8 Moments We Need To See In MCU Phase 4

2. Norman Osborn To Come To The Rescue Of Peter Parker

Norman Osborn Green Goblin
Marvel

Now that the Spidey-cat is out of the Spidey-bag thanks to Mysterio revealing that Peter Parker and Spider-Man are one and the same, that throws up so many questions for the future of the iconic Wall-crawler and his nearest ‘n’ dearest.

In the funny books, Peter publicly unmasking during the first Civil War story saw villains come out of the woodwork to target him and his loved ones – to the point that Aunt May was shot, and fans were soon in the midst of the god-awful One More Day arc that’s often cited as the worst Spider-Man story in the history of Spider-Man stories.

With regards to the MCU, the knowledge that Peter Parker is Spider-Man should be particularly appealing to a Norman Osborn who we’ve yet to see rear his head in the MCU. By the time the to-be-titled Spider-Man: Far From Home follow-up rolls around in July 2021, maybe Norman is shown as a background player.

The sly, slimy sort that he is, Osborn is the kind of villain who’d secretly send a bunch of hired guns directly after Peter and Aunt May, while at the same time greasing the Parkers’ palms and promising them protection in exchange for Peter helping Norman out.

You don’t have to go all out with Osborn and make him the standout ‘big bad’ of Spider-Man’s world just yet, but there’s great potential to introduce the character in the aforementioned 2021 release before then fleshing him out and raising the villainous stakes across several further movies.

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 and Presenter, 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 day job, his role as 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 and Eli Roth to Kevin Smith and the Russo Brothers, to Kevin Conroy and Frank Miller, to Bret Hart and Sting, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, and Brian Flynn, to many, many more. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is a long-standing season ticket holder and an FSA Award-winner for his time co-hosting the Fearless in Devotion podcast.