It’s hard to name a Spider-Man villain bigger than the Green Goblin, and Marvel Studios just gave fans a first look at the design for its own version of the character. Marvel Studios has released several Spider-Man projects over the years, but it hasn’t designed its own Green Goblin until now. The studio's version of the malignant super-villain is closer to the original comic book design than most iterations.
The villain is on the way in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. The animated Disney+ series retells Peter Parker’s early days in its own isolated universe, where Oscorp founder Norman Osborn mentors a teenage Peter instead of Tony Stark, as Marvel Studios did in the MCU.
The first look comes from The Art of Marvel Animation’s Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, the official art book for the series that hit shelves on June 23. A page of concept art from series artist Paolo Rivera shows Norman Osborn in a row of sharp suits, beside the face he hides behind once the Goblin takes hold.
It is the first Green Goblin designed for the screen by Marvel Studios itself, since Willem Dafoe’s take belongs to Sam Raimi’s Sony films. This one takes direct inspiration from the character’s earliest comic-book look.
Rivera’s sheet treats Norman as two people in one. As Norman, the Oscorp boss, looks every inch the billionaire in tailored jackets and a turtleneck, his Goblin persona, on the other hand, comes with sickly green skin, pointed ears, a heavy brow, and a thin, knowing grin tucked beneath a dark red hood.
Another Goblin art from the book goes more retro, handing the villain aviator goggles, a red flight cap, and a long scarf that trails behind him, a pulpy touch that fits the throwback art the show is known for.
This design sets this version apart from the Goblin that fans already know. Dafoe first played Norman Osborn in 2002’s Spider-Man, then returned almost twenty years later in Spider-Man: No Way Home, pulled into the MCU through the multiverse. Even in that crossover, his Goblin kept the look Raimi’s team created at Sony years earlier.
Raimi dressed his villain in a full suit of metallic green armor, topped by a rigid, grinning mask with retractable glossy gold lenses, a look that drew plenty of mockery over the years. Rivera takes a completely different design approach with his Goblin. There is no armor and no helmet here, only Osborn’s own warped, green face with pointed ears, a look closer to a goblin from a storybook than a man in a machine.
The Marvel Studios design is also distinct from Sony's most recent Goblin iteration. In 2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, the character showed up as a reckless, towering monster, more green beast than person.
Rivera’s design is more similar to the early Amazing Spider-Man comics by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, where the Goblin first appeared in 1964. He was depicted as a green, leering figure in a purple hood who rode a bat-shaped glider.
How Norman Osborn Could Become the Green Goblin in Season 2
It became very clear by the end of Season 1 that Norman Osborn is destined to become the Green Goblin in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. Norman had already shown his other side in the last few episodes. In the finale, he held on to a scrap of the Venom symbiote after the Monolith experiment unleashed it at Oscorp. His own secret work also turned out to be the reason Peter gained his powers in the first place. Peter walked away from the internship once he pieced together Osborn's shady business, and this friction could lead to the introduction of Green Goblin.
Marvel is in no rush, though. Brad Winderbaum, Marvel Studios’ head of streaming, television, and animation, noted that the introduction of Goblin was a question of when, not if. He told The Escape Pod podcast that Norman will "become Green Goblin at some point," while warning fans not to expect it overnight.
Season 2 is likely going to be more of a slow build-up to the famous Goblin persona than an immediate reveal. Winderbaum also compared the new Norman, Peter, and Harry dynamic to Succession, all boardroom power plays, and family wounds. This complex dynamic is likely to contribute to Norman's path toward destruction. The stakes are also much bigger this season with the introduction of new faces like Ghost Spider. There's also the dynamic with the Venom symbiote and Norman’s long feud with Otto Octavius, who’s getting a significant power upgrade. The Oscorp CEO is definitely going to crave more power to match the might of his adversaries, and that’s where the nasty green monster comes in.
Geraldo Amartey is a writer at The Direct. He joined the team in 2025, bringing with him four years of experience covering entertainment news, pop culture, and fan-favorite franchises for sites like YEN, Briefly and Tuko.
