Kraven the Hunter just made Spider-Man the new Green Goblin

Spider-Man’s efforts to rehabilitate the Green Goblin just blew up in his face, as he was imbued with the sins of Norman Osborn, potentially making him the new Goblin.

Spider-Man and Green Goblin have been one of comics’ most fascinating rivalries. As costumed individuals, they’ve been bitter rivals for most of their existence. But Peter and Norman are often portrayed as having a father and son dynamic, especially in media where they’re early days or don’t know each other’s identities. 

Most recently, that relationship has been friendly. Following the Sinister War arc, Norman Osborn’s past sins have been “cleansed,” and he has become a more heroic figure. Even the watchful eyes of Spider-Man and Ms. Marvel have noticed the change. 

Still, Spider-Man continues to tease a slip back to evil for Norman. The latest issue of Amazing Spider-Man appears to be lining up to pull the trigger on the change, but instead, it may have turned Spider-Man into the new Green Goblin. 

Spider-Man takes on Green Goblin’s sins

Amazing Spider-Man #32 kicks off a new arc where Kraven the Hunter has allied with Queen Goblin, the former Beyond scientist who was forcibly grafted with Norman’s sins. Through ceremony, Kraven has cleansed her of those sins and infused them into his spear. 

Kraven intends to turn Norman back into his evil Green Goblin self so that he can hunt him as his ultimate prey. However, when he attacks Norman in the lab that night, Peter is there as well. As Spider-Man, Peter takes Kraven’s attack and takes on Norman’s sins. 

The last page of the issue depicts a maddening, cackling Spider-Man as an ominous Goblin forms in the shadows behind him. There is quite a bit of setup being done in the issue to explain what the story is aiming to say.

Prior to the encounter, Peter and Norman have a long discussion about his constantly watching for Norman to relapse. Specifically, it’s called out that Peter is watching for Norman not to become “the man who killed Gwen” again, referring to the classic story wherein Green Goblin kills Spider-Man’s long-time girlfriend, Gwen Stacy. 

The idea of infusing the sins of Norman Osborn that were transposed into a clone scientist onto a spear so they can go into Peter sounds increasingly more complicated the more you type it out, but it does present a unique opportunity.

There’s now a chance to explore their relationship from a different perspective while still not absolving Norman. After all, how will Spider-Man react when he feels Green Goblin’s emotions about killing Gwen firsthand? 

Of course, exploring that grief may be too little, too late. The current Amazing Spider-Man run has put Spidey through the wringer more than usual, with a long, drawn-out plot that involved Mary Jane raising children that weren’t real and culminating in the immediately undone death of Ms. Marvel, a character who barely appeared in the book. Fans have already grown exhausted with the run. Could this unique avenue for character exploration be what gets them back on board?

The Amazing Spider-Man #32 is available now.