The Hobgoblin and the Green Goblin are two of Spider-man’s most infamous enemies. While the Marvel characters share many similarities, they also differ quite a bit from each other. The Hobgoblin was actually brought into Marvel comics because the writers did not want to resurrect Green Goblin after his death.
The Green Goblin
While many characters have donned the villainous mantle of Green Goblin over the years, the original title belongs to Billionaire businessman, Norman Osborn. Osborn gained his superhuman abilities through a chemical formula known as ‘The Goblin Formula‘. While this formula granted him superhuman strength and speed it also made him go insane. It caused Osborn to hear voices in his head and created an incredible appetite for destruction and mayhem within him.
Hobgoblin
The first Hobgoblin in Marvel comics was another businessman, Roderick Kingsley. Kingsley was an extreme narcissist and would stop at nothing to get what he wanted. After Kingsley got his hands on Norman Osborn’s Green Goblin formula he decided to test it out on someone else before eventually taking it himself. When he exposed himself to a modified version of the formula (so that he wouldn’t go insane) Kingsley gained all the same powers Osborn’s Green Goblin and became the Hobgoblin.
Hobgoblin vs Green Goblin
These are the differences and similarities between the Hobgoblin and Green Goblin
Differences
The main difference between the Hobgoblin and the Green Goblin is that Green Goblin is insane whereas Hobgoblin is just a narcissist and is fully aware of what he is doing.
The Spider-man villains also differ in terms of costumes. The Green Goblin prefers green and purple whereas the Hobgoblin is more of an orange and blue kind of guy.
Similarities
Hobgoblin and Green Goblin both have the same power set and abilities. They both have superhuman strength, reflexes, agility, speed and even have a regenerative ability.
They both have had a number of people become the character over the years although the originals are the most notable (Norman Osborn and Roderick Kingsley).
Both Goblins have Spider-man as their main enemy and want to destroy him because he continuously gets in their way.
