Norman Osborn was a scientific genius who founded his own company, Oscorp, over thirty years ago. It developed new technologies and innovative materials for the manufacturing, construction, automotive and chemical-processing industries, among others. Osborn also liked to keep his company at the forefront of new sciences, such as bioengineering; when Colonel Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. made it quietly known they wanted to tender contracts to the private sector to develop new “Super Soldier Serums”, Oscorp took on competitors such as Hammer Industries to win the corporate bidding war; however, it rapidly became clear that Norman had misled S.H.I.E.L.D. as to how ready his company was to produce results. They had rushed the research process to win the bid, their formula was messy, and their presentation had been largely “smoke and mirrors”. After two and a half years without results, Fury severed ties between S.H.I.E.L.D. and Oscorp. Losing the contract left Oscorp shaky; to bolster their reputation and share price, Norman publicly declared that he had discovered a miracle compound, Oz, with undisclosed, “closely guarded” properties. With the breathing space this provided, Norman tried to rush the development of the compound he had told everyone he already had.