Harry Osborn in Spider-Man: Actors, Story and Fate

Harry Osborn is the son of Norman Osborn, the head of the weapons company Oscorp, and a close friend of Peter Parker. He appears in four Spider-Man films across two separate eras, played by two different actors.

James Franco plays him in all three of Sam Raimi's Spider-Man films: Spider-Man (2002), Spider-Man 2 (2004) and Spider-Man 3 (2007). In those films Franco plays opposite Tobey Maguire's Peter Parker, and he is billed fourth in the first film and third in the next two. Dane DeHaan then takes the role in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014), directed by Marc Webb, where he is billed fourth opposite Andrew Garfield's Peter Parker.

The credits tell you where he is in his story. He is simply Harry Osborn in the first two Raimi films, New Goblin / Harry Osborn in Spider-Man 3, and Green Goblin / Harry Osborn in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Harry Osborn is the same name and the same family in both eras, but each era gives him a separate story and a separate ending.

In the Raimi films Harry is a young man living in his father's shadow, and in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 he returns to New York to be with his dying father. Both versions begin as Peter's friend and turn against him, but only the Raimi version makes peace before the end.

Harry Osborn's story arc runs from friend of Peter Parker to grieving son to Goblin in both eras, with the Raimi films ending in peace and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 ending with him imprisoned. The Raimi version of the arc unfolds over three films and the Webb version over one, so each film is taken in release order.

In Spider-Man (2002), Harry Osborn is Peter Parker's friend and Norman Osborn's son, and he starts dating Mary Jane Watson even as Peter's own feelings for her grow. The Green Goblin kills members of Oscorp's board and then turns on Spider-Man, and Norman is killed by his own glider on the Queensboro Bridge. Peter returns Norman's body to the Osborn home, where Harry finds it. Harry blames Spider-Man for his father's death and swears revenge, which is how the film sets him up as an enemy for later.

In Spider-Man 2, Harry Osborn now runs Oscorp and funds the fusion research of Dr. Otto Octavius, a scientist Peter admires. After the reactor fails and the mechanical arms fuse to Octavius, Harry still blames Spider-Man for Norman's death. He offers to trade Spider-Man to Octavius in return for the reactor materials. By the end he sees Peter's identity and finds his father's hidden Green Goblin gear, which sets up his turn toward villainy.

In Spider-Man 3, Harry Osborn, who already knows Peter is Spider-Man, attacks him as the New Goblin using his father's gear. After a fall he loses his memory, and for a while Peter's life calms. Peter, by then wearing the dark suit, badly injures Harry in another fight. Harry then regains his memory and tricks Mary Jane into leaving Peter. When Harry learns the truth about his father's death, he joins Peter against Venom and Sandman.

In The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Dane DeHaan's Harry Osborn comes home to be with his dying father, and when Norman dies of an inherited illness, Harry takes over Oscorp. He learns that Spider-Man's blood might cure him, but Peter refuses to give it. Executive Donald Menken then pushes Harry out of the company. Harry frees Max Dillon, who has become Electro, and the two join forces. Harry injects himself with a venom-like serum that warps his mind and body, then arrives in an armored glider suit as the Green Goblin.

Harry Osborn's key relationships are with his father Norman Osborn and his friend Peter Parker, with Mary Jane Watson, Gwen Stacy, Otto Octavius and Max Dillon shaping specific films. Each film changes what those bonds mean.

Norman Osborn. Harry's father, Norman Osborn, is the Green Goblin, and in the Raimi films Harry does not know it when he blames Spider-Man for the death. In Spider-Man 3 he learns the truth about how Norman died. In The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Norman is a dying head of Oscorp, and his illness drives Harry's hunt for a cure.

Peter Parker. Harry is Peter Parker's friend first and his enemy second, in both eras. The Raimi version of the friendship ends in Spider-Man 3 with the two making peace before Harry dies. The Webb version breaks over Peter's refusal to give Spider-Man's blood, and the two fight again in the clock tower. See the page on Peter Parker for the other side of that friendship.

Mary Jane Watson. In the first film Harry is dating Mary Jane Watson while Peter Parker is drawn to her. In Spider-Man 3 he tricks her into leaving Peter, which turns an old romantic triangle into a weapon.

Gwen Stacy. In The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Harry, as the Green Goblin, takes Gwen Stacy to a clock tower, where she falls to her death before Peter Parker beats him.

Otto Octavius and Max Dillon. Harry funds Octavius's research in Spider-Man 2 and, in the Webb film, frees Dillon and allies himself with Electro. In both cases Harry puts his money or his influence behind a man who later fights Spider-Man. For more on the first, see Otto Octavius.

Harry Osborn dies in Spider-Man 3 when James Franco's version is fatally wounded saving Peter Parker, while Dane DeHaan's version is still alive, held at Ravencroft, at the end of The Amazing Spider-Man 2. The two eras give him two very different endings.

In Spider-Man 3, Harry is fatally wounded while saving Peter from Venom and Sandman. He and Peter make peace before he dies, and the film shows Peter and Mary Jane after Harry's funeral. That ending is the clearest answer to whether Harry is still alive in Spider-Man 3: he is not.

In The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Peter beats Harry after Gwen falls. Five months later Harry is held at Ravencroft, where he tells a Ravencroft official named Gustav Fiers to free Aleksei Sytsevich, who becomes the Rhino, and supply him with Oscorp weapons. In his armored suit Sytsevich tears through the city, and the film ends with Peter Parker putting the suit back on to face him. Harry's last appearance is therefore as a prisoner who is still plotting.

Harry Osborn's best moment in the Spider-Man films, in this writer's ranking, is his reconciliation with Peter Parker in Spider-Man 3, followed by the ending of Spider-Man (2002), the Goblin gear in Spider-Man 2 and the clock tower in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. These are my picks, and they are opinion, not fact.

1. The peace in Spider-Man 3. Harry learns the truth about his father's death, joins Peter in the fight against Venom and Sandman, and is fatally wounded while saving him. It lands because the film has spent two movies building the grudge, so the reversal costs something. Franco's Harry is the best-written part of that crowded film, since Spider-Man 3 also has to carry the symbiote, Sandman and Gwen Stacy.

2. The ending of Spider-Man (2002). Peter returns Norman's body to the Osborn home, and Harry finds it. The scene is brief, but it hands Harry his whole motive in a single image, and it gives the sequels a reason to exist.

3. The Goblin gear in Spider-Man 2. Harry sees Peter's identity and finds his father's hidden Green Goblin lair. The film does not need to say what comes next, and I like that it trusts the audience to follow.

4. The clock tower in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Dane DeHaan's Harry Osborn arrives in an armored glider suit and takes Gwen Stacy to the clock tower, which leads to the film's most painful scene. The Raimi Harry gets years to turn, whereas this Harry has a single film, and the hurry shows. His Ravencroft scene at the end is still a neat way to leave him dangerous without resolving him.