Of all Marvel's various comic book events over the years, Secret Invasion has undoubtedly become one of the most infamous and influential of them all. Thankfully for the man who stopped it, most people seem to have forgotten how the near takeover of the Earth catapulted him into a more dangerous position than he ever held as the Green Goblin.
During Secret Invasion, the Skrulls wrought untold destruction and sewed years' worth of distrust between Marvel's. However, the plan wasn't flawless. The Skrull agent Khn'nr was intended to replace the original Captain Marvel. Instead, Khn'nr's procedure was botched, leading him to believe he was the real Mar-Vell. Norman Osborn was more than happy to exploit this information when the attempted invader decided to let him live. Leading the Thunderbolts and with insider knowledge in hand, it was only a matter of time before Norman led the biggest counterattack on the Skrull invaders. From there, he became the world's most beloved hero.
How Marvel's Original Secret Invasion Led to Norman Osborn's Dark Reign
Between the acclaim he had garnered as the director of the Thunderbolts and his media savy, Norman Osborn easily manipulated the news stream. By painting himself as Earth's savior, Norman received the reigns to key organizations, letting him influence the world at large. S.H.I.E.L.D. was shuttered to make way for the Superhuman Registration Act and Avengers Initiative to police the United States, and by extension the globe's superpowered population. In turn, Norman reformed S.H.I.E.L.D. into H.A.M.M.E.R., Earth's Mightiest Heroes into his personal Dark Avengers, and himself into the hero he was never meant to be.
Rather than sitting on the sidelines as the overseer of his various projects, Norman transformed himself into the Iron Patriot, the Dark Avengers' Star-Spangled, high-flying replacement for Iron Man. This final act helped Norman establish his particular brand of law and order in the United States and over the wider superpowered populace. It was also the beginning of the end for his reign as a whole. Despite all Norman's efforts to maintain control, the Green Goblin could only be contained for so long. Eventually surfacing, it pushed Norman back into his erratic ways before leading to his defeat and destroying his carefully crafted public persona.
How the Aftermath of Secret Invasion and Dark Reign are Still Being Felt Today
Norman's time as the Iron Patriot may not come up as frequently as his time as the Green Goblin — especially now that he is flying through New York City under his newly minted mantle of the Gold Goblin. Yet, it still informs much of what Norman does today and what people think of him. It isn't just that Norman Osborn has been a villain at so many points in his life. His tendency to play the victim, hero, and patriot in between his villainous stints makes him utterly untrustworthy to everyone in his orbit.
That doesn't mean there is no one left for Norman Osborn to lean on, although it's left him painfully alone in the ways that matter the most. Like the Secret Invasion itself did for Skrulls, Dark Reign established a preconceived notion that its orchestrator could never be capable of anything but evil. Worse still, Norman Osborn has built himself up as a monolith too many times for most people to disregard that notion as a harmful stereotype rather than an inherent aspect of his character. Depending how things go in the days to come, they might even be right.