Harold "Harry" Osborn is a major character in the Marvel's Spider-Man series. The son of Norman Osborn and best friends of Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson, Harry is a good-natured and well-meaning person who fell terminally ill.
Harry worked with his mother Emily Osborn on Oscorp's Research Stations,[a] but was incubated prior to events of the first game and unable to look after them. As the GR-27 cure intended to keep him alive failed, Harry become the prime host of the Venom symbiote to keep his disease at bay until Norman completed a cure. A now-healthy Harry founded the Emily-May Foundation, to honor the work of his mother and of Peter's aunt, May Parker.
History[]
Early history[]
A newborn Harry with his parents.
Harry is the only son of Norman and Emily Osborn. His childhood was happy, shared with his father and mother.[5] Emily had a significant effect on Harry, with her belief in "healing the world" sticking with him in to adulthood.[6] Harry wished to become an environmental lawyer like her.[5]
Harry was a high school friend of Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson. Harry and Peter tended to work with each other in science class, given Peter's gifted ability in the subject. When they were both fifteen, the pair worked on a science project but left their drive containing the project in Peter's locker in the school. Teaming up, they broke into the school at night time, snuck past the security guards and retrieved the drive. However, the security eventually spotted them and chased them through the school. The pair escaped outside only for Norman to arrive in his helicopter and land on the school football field. Norman approached Harry and informed him that Emily had died from complications from Oshtoran Syndrome.[7]
Harry with his closest friends, Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson.
He graduated at the top of his class from Empire State University. At some point after this, he started an internship at Oscorp, hoping to eventually follow in his mother's footsteps as an environmental attorney. Taking over Emily's research stations after her passing in order to preserve her legacy,[a] Harry kept hers going and introduced a research station for his own pet project on cell tower frequency to protect them from potential terror threats,[1] a station analyzing diseases carried by birds,[8] and a station analyzing water quality,[9] among other studies.
Harry had inherited his mother's Oshtoran Syndrome and began to experience complications. Unwilling to put his friends through the hardship he felt during his mother's illness, Harry kept his condition a secret, pretending to be busy or hungover from partying when his sickness got in the way.[5]
Norman infects Harry with the Venom Symbiote.
When Harry's condition became critical, he was directed to take an experimental medical treatment, GR-27, designed to cure genetic diseases but years off completion.[10] Harry was placed in a stasis chamber, leaving a note in his diary for Peter and Mary Jane should things go wrong, Norman telling them that Harry was on a long vacation in Europe instead.[5] In reality, Harry had been left in stasis with the Venom symbiote keeping him alive.
Marvel's Spider-Man[]
Norman looks on as Harry floats in stasis.
During Marvel's Spider-Man series, while Harry was in stasis, in "Harry's Passion Project", Peter Parker picked up recordings and notes Harry had left at the research stations set up around New York, asking Peter to finish what he could not.[11] Once Peter finished their work, Oscorp fully funded them, with Mary Jane printing the news in the Daily Bugle.[12]
During "Step Into My Parlor...", Mary Jane infiltrated Norman's penthouse and learned the truth about Harry's stasis, finding the diary note he left behind.[5] As GR-27 had become weaponized and used as a disease, Osborn promised Harry he would keep looking for a cure, but kept him in stasis.[13]
Miles Morales[]
Harry awakes while attached to Venom in a container.
After the events of Miles Morales, Harry regained consciousness and woke up to a news broadcast reporting Roxxon's criminal activity and Rio Morales's successful election as councilwoman. His father saw this and demanded Curt Connors, the doctor looking over his son, get him out of stasis immediately, despite the warning of his ongoing illness.[14]
Marvel's Spider-Man 2[]
10 months after Spider-Man's battle with The Tinkerer, Harry was finally released from the container with the symbiote now attached to him. Norman told Harry that, according to Dr. Connors' research, the symbiote is able to heal Harry's condition so long as he wears it. In time, Harry fully recovers physically, though he still keeps his walking cane with him as "insurance". He then tells his father that he dreamed about fulfilling his mother, Emily's, dreams about "healing the world" and wants to start a foundation in her honor. Norman accepts and begins work on making a building dedicated to researching towards that cause. Upon learning about Peter losing his Aunt May, Harry names the foundation the Emily-May Foundation in their honor.
In "Roll Like We Used To", after the Spider-Men's battle with Sandman, Harry drives to Peter and Mary Jane's house to see them. The pair are overjoyed for Harry, noting how great he now looks. MJ drives away on her motorbike so Harry turns his attention to Peter. He reveals he brought bikes similar to the ones they rode while in high school and asks Peter to follow him. Peter does so, and Harry leads him to their old high school. He recalls their break in several years prior to steal back the drive with their science work, and takes Peter back down the same route they did. They eventually reach Peter's old locker but this time an ID badge is inside. A security guard then arrives, chasing the pair out to the football field. The pair sit in the stands and Harry informs Peter about the Emily-May Foundation and how he wants Peter to become a co-founder with him, remarking Peter's scientific expertise would be invaluable for the cause. Peter hesitates agreeing, so Harry invites him to visit the foundation the following day and decide for himself after seeing it.
In "Healing The World", Peter visits the Emily-May Foundation, where Harry shows him around. The tour convinces Peter to accept the offer. That night, in "A Second Chance", Peter and Harry celebrate the latter's recovery with MJ at Coney's Island, where Harry is introduced to Miles and Ganke Lee. Their celebration is cut short when Kraven's Hunters attack to capture Tombstone. The Hunters capture Tombstone, but not before nearly destroying the foundations of a rollercoaster. Harry uses the symbiote's tentacles to help rescue the rollercoaster's riders, discovering Peter's identity as Spider-Man in the process.
Astounded by his powers, Harry returns to the EMF to test the symbiote's abilities with Peter. The two are asleep by the next day, where Norman informs them Dr. Connors is missing. Peter leaves the EMF and, under a tip from Black Cat, heads to a Hunter base where Tombstone is captive in "Hunt to Live, Live to Hunt". He is soon assisted by Harry, who wears the symbiote as a hybrid of tactical armor and a Spider-Man suit. Despite Harry's callowness in crime-fighting, he helps Peter rescue Tombstone. As the two celebrate their victory as "Spider-Pals", the symbiote reacts and latches onto Peter, developing a stylized spider symbol on his chest, though they simply brush it off as Harry wanting to be like Peter.
In "Good Men", Harry and Peter learn from MJ that Sergei Kravinoff has Connors hostage at an abandoned zoo in Jersey. They are too late to stop Kraven from injecting Connors with a special Lizard serum, so they fend off Kraven's Hunters while MJ attempts to find the antidote, but Kraven takes the antidote and fatally stabs Peter. Enraged, Harry uses the symbiote's powers to fight Kraven before tending to Peter. The symbiote transfers itself to Peter, forming the Black Suit, and Peter uses its powers to fend off Kraven's Hunters while MJ and Harry retreat to the EMF.
Without the symbiote, Harry's illness begins to return. Peter tries to give it back, but finds the symbiote is unable to leave its new host. In the meantime, the three decide they need to find Connors, as he is the only one who knows of the symbiote's secrets. Peter uses the symbiote to infiltrate a party and steal the antidote, which he and Harry use to form a special antidote to restore Connors to normal.
Peter manages to use the antidote on the Lizard and restore Connors to normal, but at the same time, the symbiote increases its hold on Peter, becoming the Symbiote Suit. As his condition worsens, Harry desperately requests the symbiote back, but a corrupted Peter refuses, stating it makes him a better Spider-Man. His self-esteem continues to crumble when he finds Norman praising Peter as a better son than him.
After removing the symbiote with Miles's help, Peter returns to the Oscorp tower to destroy it. Harry intercepts him and refuses, desperately needing the symbiote. Harry's pain and rage attract the symbiote, which breaks free from its container before bonding with him again. This time, it transforms him into a monstrous creature and rampages through Oscorp, effortlessly eviscerating the Oscorp security personnel. It is then spotted by Kraven's hunters, who lure it out into the city before Kraven himself faces it in combat. Even Kraven is no match for the symbiote's might, and he thanks it for giving him a worthy death in combat before it bites his head off. Harry regains his senses, and, horrified at what he has done, retreats to his mother's grave. The symbiote speaks to him in his mother's voice, convincing him to use its powers to "heal the world" by infesting it with symbiotes.
Dubbing itself Venom, the symbiote completely takes over Harry's body and enacts its plan to capture civilians and infesting them with symbiotes.
Characteristics[]
Appearance[]
Harry’s physical characteristics include thick red hair like his father, freckles, and hazel-green eyes. He often dresses casually, even in his office setting but still finds time to be provocative with his halter top-jacket combo in “Stay Positive”. He stands at 5’10 and reveals a very curvaceous figure in his Symbiote suited alter-ego.
Personality[]
Harry seems to be a good-natured and intelligent individual, hoping to follow in his mother's footsteps as an environmental attorney. Harry's recordings in his laboratories indicate that he is a kind individual with a strong sense of social conscience, sincere in his desire to continue his mother's legacy by cleaning up New York and making it a better place for his fellow man. Harry possesses a very sarcastic sense of humor, often cracking jokes and making fun of his friends lovingly. He enjoys teasing Peter and can be seen many times throughout the game shoving him playfully, even touching him more than Mary-Jane. He seems to have a lonely upbringing, as Mary Jane recalls that in their childhood, Harry was noticeably more content watching cartoons in Aunt May's apartment than in his family's penthouse on an advanced TV. Harry also valued Peter's friendship greatly, as Peter mentioned Harry always invited Peter to go clubbing with him and after coming out of stasis, Harry offered Peter a job with him as a co-founder of Emily-May Foundation.
Peter mentioned that Harry has always been a little hot-tempered.[15]
While he genuinely loves his father, Harry is well-aware of his father's flaws, including his greed and dishonesty as heard in his audio logs. He would often tend to avoid his father at most costs and would prefer to keep a distance, especially when his father put on his facade as the gracious savior, Mayor of New York.
Behind the scenes[]
Portrayal[]
Scott Porter was the voice and motion-capture actor for Harry Osborn throughout the Research Station activities in the first game. However, after Porter's issue with being too old to continue voicing Harry after he addressed potential issues such as the age gap between Porter and the character resulted in Insomniac Games deciding to go "photorealistic", Graham Phillips took over Porter's role as Harry's current actor to accommodate the character's more prominent role in the story and fit his age gap with the character.[16]
Original appearance[]
Harry Osborn's first appearance was in Amazing Spider-Man #31 (December 1965).
Harry Osborn becoming a symbiote host, albeit by more than one of them first occur in eight episode of the animated series Ultimate Spider-Man within its two known seasons, starting as Symbiote Spider-Man/Venom in Season 1 episode titled "Back in Black" (May 13, 2012), and as Anti-Venom (first appeared and worn by Eddie Brock in The Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 1 #569 (October 2008)) in Season 4 episode titled "Anti-Venom" (April 3, 2016).
Citations[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Marvel's Spider-Man script § "Cell Tower Frequency"
- ↑ Marvel's Spider-Man script § "Visibly Shaken"
- ↑ Marvel's Spider-Man script § "Bacteria Buddies"
- ↑ Marvel's Spider-Man script § "Ventilate the Problem"
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Marvel's Spider-Man script § "Step Into My Parlor..."
- ↑ Marvel's Spider-Man 2 script § "Hunt Kraven"
- ↑ Marvel's Spider-Man, "Hidden Agenda"
- ↑ Marvel's Spider-Man script § "Pigeon Vaccine"
- ↑ Marvel's Spider-Man script § "Dive and Dash"
- ↑ Marvel's Spider-Man script § "Spider-Hack"
- ↑ Marvel's Spider-Man script § "Harry's Passion Project"
- ↑ Marvel's Spider-Man script § "Research Stations"
- ↑ Marvel's Spider-Man script § "Post-Credit"
- ↑ Miles Morales script § "Post-Credit"
- ↑ Marvel's Spider-Man: Hostile Takeover Chapter 13
- ↑ Cryer, Hirun. Marvel's Spider-Man 2 seemingly recasting Harry Osborn. GamesRadar+. November 17, 2022. Accessed November 17, 2022.
Notes[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Most of the Research Stations around the city were Emily's own projects, though not all. Harry describes the cell tower station as his pet project[1] while another lab was used for military technology.[2] Given that her first project was to clean the oceans[3] and her interest in steam heating for environmental reasons,[4] it is likely that projects focused on this and public health were her design while Harry and Norman were responsible for the rest.