8 Mysteries Even Spider-Man Couldn't Solve

6. Harry Osborn's Demons - Best Of Enemies

Spider-Man Hobgoblin
Marvel Comics

Very much a case of 'like father, like son', Spider-Man has found himself tormented by both the Norman Osborn and Harry Osborn versions of the Green Goblin over the decades.

While Norman is very much forever simply one of the most outright evil characters in the realm of Marvel Comics, Harry was and is slight different from his old man. In the case of Harry, his days as the Green Goblin were usually driven by addiction issues and his battles with mental illness.

Throughout the history of Spider-Man, one of the great conundrums he's ever had to deal with, was how to save Harry Osborn from his struggles and personal demons.

Unfortunately, ol' Web-head was unable to stop Harry from succumbing to his dark instincts. So much so, 1993's Best of Enemies arc saw Peter's long-time best friend fully embracing the Green Goblin persona and embarking on a mission to kill Spider-Man - and to do that, that meant kidnapping Mary Jane Watson in order to get Spidey's attention.

This whole plot from the Goblin would eventually lead to his own death. Having injected himself with a souped-up version of the infamous Goblin Formula in order to take down the Wall-crawler, Harry would end up being fatally poisoned by said serum.

Realising the errors of his ways on his deathbed, Harry Osborn would pass away with Spider-Man at his bedside.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.