Warning: SPOILERS for Avengers Forever #11Marvel's newest Spider-Man's greatest enemy has been a presence in his life for many years, and his list of evil deeds is too long to count. Avengers Forever #11 reveals an entire squad of Goblins...but the company has already hinted that not all of them are evil.
Out of the dozens of Spider-Man villains, the Green Goblin is by far the most vile and the most memorable. In the guise of the Goblin persona, Norman Osborn has enhanced strength, agility, and uses his famous Goblin Glider to match Spider-Man's acrobatics in the air. He infamously killed Gwen Stacy in front of Peter's eyes, causing a ripple effect in the entire comics industry: from that moment on, no characters were safe, not even the love interests of the hero. But over time, Norman Osborn shifted from a vile villain to a tragic figure.
In Avengers Forever #11, written by Jason Aaron, Jim Towe & Frank Martin, the Avengers attempt to bring together a team from every corner of the Multiverse. Their enemy is the Black Skull and the Multiversal Masters of Evil, who use the villains of the multiverse to attack the heroes. Here, a Captain America variant (Nick Fury) is swarmed by the evil Goblin Corps, who presumably police this universe under the guise of law and order. Dozens of Goblins attack Fury, but he receives reinforcements in the form of Deathlok and the All-Rider, who make short work of the Osborns. Unfortunately, they could have used better tactic: recruit them.
In current comics continuity, the Green Goblin is now the Gold Goblin, and Norman Osborn is attempting to reform. He's even enlisted Peter Parker in an attempt to change and become better, and created a gold/white suit to become a hero. An infinite Multiverse means infinite possibilities, and if the 616 version of Norman Osborn can change, it's highly likely that the of the Goblin Corps can change as well. Unfortunately, the issue presents the group as a simple obstacle instead of a Norman Osborn variant - capacity for good and all.
Considering the popularity of single-character multiverse stories (Spider-Man's many clones and variants, Doctor Octopus teaming up with himself in a Devil's Reign spinoff, and the Captain Marvel Corps in the Avengers series), it's likely the Goblin Corps will appear again. It remains to be seen if Marvel will treat them as simple one-dimensional villains or three-dimensional characters with depth. Sadly, it seems these many variants of the Green Goblin are destined to be canon fodder for the multiversal Avengers team and little else.
