Dr. Norman Osborn II (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
certaininequities) wrote2022-01-05 09:55 pm
certaininequities) wrote2022-01-05 09:55 pm
History Notes Part 1/ Spoiler Opt-Out
I am playing Norman from after the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home, but will refrain from leaving details of it here. Once the film has been out for a full month, I will continue the history notes in a SEPARATE post and link the contents for those who wish to read them. If you would like me to refrain from spoiling you, please leave me an opt-out comment here, and I will play our threads as vaguely as possible (or, if in PSLs, avoid spoilers altogether and play him from his own universe and timeline).
Family Legacy & Pre-Movie Life (Some details taken From the Marvel Earth-616 Wiki and the 2001 trade paperback "Revenge of the Green Goblin", as well as this newspaper article screenshot):
The Osborn family fortune was started by Alton Osborn Sr. in the late 1880s: he was a robber baron who made the family money through capitalizing on the railroad boom. Presumably it is his son who was the first Norman Osborn. Norman's father Amberson was a failed inventor who sank the last of the family money into failed projects... and drink. He took out his rage on Norman and his mother, including one incident where he locked Norman in the abandoned family house to make him get over his fear of the dark. (See here and here. He imagined a goblin-like creature lurking in the darkness, and this would later serve as inspiration while designing a Certain Suit of Armor.
Norman studied - and excelled in - chemistry and electrical engineering at MIT, and also took a number of courses in business administration. However, even at a young age, his ambition overrode his morals, and a cheating scandal nearly caused him to lose his scholarship. One professor, Dr. Mendel Stromm, stood up for him, and eventually Norman would make Stromm his business partner when he founded Oscorp.
He married his college sweetheart: an artist named Caroline Mulder. Even though Norman was struggling to build his company with Stromm's help, the couple seemed happy enough, and soon they had a son, Harold "Harry" Osborn. Not much else is mentioned about Caroline, other than that they divorced after ten years of marriage. Given Norman's remark to Harry that "your mother was beautiful too, they're all beautiful until they're snarling after your trust fund like a pack of ravening wolves"... we can assume it was not an amicable divorce. Over the course of this time, Norman also had to mortgage his house to save the company, and fight with the Board of Directors to keep Oscorp from being bought out by a rival company.
Norman buried himself in work to get through the aftermath of the divorce, which led to two things: the rise of Oscorp and the unfortunate neglect of Harry. Norman was so preoccupied with giving his son the best life possible without his mother that he didn't realize that, perhaps, the best thing he could have given Harry was his time. Instead, he tried to send him to several prestigious private schools, where Harry continually failed out. By Harry's senior year, Oscorp was doing spectacular things and had attracted the attention of the government in what was, no doubt, an attempt to recreate Dr. Abraham Erskine's super-soldier formula without the use of gamma rays.
The rest is MCU history: Norman tests the serum on himself due to deadline constraints, pressure, and sheer stubbornness. The serum augments his strength and speed, but also blows his id wide open, turning his repressed anger into outward aggression, and creating the dual personality of the Green Goblin. Norman kills Stromm, then goes on to murder Oscorp's board of directors when they try to cut him out of the company. This kicks off his rivalry with Spider-man ... and the two are in the middle of their climactic battle when suddenly a bright yellow portal opens, and Norman is ripped from his world and into an alternate universe, where the events of Spider-man: No Way Home take place. Those who care to keep reading can find that post here.
((For my own reference: canon chatter plurk is here. SPOILERS for NWH inside. Click at your own discretion.))
Family Legacy & Pre-Movie Life (Some details taken From the Marvel Earth-616 Wiki and the 2001 trade paperback "Revenge of the Green Goblin", as well as this newspaper article screenshot):
The Osborn family fortune was started by Alton Osborn Sr. in the late 1880s: he was a robber baron who made the family money through capitalizing on the railroad boom. Presumably it is his son who was the first Norman Osborn. Norman's father Amberson was a failed inventor who sank the last of the family money into failed projects... and drink. He took out his rage on Norman and his mother, including one incident where he locked Norman in the abandoned family house to make him get over his fear of the dark. (See here and here. He imagined a goblin-like creature lurking in the darkness, and this would later serve as inspiration while designing a Certain Suit of Armor.
Norman studied - and excelled in - chemistry and electrical engineering at MIT, and also took a number of courses in business administration. However, even at a young age, his ambition overrode his morals, and a cheating scandal nearly caused him to lose his scholarship. One professor, Dr. Mendel Stromm, stood up for him, and eventually Norman would make Stromm his business partner when he founded Oscorp.
He married his college sweetheart: an artist named Caroline Mulder. Even though Norman was struggling to build his company with Stromm's help, the couple seemed happy enough, and soon they had a son, Harold "Harry" Osborn. Not much else is mentioned about Caroline, other than that they divorced after ten years of marriage. Given Norman's remark to Harry that "your mother was beautiful too, they're all beautiful until they're snarling after your trust fund like a pack of ravening wolves"... we can assume it was not an amicable divorce. Over the course of this time, Norman also had to mortgage his house to save the company, and fight with the Board of Directors to keep Oscorp from being bought out by a rival company.
Norman buried himself in work to get through the aftermath of the divorce, which led to two things: the rise of Oscorp and the unfortunate neglect of Harry. Norman was so preoccupied with giving his son the best life possible without his mother that he didn't realize that, perhaps, the best thing he could have given Harry was his time. Instead, he tried to send him to several prestigious private schools, where Harry continually failed out. By Harry's senior year, Oscorp was doing spectacular things and had attracted the attention of the government in what was, no doubt, an attempt to recreate Dr. Abraham Erskine's super-soldier formula without the use of gamma rays.
The rest is MCU history: Norman tests the serum on himself due to deadline constraints, pressure, and sheer stubbornness. The serum augments his strength and speed, but also blows his id wide open, turning his repressed anger into outward aggression, and creating the dual personality of the Green Goblin. Norman kills Stromm, then goes on to murder Oscorp's board of directors when they try to cut him out of the company. This kicks off his rivalry with Spider-man ... and the two are in the middle of their climactic battle when suddenly a bright yellow portal opens, and Norman is ripped from his world and into an alternate universe, where the events of Spider-man: No Way Home take place. Those who care to keep reading can find that post here.
((For my own reference: canon chatter plurk is here. SPOILERS for NWH inside. Click at your own discretion.))
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