Oscorp

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Oscorp
Oscorp.jpg
Oscorp, from Dark Reign: The List - Amazing Spider-Man #1 (January 2010).
Art by Adam Kubert.
In-story information
Type of businessCorporation
Owner(s) Norman Osborn (former)
Employee(s) Mendel Stromm
Donald Menken
Arthur Stacy

Oscorp (sometimes stylized as OsCorp), also known as Oscorp Industries, is a fictional multibillion-dollar multinational corporation appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, predominantly in stories about Spider-Man. The company was founded by Norman Osborn and has appeared in numerous media adaptations. It first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #37 (March, 1966) and was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko.

Contents

History

The corporation is based out of the Oscorp Tower in New York. It was created and run by its CEO Norman Osborn. Norman studied chemistry and electrical engineering in college. He also took a number of courses in business administration. Norman's teacher, Professor Mendel Stromm, formed the business partnership. [1] Since Norman put up the bulk of the financing, they called their company the Osborn Corporation, or Oscorp.

Stromm's early research was on a chemical that would provide enhanced strength in its test subjects and would eventually turn Osborn into the Green Goblin. Osborn, wanting the formula for himself, discovered that Stromm had been embezzling funds from Oscorp. Stromm explained that he was merely borrowing but Osborn turned him over to the police. After several years in prison, Stromm was released and tried to kill Osborn for revenge using evil robots. He was stopped by the superhero Spider-Man and seemingly died of a heart attack when he was nearly shot. [2]

Jay Allan's company "Allan Chemical" was merged with Normie Osborn's stocks from Oscorp and the last remaining properties of Horizon Labs after its destruction, establishing it under the new name of "Alchemax". [3]

It was later revealed that Norman Osborn under the guise of "Mason Banks" created the corporation in order to leave a strong empire for his grandson and establish an empire for the Osborn legacy. Their headquarters Oscorp Tower was the former headquarters of Oscorp. [4]

By 2099, Alchemax would eventually control most aspects of daily life in a possible future.

Fictional staff members

Current

Former

Other versions

Ultimate Marvel

In the Ultimate Marvel universe, Oscorp is much the same as in the Earth-616 version. The company is owned and operated by Norman Osborn who developed the Oz super soldier serum and the spiders who were behind the abilities of Peter Parker, [9] and later Miles Morales. [10] After an incident in which Osborn injected himself with Oz serum and became the Green Goblin, a big portion of the main building was left in ruins, and numerous scientists died or transitioned to other companies like Roxxon in the case of Conrad Marcus. [11] [12] Osborn Industries had been mentioned to still produce technologies. [13]

Ultimate Universe

In Earth-6160, a world whose history was altered by the Maker, Oscorp is one of the largest companies of the North American Union, a regional power bloc which includes the former United States's territories after its central government dissolved in 1969. Norman Osborn operated as CEO before his death in a false flag attack on Stark Tower orchestrated by the Maker's Council. After his passing, Harry Osborn and Gwen Stacy become the two members of its board while the company's control passes to them and their trust as the sole inheritors.

As Stark/Stane's assets become a matter of question and political intrigue due to the fall of the Starks, Wilson Fisk, the new Shadow Governor of the New York territory and Kingpin of Manhattan, appoints Harry to help take care of them during a meeting. Two weeks later, with the assistance of Otto Octavius, the Osborns covertly raid a hidden Stark location containing Iron Man armors, as well as a valuable data repository of files of information regarding suit designs, financial accounts, and the Council's operations. Utilizing Stark technology, Octavius creates the Green Goblin suit as Harry decides to fight against the Kingpin and the Council's reign over New York and the rest of the world, in order to avenge his father's death. [14]

In other media

Television

Film

Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy

Tower Fifty Seven at Lexington Avenue and 57th Street was used for the exterior of the Oscorp Tower in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man (2002). 57th St Lex Av td 12 - 135 East 57th Street.jpg
Tower Fifty Seven at Lexington Avenue and 57th Street was used for the exterior of the Oscorp Tower in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man (2002).

Oscorp is featured in the first two films of Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy.

  • Oscorp Labs appears throughout Spider-Man (2002). Depicted as a chemical corporation based in New York headed by Norman Osborn (Willem Dafoe) and Mendell Stromm, it had a hand in military technology that produced a green metal flight-suit and purple flying glider, which after Norman undergoes the experiment with his own serum, he becomes superhuman yet is driven insane, and steals the armor and glider, becoming the Green Goblin. He then bombs rival Quest Aerospace during a test of their own exosuit, but this only propels the board to oust Norman by selling Oscorp to Quest via buyout. During the unity day festival, the Green Goblin murders the board via pumpkin bomb in retribution, eliminating the last threat towards his control over the company.
  • In Spider-Man 2 (2004), Harry assumes control of Oscorp after Norman's death and funds Otto Octavius' ambition for fusion power. After a demonstration goes awry, which results in the death of Otto's wife Rosie, the destruction of the fusion reactor, and the electrocution of Otto that transforms him into Doctor Octopus, Harry claims "he's ruined" from his losses in the accident.

The Amazing Spider-Man duology

Oscorp is featured in The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014), both directed by Marc Webb. In the films, Oscorp is portrayed as a powerful and corrupt scientific corporation headed by Norman Osborn and others like Rajit Ratha and Donald Menken, who uses the company's vast resources in various attempts to find a cure for his terminal disease. The corporation is involved in a variety of illegal conspiracies, such as the framing and murder of Richard and Mary Parker, and the development of the spider-venom that gave Spider-Man his powers. Oscorp's scientific experiments and illegal activities play a role in the development of several supervillains, including the Lizard, Electro, Green Goblin, and Rhino. Additionally, Oscorp has control over the Ravencroft Institute for the Criminally Insane, in which they perform illegal and inhumane scientific experiments on the institute's mental patients. These experiments are over-seen by a mad scientist named Dr. Ashley Kafka.

Marvel Cinematic Universe

  • The Oscorp building from The Amazing Spider-Man was intended to appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film The Avengers (2012). However, by the time the Oscorp building was fully designed for The Amazing Spider-Man, the skyline for The Avengers was rendered, so the idea was abandoned due to timing constraints. [16]
  • In Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), Norman Osborn, who is transported from the Sam Raimi films' universe, later after running from his Green Goblin split persona after smashing his mask, is unable to find his company in the MCU's New York City, and assumes it does not exist. Though it is possible Oscorp Inc. may exist in the Main MCU Universe albeit outside of New York City, or else has yet to exist, and either way may appear in later MCU installments.

Sony's Spider-Man Universe

An Oscorp building appeared in the trailer for the Sony's Spider-Man Universe film Morbius (2022); however, it was cut from the final version of the film. [17]

Video games

Marvel's Spider-Man game series

Oscorp Industries appears in the Marvel's Spider-Man series developed by Insomniac Games. [19] This version of the company was co-founded by Norman Osborn and Otto Octavius, and its name derives from "the Os", Norman and Otto's college nickname. However, Otto eventually left the company due to Norman's corruption and the dangerous and unethical experiments Oscorp conducted. Thanks to Norman's position as mayor of New York, Oscorp technology has been implemented into many of the city's public services. Research stations were also set up throughout the city by Norman's son Harry Osborn to carry out his late mother Emily's wishes of eradicating pollution and cleaning the environment and are part of a side-quest in the first game.

  • In Marvel's Spider-Man (2018), the company plays a central role, as it was responsible for the creation of the "Devil's Breath", a bio-weapon originally intended to be a treatment for genetic disorders, in particular the illness that killed Norman's wife Emily and later also affected Harry.[ citation needed ] After one of the test subjects for Devil's Breath, Martin Li, gained super powers from it and accidentally killed his parents, he becomes the crime boss Mister Negative to pursue revenge against Norman. Additionally, after Norman withdraws Otto's funding for his research into advanced prosthetic limbs in a thinly veiled attempt to get him to return to Oscorp, Otto becomes inspired by Li's actions to pursue his own vendetta. Seeking to ruin Norman's reputation, Otto forms the Sinister Six and organizes several attacks against Oscorp while also releasing the Devil's Breath in an attempt to expose Norman's role in its creation. Oscorp's response is to hire Sable International and allow them to put the city under martial law, resulting in further abuses and corruption. The former chief scientist of the Devil's Breath project, Morgan Michaels, eventually betrays his employer by helping Spider-Man devise a cure for the virus. Once the Devil's Breath outbreak is stopped and the Sinister Six are defeated, Oscorp is able to avoid any major lawsuits, though Norman resigns as mayor in disgrace.
  • In Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales , the Underground use Oscorp's abandoned science center as a hideout.[ citation needed ] The science center prior to being abandoned appears in a flashback in which Miles Morales and Phin Mason win a contest held there by presenting the energy converter they created before entering their respective high schools. The science center is also the place where Miles indirectly met Peter Parker and Otto, when the latter two visited the center for an idea of their prosthetic limbs project.
  • In Marvel's Spider-Man 2 , it is revealed that Oscorp retrieved the Venom symbiote after it crash-landed outside New York, which was later experimented on by Dr. Curt Connors, turning it into an organic suit that can heal whoever it is bonded to.[ citation needed ] After discovering that the symbiote is sentient and can influence the behavior of its host, however, Connors advised to destroy it, but Norman attempted to use it to cure Harry's illness. This eventually results in Harry becoming Venom and starting a symbiote invasion in New York, which is thwarted by the Spider-Men (Peter Parker and Miles Morales) and Mary Jane Watson, while Venom is destroyed, leaving Harry in a comatose state. This prompts Norman to order his scientists to use the "G-serum" on his son and vow revenge against the Spider-Men, whom he blames for Harry's condition.

See also

References

  1. "Marvel Comics: The 10 Richest Characters, Ranked (& How Much They're Worth)". 12 April 2020.
  2. The Amazing Spider-Man #37 (1966). Marvel Comics.
  3. The Superior Spider-Man #19 (June 2013). Marvel Comics.
  4. The Superior Spider-Man #31 (December 2013). Marvel Comics.
  5. The Avengers vol. 3 #0 (August 1999). Marvel Comics.
  6. Untold Tales of Spider-Man Annual (1997). Marvel Comics.
  7. The Amazing Spider-Man #572. Marvel Comics.
  8. Peter Parker: Spider-Man #1. Marvel Comics.
  9. Ultimate Spider-Man # 1. Marvel Comics.
  10. Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #1. Marvel Comics.
  11. Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #16. Marvel Comics.
  12. Ultimate Spider-Man #4. Marvel Comics.
  13. Ultimate Comics Ultimates #26. Marvel Comics.
  14. Ultimate Spider Man Vol.3 #5. Marvel Comics.
  15. "Spider-Man's Movie Guide To The Real New York City". CBS News. 27 July 2010. Retrieved 13 April 2024.
  16. "How Spider-Man Was Almost In 'The Avengers,' Sort Of". Latino Review. June 11, 2012. Archived from the original on May 5, 2014. Retrieved May 15, 2013.
  17. "Morbius Trailer Reveals Oscorp and Horizon Labs Exist".
  18. "15 Marvel Snap Locations That Make No Sense". 17 November 2022.
  19. Mitra, Ritwik (April 12, 2021). "10 Most Breathtaking Locations In Marvel's Spider-Man". Game Rant.