Before he dies, he gives Harry a small device which he claims contains his life's work.
The next day, it is reported that Norman Osborn has passed away, making Harry Osborn CEO of Oscorp.
Upon hearing the news, Peter Parker visits Harry and the two are revealed to have been childhood friends. Max Dillon, now assuming that he and Spider-Man are best friends, attends work on his birthday as an electrician at Oscorp. Overlooked and unappreciated by his Oscorp colleagues, Max is ordered to be the one to stay late to repair a system. Whilst tending to it, he loses his balance and
falls into a tank of genetically altered electric eels being used for experiments. As a result,
Max becomes a human mass of electricity.
Meanwhile, Peter meets Gwen in attempt to maintain a friendship, and Gwen tells Peter that an opportunity with Oxford University means she may be moving to England. Before the two can discuss it, Max accidentally shuts off the power to Times Square whilst looking for electricity to power himself. Spider-Man attempts to calm the situation, but after the police try to shoot him, Max thinks that Spider-Man has betrayed him and attacks. Spider-Man eventually stops him and he is taken to the Ravencroft Institute for the Criminally Insane to be the subject of extensive and painful tests.
Harry begins to show symptoms of his illness and uses the device his father gave him to deduce that Spider-Man's blood could help save him.
He asks Peter for help finding Spider-Man, but Peter refuses, unsure of what effects the transfusion would have.
Parker visits Harry again, this time as Spider-Man, but again refuses. Afterwards, Harry is framed by members of the Oscorp board for covering up the accident involving Max Dillon, now known as Electro, and removed from his position as CEO. An employee, Felicia Hardy, informs Harry of equipment kept off the books that could help him, and Harry makes a deal with Electro to get him back in to the Oscorp building. Once in, he finds a suit of armour and other equipment. He injects himself with a serum that accelerates his illness, rather than curing him; desperate, he puts on a suit of armor that heals his body, and he is transformed into the Green Goblin.