Venom, or the
Venom Symbiote, is
a
fictional character, a
symbiote life form in the
Marvel Comics universe. The creature is a sentient alien
with a gooey, almost liquid-like form. It requires a host, usually
human, to bond around for its survival. In return the Venom
creature gives its host enhanced powers. In effect, when the Venom
Symbiote bonds with a human to form a super-villain, that new
dual-life form itself is also often called Venom. The symbiote,
with or without a host, is one of
Spider-Man's archenemies. Spider-Man was the first host it
merged with before its evil motives were clear. After Spider-Man
rejected it, the symbiote went on to merge with other hosts and so
began its reign as the villain known as Venom.
Venom has become one of Spider-Man's most enduring and popular
foes. Indeed, he has become so popular that he has rivaled
The Green Goblin, historically Spider-Man's
arch-nemesis, in terms of his popularity. Venom was ranked as the
22nd Greatest Comic Book Villain of All Time in
IGN's list of the top 100 comic villains, 67th Greatest
Villain of all time in Wizard Magazine's Top 100 Greatest Villains
Ever list, and was ranked as the 98th Greatest Comic Book Character
Ever in Wizard Magazine's 200 Greatest Comic Book Characters of all
Time list.
Overview
Spider-Man first encountered the Venom symbiote in
Secret Wars #8, in which he unwittingly
merged with it. After Spider-Man rejected it, the symbiote merged
with
Eddie Brock, its most well-known
host, in
The Amazing
Spider-Man #298 (May 1988). Its current host is
Mac Gargan, the villain formerly known as
Scorpion.
Originally, the symbiote was portrayed as a mute and lonely
creature craving the company of a host. More recently, it has been
shown as increasingly abusive of its hosts, and having the power of
speech. The Venom symbiote has no known name, as "Venom" is
essentially the
moniker it has adopted since
its history with Spider-Man on Earth. According to
S.H.I.E.L.D., it is considered one of the
greatest threats to humanity, alongside
Magneto,
Doctor
Doom, and
Red Skull.
Fictional character biography
Pre-Venom
The creature that would become Venom was born to a race of
extraterrestrial
parasites, which lived by
possessing the bodies of other life-forms. The parasites would
endow their victims with enhanced physical abilities, at the cost
of fatally draining them of adrenaline.
According to the
Planet of
the Symbiotes storyline, the Venom symbiote was deemed
insane by its own race after it was discovered that it desired to
commit to its host rather than use it up. The symbiote was then
imprisoned on
Battleworld to ensure it
didn't pollute the species' gene pool.
Main hosts
Spider-Man
In
Secret Wars #8 (December
1984),
Spider-Man damages his costume in
combat on Battleworld and is directed to a facility which can
provide a new one to him. Before having the chance to recover a new
suit, Spider-Man stumbles into the prison module the symbiote has
been trapped in. He then activates the machine which releases the
symbiote in the form of a black liquid. Spider-Man's "spider-sense"
initially tingles, and then stops upon Spider-Man's first contact
with the liquid; it covers his body and, reacting to Spider-Man's
thoughts about the costume worn by the second
Spider-Woman, forms a new costume. To
Spider-Man's surprise, the costume can mimic street clothes and
provides a seemingly inexhaustible and stronger supply of
webbing.
Once back on
Earth, Spider-Man learns the
costume is a
sentient alien
symbiote that wishes to fuse permanently
with him and often controls his body while he sleeps. With the aid
of
Mr. Fantastic and the
Human Torch, Spider-Man discovers the symbiote
is vulnerable to sound and flame, and he uses sonic waves to remove
it and flames to scare it into a containment module. The symbiote
escapes and finds its way to Peter Parker's closet and disguises
itself as a spare red and blue costume. It then attempts to
forcibly bond itself to Spider-Man. Later, the
Vulturions attacks and
Spider-Man forces himself into a church belltower. As the bells
ring to sound the hour, Spider-Man fights through willpower to
reject the symbiote, leaving both the alien and Spider-Man
weakened. The symbiote, using its remaining strength, carries an
unconscious Spider-Man to safety from the bells before it slithers
away. Spider-Man's rejection of the symbiote would later leave it
extremely bitter toward Spider-Man, a trait it would share with its
future hosts.
Eddie Brock
Eddie Brock premieres as the first
Venom in the final panel of ASM #299
The first and most famous Venom, Eddie Brock, was a reporter for
the
Daily Globe before he fabricated a story revealing the
identity of the
Sin-Eater.
Shortly after the story was published Spider-Man caught the real
Sin-Eater, and Brock was disgraced as a news reporter, costing him
his job and then his wife. Now writing for cheap gossip magazines,
Brock centers the frustration of his life on utter loathing of
Spider-Man, which only escalates when it is revealed he has
cancer. In response, Brock begins working
out, bringing his body to a higher performance. Unable to cope with
his misfortune, Brock contemplates suicide and goes to a church to
pray for forgiveness. Meanwhile, the symbiote, having recovered and
needing another human host in order to survive, finds itself
psychically attracted to Brock for both his increased adrenaline
and mutual hatred for Spider-Man.
In Amazing Spider-Man # 298, they formed into the first version of
the dark, villainous creature known as
Venom.
Venom first appeared at the end of issue #299, which led into a
full-length Venom story in issue #300. The name Venom originally
applied to Brock, over the symbiote. But over the years, as the
symbiote itself lent toward more intelligence and moved to
additional human hosts, the name began to apply to the symbiote as
well as its hosts. Brock fought Spider-Man as Venom many times, and
came close to winning on several occasions. As well as helping
Eddie to seek continued revenge against Spider-Man, the symbiote
also allowed him to indulge in a sporadic career as a
vigilante. Eddie and the symbiote both shared, at
times, a desire to protect innocent people from all harm, even if
it meant working side-by-side with the hated Spider-Man.
Mac Gargan
Mac Gargan as the third (and current)
Venom
The Venom symbiote approached
Macdonald "Mac"
Gargan, formerly known as Scorpion, and offered him new
abilities. Gargan bonded with the creature, which would later give
him an extra edge as part of
Norman
Osborn's
Sinister Twelve. Even
with these additional powers he was still swiftly defeated by
Spider-Man (To which Spider Man later notes is due to Mac Gargan
not hating Spider Man as much as Eddie Brock had), as the
Avengers dealt with the rest of the
Twelve. Gargan later became a member of a sub-group of the
Thunderbolts, which was drafted by the
Avengers to hunt down the members of the fugitive Secret Avengers.
It was then revealed that he had been outfitted with electrical
implants by the government to keep the symbiote in check. When in
the Venom persona, Gargan retained very little of his original
personality and was controlled almost completely by the symbiote.
When the symbiote was dormant in his body, he expressed nausea and
fear of the organism. During a fight with "Anti-Venom" (Eddie
Brock), he and his symbiote were separated, and the Venom symbiote
was nearly destroyed. Blobs of it still existed in his bloodstream,
however, so
Norman Osborn injected
Gargan with a vaccine for Anti-Venom's healing powers, which
restored the symbiote by causing the remaining pieces of it to
expand rapidly. Gargan dons a Scorpion battle armor over the
symbiote while it heals, causing him to become what Spider-Man
calls "Ven-orpion" although when the symbiote is fully restored it
shatters the armor.
After ingesting a chemical given to him by Norman Osborn, Venom
transforms into a more human appearance similar to the Black-Suited
Spider-Man. Osborn introduces him as The Amazing Black Spider-Man,
a member of the
Dark Avengers, while
unveiling the team.
Other hosts
Ann Weying
Ann Weying first appeared in
Amazing Spider-Man #375. She
is Eddie Brock's ex-wife, a successful
lawyer. In Ann Weying's first appearance, she is a
brunette with glasses. In later appearances, she loses the glasses
and goes blond. Weying assists Spider-Man by sharing some of
Eddie's history with him. Later, she follows Spider-Man to the
amusement park where Venom had Peter's (fake) parents. She
confronts her insane ex-husband, and manages to convince Eddie to
give up his
vendetta. Later,
Sin-Eater shoots Ann as part of a crusade
against social injustice. Ann becomes
She-Venom when the Venom symbiote temporarily
bonds with her to save her life.
She-Venom then lashes out against the men who had hurt her with
such
violence that Eddie became afraid for
her (and of her) and compels the symbiote back to him. Ann retched
upon seeing the pile of bodies she had left behind. She screamed,
"That thing made me do that!" Eddie replied, "It can't make you do
anything you don't really want to do." Later the police incarcerate
Ann on a false charge (unrelated to Ann's rampage above) in order
to trap Venom. Ann uses her one phone call to warn Eddie and make
him promise not to come. He promises that Eddie Brock wouldn't come
to save her and instead sent his Other (the symbiote) through the
phone lines to her. After it bonds with her, she is able to escape
custody.
Sometime later, Ann spots Spider-Man web slinging in an older black
costume at a time when his regular red and blue suit had been
stolen. Ann, still reeling from the experience of bonding with the
symbiote months earlier and unable to deal with the return of Eddie
Brock into her life - coupled with Brock's transformation into
Venom directly in front of her as he ran off to kill Spider-Man -
sent her over the edge, and she leapt from her high rise apartment
to her death. Her death is later confirmed when her tombstone is
shown.
Patricia Robertson
In the 2003
Venom series, Patricia Robertson was a
communication specialist for the
U.S. Army stationed at a
radar installation in Canada
near the
Arctic Circle. She had joined
the Army in order to "prove herself", but got more than she
bargained for. During a routine supply run to an outpost owned by
the Ararat Corporation, she stumbled upon a grisly scene: everyone
at the installation was dead except for one lone scientist locked
in the freezer. She brought the survivor back to base for medical
attention, then people began dying there as well. It was revealed
that the Ararat Corporation was run by an alien colony of miniature
spider robots that infiltrated the American government. These
creatures were partially led by an entity named Bob.
These creatures had cloned Venom in order to fulfill their
objective: extermination of the human race. The clone would burn
out its hosts' life, unlike the real Venom (traits which seem to be
a throwback to the invading
symbiotes seen in
Planet of the Symbiotes). Bob
had the clone released and it caused the slaughter of the
outpost.
The Venom clone hitched a ride on the survivor back to base,
despite the best efforts of Robertson and her new ally. The
mysterious
Suit was made of the same
robots as Bob, which was revealed to have been unwittingly brought
to Earth by
Reed Richards and made
into a special agent by
Nick Fury. It is
unclear if the Suit's loyalties lie with Nick Fury or Bob, if
either. Meanwhile, the genetically altered symbiote killed all of
Patricia's friends and coworkers. While Robertson was unconscious,
the Suit
cybernetically altered her,
shaving her head, attaching a metal pipe in it, and placing a
control collar on her so that in case the symbiote clone bonded
with her, she could control it. Meanwhile, Ararat Co. and the
spider-robots
nuked Voici, Canada
leaving the symbiote with few options. After the Suit sabotaged the
symbiote's favored host,
Wolverine, it was forced to jump to the
last surviving potential host, Robertson.
One of Bob’s agents, disguised as the
Suit, told Robertson that she had to kill the
real Venom or the symbiotes would destroy all of humanity.
Attempting to get to Venom, she freed him from
S.H.I.E.L.D. custody. Their first fight was
broken up by the real Suit, and the electrocuted Venom retreated.
The Suit chided Robertson for coming to New York due to there being
many people in the city and all of the population could be in
danger if the symbiote clone jumped hosts.
Meanwhile, Bob remotely deactivated Patricia's control collar so
that nothing restrained the symbiote but Patricia's willpower.
Robertson continued trying to kill Venom, beating up
Spider-Man when he got in the way. She was
captured by the
Fantastic Four, who
used her as bait to lure Venom into a trap. Unfortunately,
Spider-Man’s interference and the strength and craftiness of Venom
caused the trap to fail. Fighting again, Venom absorbed Robertson’s
symbiote clone, as Bob hoped, and increased in size and decided to
carry out the Ararat Corporation's goals. Patricia's fate is
uncertain, and the entire plot has gone unresolved.
Angelo Fortunato
Angelo was
the youngest son of Don Fortunato, a
prominent Mafia capo of New York
's criminal
underworld. Due to his frail physique and shy attitude,
Angelo was frequently bullied and humiliated by his father. Tiring
of his son's weakness, the Don brings Angelo to a supervillain
auction, where he purchases the Venom
symbiote from
Eddie
Brock for $100 million. Eddie warns of the dangers inherent in
the symbiote, to which the boy answers that he had nothing to lose
in a life of non-stop ridicule.
Like Spider-Man, Angelo becomes the only other Venom host not to
have a protruding tongue. Once bonded with the symbiote, Angelo
learns the secret identity of
Spider-Man,
and plans to destroy him to prove himself worthy to his father.
Angelo attacks Peter Parker during a high school reunion, injuring
many bystanders in the process. They engage in a ferocious battle
which brings them out into the streets of New York. Learning how to
use the symbiote's mimetic abilities faster than anticipated,
Angelo takes the advantage in the fight. However, when Angelo kills
an innocent civilian he mistakes for Spider-Man, the superhero
stops holding back and beats Angelo into submission.
In defeat, Angelo's old cowardly ways show through and he flees
while the symbiote berates him for his cowardice. Irritated by the
boy's lack of resolve, the symbiote ruthlessly abandons Angelo in
mid-leap, letting him fall to his death.
Abilities
Though it requires a living host in order to survive, the Venom
symbiote has been shown on some occasions to be able to fend for
itself with its own set of unique powers. The symbiote, even
without a host, has shown shape-shifting abilities like forming
spikes and expanding its size.
The symbiote is telepathic and does not require physical contact to
influence the minds of others. In
Planet Of The Symbiotes,
the creature, after being rejected by its host, emits a psychic
scream which drives nearby humans to states of extreme depression.
Later, with the assistance of Eddie Brock, it emits an even more
powerful variant of that power which results in the mass suicide of
an invasive force of symbiotes. The symbiote can also blend with
any background, using an optic-camouflage type of effect, and
shape-shift to resemble ordinary clothing. Venom is immune to the
Penance Stare, an ability used by
Ghost
Rider,
Johnny Blaze and
Daniel Ketch.
The symbiote originally rejected its species' habit of consuming
its hosts, but still required certain chemicals (human adrenaline)
in order to survive. When starved of these chemicals, the symbiote
developed a mutable exoskeleton, allowing it to form its own solid
body which it used to hunt and kill prey without the assistance of
a host. However, due to Brock's, and later Gargan's, influence on
its personality the symbiote has developed a taste for blood, which
both its hosts were forced to sate by physically devouring their
victims. Later, the suit's evolution progressed and as shown in the
2003
Venom comic book series, its clone could
spontaneously jump from host to host and after every departure said
hosts would be left dead.
Due to its contact with Spider-Man, the symbiote cannot be detected
by the hero's spider-sense. As Spider-Man's fighting style is
partly dependent on his spider-sense, his effectiveness was
somewhat hampered when he battled Eddie Brock, allowing the less
experienced Brock to keep up with him. However, the symbiote is
vulnerable to loud noises, such as the ringing of church
bells.
The Venom Symbiote has been shown to have the ability to replicate
itself. This ability is shown in
Spider-Man: Reign, when Venom
recreates his own symbiote to combat his loneliness. This ability
is also used by Venom in
Spider-Man: Web of Shadows,
when Venom discovers the ability to copy his Symbiote and uses it
to take over Manhattan. Such an ability has not been demonstrated
in the main 616 universe, it is most likely the main version/s of
Venom lack this capability as such a useful tactic would possibly
have been mentioned or employed already.
Change in appearance
The Venom symbiote gives each of its hosts a slightly different
appearance in their Venom forms, though each is relatively similar.
Initially when Venom first formed with Eddie Brock the creature was
portrayed as black, considerably taller and much more muscular than
Spider-Man. Over the years however, the general design of Venom has
altered, even with the same host. Its eyes resembled those of the
Spider-Man suit but larger and more "evil" in appearance. Its
trademark was a wide grin which displayed all of his teeth- in the
first appearances of Venom, the teeth were large, but human.
Venom's appearance was subsequently changed to sport a mouth filled
with fangs after his first escape from prison.
In his most famous incarnation he developed a long tongue, he also
started being drawn as blue or blue-black as opposed to the
original black. His eyes became more menacing and "alien" like,
while his size increased to that which would be extremely difficult
for Brock to obtain through even his most rigorous weight lifting.
Also the spider symbol on its chest has been known to change
appearance, with the symbol on the back and front connected or not.
John Romita Jr.'s design had Venom
much leaner with abnormally long fingers.
Mike Deodato's recent design of the Mac Gargan
Venom has normal-human eyes within large white patches resembling
Venom's traditional Spider-Man-like eyes. The Gargan Venom has also
been drawn as purple, much like the Venom in
Ultimate Spider-Man. Venom's
appearance is now recently the same as the Black-suited Spider-Man,
and in the
Sinister Spider-Man arc his Venom form is drawn
similarally to Eddie Brock's version of Venom.
Other versions
- In Spider-Girl, the Venom
symbiote attempts to re-bond with Peter Parker, but is forcefully
bonded instead to Spider-Girl's friend Normie Osborn III, the
grandson of the original Green Goblin.
It takes control of Normie, but when it also attempts to absorb
Spider-Girl, their combined force of will defeats the creature.
Instead of destroying it, Normie keeps the symbiote and allows it
to bond with him, purging the symbiote of its violent and
aggressive emotions. In Spider-Girl #100, Normie transfers
the symbiote to a critically injured Spider-Girl so it can heal and
save her. The symbiote later sacrifices itself to save
Spider-Girl's life by confronting a sonic weapon-armed Hobgoblin It
is later revealed that, while still bonded to Eddie Brock, some of
the Symbiote's genetic material had been taken by Norman Osborn and combined with a clone of May
to make a Spider-Girl/Symbiote hybrid. After being "absorbed" into
the aged Peter Parker, the original Green Goblin-Norman Osborn-
takes over Peter's mind, but, in an attempt to become invincible,
Osborn combines with the Hybrid, Spider-Man and accidentally
Spider-Girl, when she dives in to save her father. After Osborn
makes Spider-Man view his worst moments, Spider-Girl's memory
overrides Osborn's power, and Spider-Girl convinces the Hybrid to
fight Osborn together, and so force everyone out of Peter's body,
with Osborn destroyed. The Hybrid is currently living with the real
Spider-Girl's family, with her baby brother, Mary Jane, and
Peter-until otherwise shown in the new "Spider-Man Family" and
"Spectacular Spider-Girl" series.
- In Kaare Andrews' Spider-Man: Reign, set 35 years from
current comics continuity, Venom has been posing as "Edward Saks",
the aide to the Mayor of New York. "Edward" has been manipulating
the city ever since Spider-Man's disappearance in preparation for
his eventual return; in the process, he had re-enlisted the
Sinister Six, replicated his symbiote thousands of times (chalking
it up to being "lonely"), and built a security system named "WEBB"
which prevents New York citizens from escaping from the city,
trapping them. Upon meeting him, Venom is quick to berate
Spider-Man for abandoning him all those years ago with a genuine
sense of bitterness and sorrow, leaving the wallcrawler at a loss
for words. Defeated, the Sinister Six, Spidey and Venom have their
final battle, in which Sandman gives Spider-Man a detonator
to make all the Sinners explode. Spidey presses the button, most
likely killing Venom and putting an end to his "Reign" once and for
all.
- In Spider-Man Fairy
Tales #3, Venom is a Japanese demon who seeks to corrupt
the young priest Izumi (the Peter Parker character) by making him
give in to his anger.
- In House of M an actor plays
as venom.
- In the Marvel Age
mini-series Spider-Man and Power Pack #3-4, a fashion
designer down on his luck manages to acquire the Venom symbiote
after it is blasted off of Eddie Brock by Spider-Man, and, thinking
its morphic qualities are just something built into the suit and
not a living biological function, clones it three times as a new
women's dress line. At the debut fashion show for the line, Peter
Parker is photographing with Mary Jane Watson wearing one of the
dresses, unaware of its true nature. In the audience is the
Power Pack in their civilian identities,
invited by Peter as a thank you for their help in the previous two
issues. When the symbiotes hear Peter's name, their genetic memory
recognizes it and they turn Mary Jane and the other three models
into She-Venoms, and attack. The Power Pack join Spider-Man in the
battle, during which Spider-Man briefly corners the designer and
gets the truth out of him about the clones. The symbiote clones are
sheared from their unwilling hosts, three by a sonic bomb produced
by Julie Power/Lightspeed's superhuman
speed, the other by an energy burst from Katie Power/Energizer. The battle is then won
when Jack Power/Mass Master uses the
music booth to blast them all with high audio, crippling them long
enough to be captured. During the battle, however, one symbiote
clone manages to briefly make contact with Katie Power's alien-born
costume, causing it to become "infected" by the Venom symbiote's
evil and vengeful desires (the kids' costumes in this continuity
are semi-biological themselves, a concept later reinforced during a
later mini-series when one is seen to repair damage to itself on
its own). This causes Katie's costume to take on a Venom-like
appearance, with the only differences being it is obviously smaller
and Katie's energy burst symbol takes the place of the spider
symbol's main body, the spider legs remaining. The Kymellian costume-turned-symbiote completely takes
control of the little girl at night, using her to team with the
Sinister Six to capture Spider-Man, and
then turn on the other members of Power Pack, Katie's own siblings,
to take revenge on them for their part in the symbiote clones'
defeat. In the final battle, Julie Power manages to find and free
Spider-Man, and together they manage to get Electro to blast all the villains,
including himself, with a large electrical discharge powerful
enough to render them all unconscious and again shear the
costume-turned-symbiote off of Katie, the discharge purging Katie's
costume of the "infection" in the process, restoring it to
normal.
- In "Old Man Logan," the symbiote appears to be following Logan
and Hawkeye, having bonded to a Savage
Land tyrannosaurus rex. It is
stopped by Black Bolt.
- In the Marvel Zombies
mini-series, Venom briefly appears as one of the many zombified
villains. He fights zombie Spider-Man, who quickly kills him,
because the Symbiote has started to die, being unable to absorb
andrenaline from Eddie Brock's zombified body.
What If...
...The alien costume had possessed Spider-Man?
In this one-shot, after obtaining the symbiote costume, Spider-Man
waits too long before visiting
Mr.
Fantastic who would free him from the symbiote's control. The
suit takes control of Spider-Man and as it constantly feeds on him,
Spider-Man ages at an accelerated rate. Within days, Spider-Man
dies of old age. Desperate to survive, the symbiote bonds with a
weakened
Hulk.
Thor confronts Venom-Hulk. The costume
explains that it is sorry for Spider-Man's death, but is draining
the gamma radiation from Bruce Banner as repentance. Thor in
disbelief defeats him, leading the symbiote to take over Thor.
Banner however is shown cured of being The Hulk. The heroes employ
Black Bolt's incredibly powerful voice to
create enough sonic damage to critically injure the symbiote.
Thor is freed, and the heroes prepare to transport the alien to
another dimension.
Black Cat
takes matters into her own hands and tries to kills the alien
because of anger at the death of Spider-Man. After dying to the
symbiote, Black Cat is buried. The weapon that she used to try kill
the symbiote was destroyed. Then they take the alien back to it's
home world and it becomes a hero to the other aliens.
...Venom had possessed The Punisher?
In this one-shot issue, after the symbiote leaves Spider-Man, it
joins with the
Punisher instead of Eddie
Brock. Castle uses the symbiote's abilities to further his war on
crime; he used the suit's shape-shifting nature to create
glider-wings and used its webbing as bullets.
The symbiote causes the Punisher's war to become more brutal and
unrestrained than ever before as he set about confronting and
murdering many super-criminals. The symbiote eventually influences
him to confront and beat Spider-Man. With his new powers, Punisher
decides to take out
Tombstone and
even the
Kingpin. At the climax of
a confrontation with Spider-Man,
Daredevil and
Moon Knight, from which the Punisher emerges
victorious, a blast from Spidey's borrowed sonic blaster allows
Punisher to overcome and tame the symbiote by convincing it that
his war in crime means more to him than anything, even his own
life, and would sooner commit suicide and kill them both if he did
not have complete control over it.
The symbiote then recedes from Punisher's face and manifests his
trademark Skull insignia upon his chest. Castle tells the assembled
heroes that he is in control now before making his escape.
...The Marvel Super-Heroes had remained on Battleworld?
In this one-shot issue, the Marvel Super-Heroes and Villains left
alive from the Secret Wars after
Galactus'
and the
Beyonder's fatal battle find
themselves trapped on
Battleworld.
Deciding to make the best of things, they all settle down and build
new lives and families. Twenty-five years later, Spider-Man and the
Venom symbiote are a single entity. With Reed Richards dead, there
was no way to free Spider-Man from the symbiote and thus he was
forced to accept this new way of life. Over time he becomes cold,
calculating and emotionally distant from the rest of the group. The
body of Peter Parker is now nothing more than a skeleton with the
symbiote acting as his skin, much to the dismay of the other
super-heroes and their children.
...The Other
This one-shot issue presents a different approach to the events of
Spider-Man: The
Other, where Peter Parker dies and is resurrected with
greater spider powers. Instead, Peter rejects the chance to rise
again in a new form and leaves his body and spirit separated. This
leaves his body open to a complete takeover by the Venom symbiote.
The suit quickly abandons its latest host, Mac Gargan, as soon as
it senses Peter's vulnerable state and rushes to once again unite
with its first host. After cocooning Peter's body, the symbiote
fully bonds with Peter, turning him into a violent monster called
Poison. Poison longs for
a companion to join them in their new life and chooses Mary Jane.
After dispatching the Avengers who rush to her aid, Watson offers
herself willingly to prevent any further harm to the people
protecting her. She promises Poison that she will give her body but
not her soul and make Poison's life as miserable as possible. This
seems to leave Poison heartbroken and he flees. Instead, he
unearths the grave of
Gwen Stacy. The
last images reveal Poison watching over a new cocoon like his own,
but crimson colored, as it bursts forth showing a hand similar to
Carnage's.
Ultimate Spider-Man
The Venom suit (and Eddie Brock) are greatly altered in the
Ultimate Marvel Universe. The
symbiote is not extraterrestrial nor is it shown to be sentient in
any way. Instead, it is a genetically created "suit" designed by
Eddie Brock and Peter Parker's biological fathers as a cure for
cancer. It is meant to bond to the user and protect them from
internal and external harm, but also puts a great psychotic
pressure on the user.
The suit also apparently requires nourishment to function, which is
gained by feeding on organic flesh, either consuming that of its
host or devouring other victims. If bonded to an incompatible host,
such as Eddie Brock, the Venom suit begins consuming them almost
immediately, forcing them to feed to sustain it or die themselves.
Venom feeds by literally swallowing his victims whole in mere
seconds, usually while the victim was still alive; the suit
apparently is very quick to absorb/digest whoever Venom has just
swallowed, as Venom had no noticeable size changes even after
eating dozens of people. At one point, Venom's hunger became so
severe that instead of simply ambushing and swallowing victims in
the park, he took to the streets and began swallowing everyone he
saw, even swallowing an entire horse, with its rider still on
it.
The suit separated itself from Eddie and forcibly bonded itself
with Peter Parker, turning him into Venom. The Ultimates arrived
and were able to separate Peter from the suit. The whereabouts of
this suit are unknown, presumably locked somewhere within the
Triskellion. Eddie Brock later approached Peter and demanded that
he retrieve the suit for him. During a later encounter, Peter and
Gwen confronted Eddie and Gwen transformed into Carnage. Contact
with Carnage caused trace amounts of the suit within Eddie's body
to multiply, transforming him into Venom. Venom then absorbed all
elements of the Carnage symbiote, leaving Gwen an ordinary human,
and causing Venom to change into a new form even larger than
before, with small glowing red eyes. Venom retreated from battle,
and was later captured by the Beetle and taken to Latveria.
Peter was able to control the "suit" to a greater extent than
anyone, not only because of his powers, but also because of his
DNA. When it bonds to Eddie it took complete control of him,
turning him into a life-form that appears similar to the mainstream
Venom, with similar powers; though for a few moments when Eddie
first gained the suit, he gained an appearance similar to a more
muscular black-suited Spider-man.
The Venom Suit shown here is the second phase of the Venom Project,
and increases the natural abilities of the person wearing it. The
suit is tailored for a specific DNA, and the person who it belongs
to can control the suit more easily. If someone uses the suit other
than the one who it was made for or a close relative, they find it
far harder to control Venom and are constantly damaged by the suit,
needing to feed off other temporarily or a more suitable host for a
permanent cure.
When Peter wore the suit when calm, he had increased strength,
speed and agility, as well as being able to fire webbing from his
fingers without limit. However he also suffered delusions,
confusing a mugger for his uncle's killer. When enraged, the suit
forcefully turns the wearer into Venom, displaying psychosis and
far greater power.
When Eddie wore the suit, he resembled symbiote-Spider-Man.
Immediately afterwards, the suit grew a fanged mouth and claws, and
randomly creating tendrils and spikes. In its hostless form, the
Venom Project takes the appearance of a dark purple goo, which
rapidly spreads and replicates to cover a host when it makes
contact with it. When taking a host, the goo completely envelops
the host, regardless of resistance, temporarily blinding it, before
encasing itself in a hard, purple casing, similar to a pupae, as it
bonds further with the host. When the host escapes, the project
then shifts its appearance and function to assist its host, such as
creating eyes for it to see through, or tries to take it over,
inducing a homicidal rage and attempting to feed itself if bonded
with an incompatible host.
When bonded with a host and forcibly removed, the Venom Suit can
leave trace amounts of itself in their bloodstream, which attracts
other samples of Venom to itself, and can overload Peter's
spider-sense. Absorbing these trace amounts, along with Ultimate
Spider-Carnage allowed Eddie to take complete control of the Suit,
gaining a greater ability to talk and a spider symbol on his chest.
This was again illustrated when Eddie, who had lost the Venom Suit
to the Ultimates, came into contact with Gwen Stacy, the Ultimate
Carnage, and the remaining particles within him multiplied to
reform the Venom Suit.
It is worth note, that when Eddie used the suit, he was capable of
creating organic webbing, yet in the game he seemed only capable of
creating tentacles
Ultimate Venom's only known weakness is electricity, and larger
amounts of the Suit will need more electricity to kill, as varying
amounts of Venom will be stunned or vaporized by electric shocks.
An electrocution from live power-lines vaporized the smaller amount
on Peter, while a similar amount disabled Eddie. The suit can take
the Shocker's vibro-shocks, and can protect its host from a bullet,
who feels nothing more than a relaxing vibration
Mangaverse
In the
Marvel Mangaverse
continuity, Venom is the name of a human man, a former member of
Spider-Man's clan. Venom's costume is black, and his spider symbol
is white, and also much larger than Spider-Man's.
Venom is responsible for the murder of Peter's Uncle Ben, Venom's
own father in the Mangaverse, at the command of New York's
Kingpin of Crime. Peter defeats him and
spares his life. Venom later
usurps Kingpin
for control over New York's ninja criminal gangs.
Separately, the Venom symbiote appears as a black liquid that is
released from a cursed
amulet. The symbiote
draws energy from the amulet's wearer, which can be fatal after
prolonged exposure. The wearer's strength and agility are
increased, and his or her ability to control their own violent
urges is reduced. When Peter Parker becomes possessed by the evil
amulet, removing it leaves him near death.
Venom captures the amulet and chooses to sacrifice his own life to
force it to save Peter, repaying the debt he owes for Peter sparing
his life. This act revitalizes Peter, but leaves Venom nothing but
a skeleton. The amulet, containing Venom's life force, is used to
heal the crippled Kingpin.
In the
Legend of the Spider-Clan one-shot story
Elemental Evil, Venom inexplicably reappears in the
mountain-top home of the Spider-Clan, alive and whole, his skin now
a dark blue. He also gained new powers, including a pair of vicious
jaws and a long drooling tongue, bringing him closer in appearance
to his
Earth-616 counterpart. Despite
their history, Peter agrees that Venom will teach the ways of the
Spider-Clan and the use of his powers to Peter. Venom and the rest
of the Spider-Clan aid in training Peter to become more powerful,
tapping into the mystical side of his spider abilities. In the end,
Peter discovers that the group is run by Peter's biological mother,
who ordered the death of
Aunt May to rid
him of emotional attachments. As a result, Peter refuses to take
his place as leader, rejecting the clan. Venom is awarded with
rulership over the Spider-Clan. No reason is given for Venom's
resurrection or his new powers, but when asked about it, Venom only
said "I was lucky."
Venom 2099
Venom 2099
Venom 2099 (
Kron Stone) is a
fictional character, a
Marvel Comics Supervillain created by
Peter David. Similar to many other characters in
the
Marvel 2099 imprint, Venom 2099 was
a futuristic re-imagining of an established Marvel character.
Kron Stone, in the year 2099, half-brother to that era's
Spider-Man, bonded with the symbiote to become the Venom 2099. The
symbiote was described as having mutated over the years, and
displayed new abilities in this time line, including acidic blood
and saliva. It was revealed that the symbiote bonded with Kron on a
molecular level, giving Kron an amorphous physiology that allowed
his body to take on the properties of the symbiote itself.
Later, after the symbiote was separated from Kron, it merged with
Roman the Sub-Mariner who fled to the ocean (
Spider-Man 2099 #44).
Venom 2099 first made an appearance as Kron Stone in
The
Punisher 2099 #1-5. His past was revealed in
Spider-Man
2099 #15-20. He was then featured as Venom in
Spider-Man
2099 #35-40.
Kron Stone is the older half-brother of
Miguel O'Hara (they share the same father,
Tyler Stone). Kron has always been a bully and
takes enjoyment in other people's pain. The
relationship between the two is so conflicted that Miguel tries to
kill his brother.
In his introduction, Stone gives the orders to have Jake Gallows'
family killed. Gallows finds Stone and fatally wounds him with a
knife and dumps his body into the sewer. Following the altercation
Kron lies dying in the sewer, his body brushed up against a black
ball. The ball then bonds with him and forms a new Venom. With this
new power, Stone seeks to emotionally torture his half-brother by
hurting those close to him, going so far as to kill Miguel's former
love Dana. The future Spider-Man and Venom fight, and Spider-Man is
the victor after he has the town turn on sonics through all of the
speakers, thus neutralizing Venom. They then bring him back to the
lab for study.
In other media
Television
- In the short-lived sequel series, Spider-Man Unlimited, Venom,
voiced by Brian Drummond, has
unexplainably returned and become a villain again. He and Carnage
attempt to conquer Counter-Earth with an invasion of
symbiotes.
-
.Venom also appears in The Spectacular
Spider-Man, voiced by Ben
Diskin. In this series Eddie Brook is a close friend of Peter,
who works alongside him as an assistant at Empire State University
for Dr. Curt Connors. The symbiote
was to be studied by Connors, but bonded with Spider-Man in a fight
with Black Cat, causing the lab to lose a grant and Eddie to lose
his job. Spider-Man attempts to destroy it after discovering its
negative influence, but Eddie (who is already angry with Peter and
Spider-Man for various reasons) frees the alien and bonds with it,
becoming Venom. At the end the season one finale, the symbiote is
tricked into leaving Eddie and Spider-Man buries the alien in cement. In the second season,
Eddie follows Peter and eventually frees the symbiote. He then
attempts to expose Spider-Man's identity, but again fails when the
alien rejects him and escapes. Afterward, Eddie is hauled off to a
psychiatric facility, vowing that the symbiote will return and that
they will destroy Spider-Man.
Film
Venom's first appearance in a
motion picture
was originally planned for a titular film written by
David S. Goyer
and produced by
New Line Cinema, in
which Venom would have been portrayed as an
anti-hero and
Carnage as the
antagonist. Goyer said in an interview the film
rights to Venom ultimately reverted to
Sony.
Venom appears in the 2007 feature film
Spider-Man 3, played by
Topher Grace. Eddie Brock first began working
at the Daily Bugle shortly before Spiderman joins with the
symbiote. Eddie faces public humiliation after creating a fake
photo of Spiderman robbing a bank and is fired after being exposed
by Peter. After Spider-Man abandons the symbiote in a church bell
tower, Brock had been in the church praying for Peter's death,
discovers Spider-Man's identity. The symbiote falls onto Brock,
transforming him into Venom, and he uses his new-found powers to
attempt to kill Peter as revenge for his public humiliation; at
that point, Venom becomes the final antagonist of the film. He
teams up with
Sandman and the two make an
attempt to get revenge on Spider-Man. However with the help of
Harry Osborn, who Venom kills,
Spider-Man defeats Sandman and stops Venom by releasing Brock from
the symbiote by building a cage of hollow metal poles around him,
hitting them to create a makeshift sonic weapon, and weakening the
symbiote. Peter then throws a bomb from Harry's glider into the
sybiote to destroy it for good. But Eddie, trying to prevent its
loss, jumps towards the bomb just as it detonates, destroying him
and the symbiote in the resulting explosion. Since Venom will
appear in his own movie, it is likely he survived the
explosion.
Avi Arad, producer and former Marvel Comics
executive, plans to produce a
Venom spin-off, although it
is currently unknown if Topher Grace will reprise his role.
Regardless, Marvel is moving forward with the film, and the studio
has signed the
Seabiscuit director
Gary Ross to write and direct it.
In the Japanese dub of the film, Venom is voiced by
Toshiyuki Morikawa, the voice of
Spider-Man in the Japanese dub of
Spider-Man: The Animated
Series.
Video games
- Venom is a playable character and boss character in a number of
video games. His first appearance was in the Game Boy side-scroller The Amazing Spider-man
released in 1990, as the game's primary villain. A sequel to this
game entitled The Amazing Spider-Man 2 curiously lacked Venom, even
though it was hot on the success of the Carnage storyline and featured Carnage as a
main villain.
- Venom's second appearance was in the Spider-man: The Video Game
arcade game, released in 1991. Venom is featured prominently in the
game as the first major boss character and he is encountered
several more times throughout the game, including the final
battle
- Venom serves as the main antagonist of Spider-Man: Web of Shadows.
During
this game part of his symbiote leaves him, and bonds with
Spider-Man. He later starts making replicas of the symbiote, in an
invasion of New York
City
. He dies at the end of the game in all four
of the endings. Venom is voiced by Keith Szarabajka.
- He is also included in the downloadable expansion "Villains
Pack" for the Xbox 360 version of
Marvel: Ultimate
Alliance, voiced by Steve
Blum,
- The Mac Gargan incarnation of Venom
appears as a playable character with the Eddie Brock version as an alternate costume in
Marvel: Ultimate
Alliance 2, voiced by Walter Bernet. He is one of the
first villans taken by the Fold. Later, using a sample of the
nano-tech from Prison 42, S.H.I.E.L.D. is able to cure him and
Green Goblin, and they both join the
team.
Bibliography
Until 2003, Venom never had his own
ongoing series However, from 1993 to 1997
Venom had 17
limited series that were
steadily released back to back from month to month. This run could
have been one series where each mini-series would have been
considered a story arc. Together, these mini-series comprised a
total of 60 issues, 1 Flashback, and a 1995 Super Special.
| Sub-title |
Year |
Issues |
Series # |
Story |
| Lethal Protector |
1993 Feb-Jul |
6 |
01-06 |
|
| Funeral Pyre |
1993 Aug-Sep |
3 |
07-09 |
vs. Punisher |
| The Madness |
1993 Nov-Jan |
3 |
10-12 |
vs. Juggernaut |
| The Enemy Within |
1994 Feb-April |
3 |
13-15 |
vs. Hobgoblin/Demogoblin |
| The Mace |
1994 May-July |
3 |
16-18 |
vs. Mace |
| Nights of Vengeance |
1994 Aug-Nov |
4 |
19-22 |
Team-up with Vengeance against the Stalkers |
| Separation
Anxiety |
1994 Dec-Mar |
4 |
23-26 |
Split apart from his other by the Scarlet Spider (Spider-Man
53), Eddie faces the Symbiotes returning from Lethal Protector |
| Carnage Unleashed |
1995 Apr-July |
4 |
27-30 |
vs. Carnage |
| Sinners Take All |
1995 Aug-Dec |
5 |
31-35 |
vs. Sin Eater/Bride of Venom |
| Along Came a Spider |
1996 Jan-Apr |
4 |
36-39 |
vs. Ben Reilly / Back-up story: Origin of the Hybrid |
| The Hunted |
1996 May-July |
3 |
40-42 |
vs. the Hybrid |
| The Hunger |
1996 Aug-Nov |
4 |
43-46 |
Brock splits with symbiote |
| Tooth & Claw |
1996 Dec-Feb |
3 |
47-49 |
vs. Wolverine |
| On Trial |
1997 Mar-May |
3 |
50-52 |
Trial of Venom |
| License to Kill |
1997 Jun-Aug |
3 |
53-55 |
Works for the Government |
| Sign of the Boss |
1997 Sep-Oct |
2 |
56-57 |
vs. Ghost Rider |
| Finale |
1997 Nov-Jan |
3 |
58-60 |
Venom Finale |
| Seeds of Darkness |
1997 July |
1 |
-1 |
Flashback Month |
| Venom Super Special |
1995 |
1 |
1 |
Planet of the Symbiotes, Part 3 |
| Venom (Part of the tsunami imprint) |
2003-2004 |
18 |
|
A clone of Venom attacks an Alaskan base and then fights the
real Venom and Spider-man. |
| Venom: Dark Origin |
2008 |
5 |
|
Retelling of Eddie Brock's life and the beginning of his life
as Venom. |
| Dark Reign: Sinister Spider-man |
2009 |
4 |
|
Tells the adventures of Mac Gargan (the current Venom) as the
Spider-man for the Dark Avengers |
References
- Blogzarro.com
- Venom is number 22
- Wizard Magazine's list of the 100 Greatest Villains of All
Time
- "Venom: The Sordid History of Spider-Man's Black Costume";
marvel.com; November 29, 2006
- Mark Millar (w), Terry Dodson (p), Rachel Dodson (i).
"Venomous" Marvel Knights: Spider-Man, #7 December 2004
Marvel Comics
- (Eddie Brock) - Marvel Universe: The definitive online
source for Marvel super hero bios
- Marvel Knights: Spider-Man #9, 2004
- Marvel Knights: Spider-Man #10
- Marvel Knights: Spider-Man #11
- Civil War #4
- Civil War: Choosing Sides
#1
- Heroes for Hire (vol. 2) #2
- Thunderbolts #112
- Dark Avengers #1
- Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #19
- Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #22
- Amazing Spider-Girl #20
- Ugo.com (no date): "David Goyer Interview"
- Gary Ross to Re-write/Direct Venom
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