The major Norman Osborn is not only Spider-Man’s greatest nemesis, but also one of the Marvel Universe’s most dangerous supervillains, so naturally, there was something of a vacuum left when Norman seemingly died and Harry Osborn was no longer using the ghoulish mantle. Enter Roderick Kingsley, a corrupt CEO similar to Osborn who discovered a safehouse of Norman’s gear and Goblin serum and used them to become the Hobgoblin.
Introduced in the early 1980s, the Hobgoblin was both a successor to and a distinctly different villain from the Green Goblin. While both criminals used lethal Halloween-themed weaponry, the Hobgoblin lacked Norman Osborn’s insanity, so while the Green Goblin adored inflicting cruelty and horror for its own sake, the Hobgoblin sought more rational goals, namely money and influence. Like the Green Goblin, the Hobgoblin’s true identity was a mystery for years, until he was revealed to be socialite and fashion designer Roderick Kingsley.
Despite having no scientific background, Roderick Kingsley somehow modified Norman Osborn’s Goblin Formula, creating a new serum that granted a greater degree of superhuman physical enhancements and lacked the insanity-inducing side effects. This was a potential plot hole for more than a decade, but a retcon established in Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #14 by J.M. DeMatteis and Sal Buscema may explain how Kingsley managed this feat. The Goblin formula that Kingsley took might have been Norman Osborn’s original intended serum, while the formula that Norman took was sabotaged by his own son, Harry Osborn.
As revealed in the Spectacular Spider-Man annual, a young Harry Osborn was angry with his father’s neglectful behavior, so he sabotaged his work on the Goblin Formula, rendering it unstable. Harry couldn’t have known how dire the consequences of his actions would end up being, but had he not meddled with Osborn’s serum, it might have resulted in a stronger formula that wouldn’t drive its s insane. Roderick Kingsley worked with Norman Osborn’s notes when concocting his Goblin Formula, so he might have simply followed a recipe and ended up with the purer Goblin Formula that Norman Osborn had originally intended.
While the Hobgoblin is a stronger and more focused supervillain, his lack of insanity ultimately makes him a lesser threat to Spider-Man and the greater Marvel universe. The Green Goblin may have superpowers and a deadly arsenal of weapons, but what makes him one of the deadliest villains in Marvel Comics is his unsured capacity for cruelty and his sinisterly creative mind. The Hobgoblin, by comparison, is simply a well-equipped criminal with a brilliant strategic mind, and his superior Goblin Formula might have come from original Green Goblin Norman Osborn all along, thanks to this later Spider-Man comic’s retcon.
