Thats a tough one. On a gut instinct level, it feels wrong. Norman has never been the world domination type. (Except for the Gathering of Five thing. Friggin magic has no place in a Spider-Man comic. Leave that to Doctor Strange.) His whole obsession has been Spider-Man, Peter Parker and Harry. Yes, he started out wanting to control the mobs, but it felt like he gave that up long ago. His hatred of Spider-Man quickly eclipsed his lust for power. For over 30 years, his sadistic punishment of Parker has been his defining attribute.
Now, he wants to control S.H.E.I.L.D.? (or H.A.M.M.E.R., as it were). Where does Spider-Man play into this? Simply, he doesnt. All of a sudden his sole obsession doesnt seem to matter to him. Remember the end of "Shush?" He writes the letter thanking Parker for the years of rivalry. Otherwise, he'd just be another boring businessman. Not anymore. He's a major league businessman now.
And yet.
Norman wants power. Period. What does he get from controlling the mob? Power. The Gathering of Five? Power. Riding around a giant bat throwing exploding fruit? You got it. Now he has more power than he could have ever anticipated. And while I didnt care for GoF, it did show his dictatorial tendencies. So I suppose becoming part of a Cabal isnt completely out of character.
I just dont want the bug forgotten. Norman is and always will be a Spider-Man villain. Sure, let him screw with Tony Stark and the Avengers. Stark makes sense as a rival to Norman anyway. Both are weapons contractors and we all know how Norman likes to play nice. But at the end of the day, Norman will always be obsessed with tormenting Parker. So while I can live with the new direction, I want to see Gobby beating on the wall crawler sometime soon. Doing otherwise kills the character.