I don't think there is anyone who has seen both Civil War and this Spiderman show, will come away without the observation that Norman Osborn is very similar to Tony Stark, if in nothing else then in the role he plays in this peter's life.
But that is not all this is, as much as he is a part of peter's life as a guiding and parental presence, even probably replacing uncle ben as the primary male parental influence, Norman and Tony, while similar in a lot of ways, are not the same.
Yes, both are ultra rich billionaires who probably cause a lot of harm with their power as well as good, but where as Tony realizes at the very least some aspect of the extent his power and the amount of damage it can potentially cause, Norman Osborn on the other hand seems to have it cracked, somehow all of what he has shown us so far gives the appearance that he knows exactly how to use his power correctly.
And that is the key thing, it is an appearance an act, we do not know if underneath that act he really is as he shows himself, or perhaps there is something more sinister going on, even without the knowledge of who Norman is in the comics, it is very apparent to anyone watching this show that this guy is probably not to be trusted.
Because nobody is that clean, it is possible, but highly unlikely. We readily trust Tony, not because he is super clean, but because we can see the ins and outs of his life and more importantly, he began as the version of a Billionaire we are more accustomed to, he is trying to improve, but he isn't quite there yet.
Which is why every time Norman does something "good" we don't trust him, and he is just that close to the border of... yeah that's too much.
And these three episodes are filled with subversions like this, the leader of the Gang... I forget the name... who gave Lonnie his name Tombstone, he appears to be hurting Lonnie, but on the flipside, it appears him and his "gang" are just trying to survive, against the far larger threat of the scorpion.
How do I know they aren't all bad, apart from what the show tells us.
well the leader of the Gang is a lawyer in the comics who is a friend to Daredevil and constantly flip flops from bad to good, but at his core, he has good intentions.
And the thing about Norman's subversion of Good, is that it could genuinely be all about helping people, shows like the boys have shown us how the road to hell is paved with good intentions if one is not aware of every aspect of one's actions, and no one is aware of every aspect of one's actions.
One can only fight the growing possibility of things going wrong by constant vigilance, as Mad Eye Moody put in Harry Potter or Tyr(the real one is supposed to have a mark over the y but I don't know how to do that so I'm saying here that I am referring to the real Tyr not fake Tyr) in God of War Ragnarok Valhalla.
In fact if you would indulge me in this sudden reference to other fictional universes, the difference between Real and Fake Tyr is very much reflected in the Difference between Osborn and Stark, both inspire you to be the best version of yourself, but one is not so great.
If you haven't played the God of War series however, I will not spoil it further here, and I will just say, the connection goes deeper, so explore I guess? It's the Era of YouTube, one doesn't have to play the game to know it.
But Coming back to the show, Norman also shows that the simple act of questioning power in itself is not enough to decree someone as altruistic, because well... he does question Tony. He questions his power, and yearns to do better.
But the thing about 'good' things is that if something is an indication of someone who is genuinely good then there is a chance someone nefarious will put it on as a mask to manipulate, sometimes so tightly that they themselves are not aware of it.
But of course sometimes like every mask, what is real and what is the mask gets lost in translation and one becomes what one is pretending to be, and that is why there is hope for Norman.
He could be like A-Train
Or he could not be like that, we would never know, until we do.
And given how this show is going it very well could pull a fast one on us, this show is already going to get a third season, they are going to take their time.
And another reason why questioning power isn't always great but a much more subtler one is shown in the Dynamic between Dr. Wittman and Dr. Connors, maybe that someone is questioning power because they think they are superior, or that they just want that power, while the person with that power could be actually deserving.
I mean yes, Lizard, but Connor's Lizard side is always shown as different from their real persona, so perhaps, this version of Connors like every version of Connors could be a really good person just taken down a dark path probably because of stuff like this.
Just Like Lonnie gets the name Tombstone because of his drive to be good.
All of this could be leading exactly where you think, or it could not, and both will be interesting to see, and that, is a sign of good writing, and all of this is possible because of the changes made to the source material.
Just like shown in this show, changes to the source material, are not always bad.
Because the thing about bad things, is often they are a defense against worse things, or simply a side effect, and I think I have rambled on enough, you get the point.
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