have speculated on the true identity of Ultimate Spider-Man‘s new take on the Green Goblin. Now, the secret has been revealed, and while there’s a familiar face under the cowl, their place in this new timeline is radically different.
In Ultimate Spider-Man #3, Spider-Man assists Green Goblin in a fight against Bullseye. Once the fight is concluded, the Goblin thanks Spider-Man for the assist before pairing his suit’s technology with Peter’s new picotech suit, forcing his mask to retract and reveal his identity. However, the Goblin follows this seemingly villainous act with an unmasking of his own.
The two trade names, confirming that Harry Osborn is the Ultimate Green Goblin. Harry asks Peter to get a drink, marking a major change from the maniacal villain fans know. In Marvel’s main timeline, Harry has become the Green Goblin at his lowest moments, following his father Norman Osborn’s dark, murderous example. However, in the Ultimate Universe, Harry appears to be a highly competent hero – albeit a darker one than Peter.
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The Ultimate Green Goblin Is a Crime-Fighter
The Ultimate Universe Doesn’t Follow Marvel’s Old Paradigms
In the Ultimate Universe (Earth-6160), Peter Parker was prevented from becoming Spider-Man as a teenager by the Maker, who has rewritten this reality’s timeline to set himself up as the planet’s unquestioned ruler. Twenty years later, Peter was eventually given powers by Tony Stark, who sought to undermine the Maker’s plans. Now, an adult Peter Parker is learning the ropes of superheroism, with his fight against Bullseye being the first time he’s actually beaten a bad guy.
Since the first issue, fans have suspected that Harry Osborn would be the Green Goblin in this universe, prompted by the fact that Norman Osborn has already died. However, they had also suspected that Harry would be his classic villain self. Despite this, Harry seems to have a much better handle on the life of a vigilante than Peter. Since the first issue, he has been systematically attacking the Kingpin’s various properties using his armored suit and glider. This gained the attention of Bullseye, whose job is to kill those who go against the Maker’s power structure.
The New Green Goblin Isn’t a Simple Hero or Villain
The Ultimate Universe’s Status Quo Calls for Different Kinds of Resistance
Green Goblin is usually depicted as a sadistic psychopath, however Harry is ticking none of the boxes for a ‘classic’ Goblin portrayal. The fact that Harry chose to unmask himself after unmasking Peter speaks to a certain level of morality. However, it certainly seems that the new Green Goblin is a less idealistic hero – one who is willing to incur some collateral damage while fighting against the cabal of villains who run the world. In this world that exists under the Maker’s thumb, there is the potential for more than one kind of hero, and it will be fascinating to see how Peter’s idealism contrasts with the Green Goblin’s pragmatic shades of gray.
As Uncle Ben tells Peter and Jonah in this issue, “this is the world, gentlemen, not a fairy tale,” urging the two not to jump to conclusions about Goblin’s (and Spider-Man’s) morality. Approaching Harry with a simple hero/villain binary could be a massive mistake. After all, Peter does not know where Harry takes Bullseye after their encounter, nor does he know what other captives Goblin may have secreted away. In this world, it’s clear that the Green Goblin isn’t some cackling supervillain, however there’s no guarantee that he’s anything like the same type of ‘hero’ as the inexperienced Spider-Man.
Ultimate Spider-Man #3 is available now from Marvel Comics.
