A-Babies vs. X-Babies
A toddler version of Eddie Brock as Venom was a member of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.[106]
In the Extraordinary X-Men crossover Apocalypse Wars, Venom is one of the Horsemen of Apocalypse.[107] He briefly absorbs Old Man Logan, until Jean Grey expels him.[108]
In this alternate take of the Circle of Four storyline, the symbiote was physically and mentally bonded to Flash, becoming a human/symbiote hybrid. After Captain America offered Flash a place in the Avengers, Spider-Man gave up his superhero identity giving it Flash, who became the new Spider-Man and rekindled his relationship with Betty Brant. However, the Green Goblin found out about Flash's identity and murdered Betty, making Venom to swear to kill Green Goblin.[109]
An alternate version of Eddie Brock appears as Venom in the 2015 Contest of Champions miniseries as one of the Grandmaster's champions. This version killed his version of Spider-Man and wears his costume as a cape, though Eddie is often haunted by Peter Parker's voice in his head. He is eventually killed by Punisher 2099 with a disintegration gun in the same place where the Sentry and Stick were seemingly killed. The symbiote fuses with the Sentry and Void's remains and turned into some Void/symbiote hybrids named Symbioids. When Stick reveals his survival, he merges their energies to resurrect the Sentry.[110]
The Venom symbiote of this reality had been captured and was kept in a test tube in one of Iron Man's labs. Dr. Hank Pym had experimented on the symbiote to find a way to adapt it for use to outfit Stark's new armors with, however these experiments had destroyed what conscious it had left but it was still able to retain its biological properties of replacing missing limbs. During the period where Stark held the Dark Avengers, June Covington telepathically manipulated Pym into helping her restore her teammates to fight. They took the symbiote and used it to replace John Walker's missing arm and leg allowing him to become U.S.Agent once again.[111]
th Anniversary Special Spider-Man
In the alternate universe of Earth-TRN421, in the year 2061, after Wilson Fisk killed Eddie Brock in a confrontation, he got the symbiote and modified it giving it the ability to travel through technology. Then Kingpin after being bonded to the symbiote, started chasing Peter so he could finally kill Spider-Man once and for all. In the end Peter directed Kingpin in the woods and in an intense battle Peter used his torch to separate Kingpin from Venom and after that he burned the symbiote for good.[105]
Spider-Man Adventures
In this universe which predates the Big Bang of the Earth-616 universe, the history of Eddie Brock is identical to the Eddie of Spider-Man: The Animated Series, with the difference being that instead of Dormammu and Baron Mordo bringing the Venom symbiote back to him, Eddie is reunited with the symbiote after the actions of Doctor Octopus.[161] He along with all life of the universe are presumed dead, after the Dweller-in-Darkness use the M'Kraan Crystal to feed of energy of the dying universe.[162]
Punisher vs. The Marvel Universe
In this universe, Venom was infected by a virus which made him a cannibal. He battled Carnage and later was killed by the Punisher, to whom he tried to deliver a message from Patient Zero.[152]
During the Secret Wars, various versions of Venom are featured:
In Spider-Cat's universe, Venom is a pigeon.[156]
In Edge of Spider-Geddon #2, in the world of Peni Parker and SP//dr, VEN#m exists as a giant mech-suit powered by a Sym Engine created to serve as back-up in case the SP//dr suit failed. It was piloted by Addy Brock until a battle against the kaiju M.O.R.B.I.U.S. caused the suit to malfunction, attain sentience, and go rogue, growing a mouth with cubic teeth and a green tongue-like wire (a reference to Evangelion). Though SP//dr was able to defeat VEN#m, she was unable to stop it from consuming Addy as well as her version of Aunt May, who flew in to fix the problem manually.[157]
In this reality, Dr. Elsa Brock created the Venom symbiote from the radioactive spider isotopes developed by S.I.L.K. leader Cindy Moon to cure the Lizard formula as requested by the city's Kingpin, Matt Murdock, to offer Spider-Woman a solution to losing her powers and curing the new Lizard, Harry Osborn. Gwen was forced to inject Harry with one of her spider isotopes, causing the serum inside him to mutate into Venom and attach to Wolverine before bonding to Gwen and forming Gwenom. Though Gwen succumbed to its bloodlust at first, after discovering her father was brutally beaten by the Rhino in prison, she eventually learned to control it. The symbiote in this universe despite being amorphous is actually some spiders working together being a "mutant cousin" of the alien spider that gave Gwen her powers and is not affected by classic symbiote weaknesses like sonic attacks when without a host, the symbiote is vulnerable to sonic when only bonded to a host. Spider-Gwen eventually took full control of the symbiote and turned it into a replica of her classic costume.[158] During Spider-Geddon, the symbiote protected Spider-Gwen from Verna's touch.[159]
A version of Gwenom appears along with other heroes fighting a Celestial in the second Secret Roar.[160]
Spider-Man & Deadpool
In an alternate future where Spider-Man is a paralyzed old man who lives with Deadpool, Venom is bonded to Vision and is part of The Fantastic Four alongside Valeria Richards, Reed (son of the Thing) and a version of Daredevil called Lastdevil. In battle between Life Model Decoy of Deadpool Venom leaves Vision and bond to Reed to stop the LMDs, but it did not work as they get killed.[164]
In the final issue of the mini-series Spider-Man: India (Earth-50101), Venom appears as an exiled interdimensional demon. It is later explained, that Venom was trapped in an ancient amulet now used by tycoon Nalin Oberoi. Pavitr Prabhakar is briefly possessed by the entity, but is rejected, and the amulet sucks in Oberoi, but in the final page, Venom is the only demon left. There is also a mention of Aadi, who is this universe's Eddie Brock.[volume & issue needed]
In Kaare Andrews' Spider-Man: Reign, set 30 years from current comics continuity, Venom/Eddie Brock has been posing as "Edward Saks", the aide to Waters, 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 while allegedly protecting them from the outside world. 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, describing himself as a responsibility that Spider-Man neglected, 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.[165]
Marvel Comics character
Not to be confused with
Venom in promotional material for
Venom is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is a sentient alien symbiote with an amorphous, liquid-like form, who survives by bonding with a host, usually human. This dual-life form receives enhanced powers and usually refers to itself as "Venom". The symbiote was originally introduced as a living alien costume in The Amazing Spider-Man #252 (May 1984), with a full first appearance as Venom in The Amazing Spider-Man #300 (May 1988).
The Venom symbiote's first human host was Spider-Man himself, who eventually discovered its true nefarious nature and separated himself from the creature in The Amazing Spider-Man #258 (November 1984)[2]—with a brief rejoining five months later in Web of Spider-Man #1.[3] The symbiote went on to merge with other hosts, beginning with Eddie Brock, its second host, with whom it first became Venom. Venom has endured as one of Spider-Man's most prominent villains, and was initially regarded as one of his three archenemies, alongside the Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus. Since his debut however, Venom has evolved into an antiheroic figure, slowly distancing himself from his initial goal to ruin Spider-Man's life to try and do good instead, even putting aside his differences with and helping Spider-Man at times. In 1993, Venom would transition into having a role as an antihero vigilante in the Venom: Lethal Protector comic book series.[4] After Brock, numerous other hosts for Venom followed; some of the most notable are the villain Mac Gargan, who was the main incarnation of Venom from 2005 to 2009, and Flash Thompson, who became the superhero Agent Venom from 2011 to 2016, before Venom returned to Brock in 2017. Venom's most recent and current host is Brock's biological son, Dylan. Venom is also depicted as having spawned several children—Scream, Lasher, Phage, Agony, Riot, Mania, Sleeper, and Carnage, who becomes Venom's archenemy after bonding with serial killer Cletus Kasady.
A fan-favorite character and well-known figure in popular culture, Venom (primarily the Eddie Brock incarnation) is the most recognizable Spider-Man antagonist not first introduced during the original Lee/Ditko run. He has been featured in various media adaptations of Spider-Man over the years, including feature films, television series and video games. The character was portrayed by Tobey Maguire and Topher Grace in Spider-Man 3 (2007), with Tom Hardy primarily portraying the character in the Sony's Spider-Man Universe films Venom (2018), Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021), and Venom: The Last Dance (2024), as well as an uncredited post-credit scene appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021).
The Eddie Brock incarnation of Venom is among Spider-Man's most famous rogues, and is regarded by many as a dark reflection of the hero. Comics journalist and historian Mike Conroy writes of the character: "What started out as a replacement costume for Spider-Man turned into one of the Marvel web-slinger's greatest nightmares".[5] Venom was rated 33rd on Empire's 50 Greatest Comic Book Characters,[6] and ranked 22nd on IGN's 100 Greatest Comic Villains of All Time.[7]
Conception and creation
The original idea of a new costume for Spider-Man that would later become the character Venom was conceived by a Marvel Comics reader from Norridge, Illinois named Randy Schueller.[8] In 1982, Jim Shooter, Marvel's editor-in-chief at the time, sent Schueller a letter acknowledging Marvel's interest in the idea, which they ended up purchasing from him for $220.[9] Shooter came up with the idea of switching Spider-Man to a black-and-white costume, possibly influenced by the intended costume design for the new Julia Carpenter version of Spider-Woman. Artists Mike Zeck and Rick Leonardi designed the black costume.[10][11][12]
Writer/artist John Byrne says on his website that he conceived a costume of self-healing biological material when he was the artist on Iron Fist — to explain how that character's costume was constantly being torn and then apparently repaired by the next issue. Byrne says explaining that he ended up not using the idea on that title, but that Roger Stern later asked him if he could use the idea for Spider-Man's alien costume. Stern in turn plotted the issue in which the costume first appeared but then left the title. It was writer Tom DeFalco and artist Ron Frenz who established that the costume was a sentient alien being that was vulnerable to high sonic energy during their run on The Amazing Spider-Man that preceded David Michelinie's.[13]
With the nature of the symbiote established Michelinie felt it could serve a character concept he had been toying with for some time. When Michelinie first began working on Spider-Man stories he noted that the most unique ability Spider-Man possessed as a superhero was his spider sense, which Michelinie claimed gave the character a level of invulnerability on par or better than much stronger Marvel superheroes. While other Spider-Man antagonists such as The Green Goblin and Mysterio had been able to temporarily disable Spider-Man's spider sense through chemical means, Michelinie was fascinated by the idea of a villain who could permanently evade Spider-Man's spider sense and what kind of consequences that would have on both Spider-Man as a superhero and Peter Parker's personal life. After initially coming up with characters who were able to evade Spider-Man's spider sense through cybernetic means that were rejected by Marvel editors, Michelinie posited that the symbiote would make a human host be able to evade Spider-Man's spider sense through it being mutated by absorbing Spider-Man's genetic material when Spider-Man was its host. This idea was approved by Marvel editors and Michelinie was given the green light to further refine the character.[14]
The symbiote was first introduced as Spider-Man's new black costume in The Amazing Spider-Man #252 (May 1984) as part of a story called "Homecoming!" The story takes place after Spider-Man's return from the events of the miniseries Secret Wars, where he first obtains the black costume. The full first appearance of Venom is in The Amazing Spider-Man #300 (May 1988), after the symbiote bonds with Eddie Brock. [15]
Dark Reign: Fantastic Four
In Dark Reign: Fantastic Four, everyone is transported in a reality where Reed Richards had become the Supreme Intelligence. In this reality, the Venom symbiote had multiplied and had bonded to an entire regime of Skrulls, who had been killing various Reeds, Johnnys and Bens, but not Susans.[112]
Spider-Man: Life Story
In a continuity where characters naturally aged after Peter Parker became Spider-Man in 1962, Peter still acquired the Venom symbiote during the Secret Wars in the 1980s. Unlike the main continuity, Peter discovered that the black suit was a symbiote before Reed Richards did, but initially decided against getting rid of it due to his aging body. When Kraven tried burying Peter alive, the symbiote helped him escape the grave and nearly caused him to kill Kraven before Mary Jane helped separate it from him. The traumatic incident led Mary Jane to leave Peter, who abandoned the symbiote. It then bonded with Kraven before the hunter could commit suicide.[166]
In 2019, the Venom-possessed Kraven attacks Peter and Miles Morales in Doctor Doom's space station as the two heroes attempt to shut down Doom's technology across the planet. When he attempts to let the symbiote possess Miles, he discovers that Otto Octavius is possessing Miles' body, allowing Peter the chance to attack him with a sonic blast from his suit. When the symbiote separates from him, he is nothing more than a skeleton. As Peter stays behind on the space station to ensure the Doomsday Pulse activates, the symbiote helps him one last time by filling in the giant hole of the collapsing station. Once the pulse activates, the station explodes and kills Peter and the symbiote.[167]
Several versions of Venom are featured in Spider-Verse:
In the universe of Earth-91274 where the Transformers series is set, Peter Parker appears still wearing his original Black Suit and goes to cover a story about the evil Decepticons who stole components of a nuclear power plant to build their base in the side of a mountain in Oregon. He briefly clashed with the Autobots, but then Optimus Prime convinced Spider-Man about their good motives. Spider-Man then aids the Autobots against the Decepticons.[171]
The Ultimate iteration of Venom was created by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Mark Bagley and was introduced in Ultimate Spider-Man #33, while the Conrad Markus version was introduced in Ultimate Spider-Man Volume 2 #16.1. His appearance was designed by Mark Bagley to be more of a monster than a supervillain, describing him as a "huge cancerous/tumorous creature".[172]
The Ultimate Marvel version of Eddie Brock was a writer for the Daily Globe. He was at Justin Hammer's press conference; his face is not shown, only his hands and arms appear.[173] Eddie Brock Jr. is Peter Parker's childhood friend (along with a college student who is a lab assistant for Curtis Conners) and the Venom symbiote is not extraterrestrial but is the second stage of a genetically created "suit" designed by Richard Parker (Peter's father) and Eddie Brock Sr. (Eddie's father) as a cure for severe disease meant to bond to the user and protect them from internal and external harm. The suit is tailored for a specific DNA (Richard's in this case), and the person to whom it belongs can control the suit more easily. If, however, someone uses a suit designed for somebody else, they are constantly damaged by the suit which requires nourishment, gained by feeding on organic flesh, to function. If bonded to an incompatible host the Venom suit begins consuming them almost immediately, forcing them to feed on others to sustain it or die themselves. When taking a host, the organic matter that comprises the suit completely envelops the host, regardless of resistance, temporarily blinding it, before encasing itself in a hard, purple casing, similar to a pupa, as it bonds further with the host. When the host emerges, the suit 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 leaves trace amounts of itself in their bloodstream, which attracts other samples of Venom to itself, and can overload Peter's spider-sense. In the video game Ultimate Spider-Man, absorbing the trace amounts in Peter's blood allowed Eddie to take complete control of the suit, gaining a greater ability to talk and a spider symbol on his chest.
Venom's only known weakness is electricity, and larger amounts of the suit will need more electricity to kill, as varying amounts of the suit will be stunned or vaporized by electric shocks. This was first seen in Ultimate Spider-Man #38, when an electric wire got tangled around Venom's foot. An electrocution from live power-lines vaporised the smaller amount on Peter, while a similar amount disabled Eddie. Note in the video game Ultimate Spider-Man, when Electro electrocutes Venom during a cutscene, the suit is not affected by the shock like the live power-line did in the "Venom" arc. 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.[174]
The Venom suit was introduced when Peter Parker reunited with his childhood friend Eddie Brock Jr. to continue their fathers' research into a protoplasmic cure for cancer. Eddie Sr. had kept the suit in the lab for his son as his legacy. After finding that Bolivar Trask had tried to weaponize his father's research, Peter attempted to steal a sample to conduct his own research on, but spilled it by accident.[175] The original Spider-Man (Peter Parker) was able to control the suit to a greater extent than anyone because of his powers and because the suit was designed for his father. Feeding off Spider-Man's own thoughts, the suit enhanced his strength, generated its own webbing, and made him completely bulletproof. But when Spider-Man was chasing down an armed robber, the suit attempted to take over him, growing a fanged maw. After fighting for control, Spider-Man electrocuted the suit before returning to destroy the sample. Enraged, Eddie ignored Peter's warnings and used a second sample of the Venom suit on himself. Eddie, wearing the Venom suit, initially resembled a bulkier version of Spider-Man but the suit grew a fanged mouth, claws, tentacles and spinal ridges. Eddie hunted down Peter, intending to force him to be absorbed in the suit but was electrocuted by downed power lines and retreated.[176] Eddie was then captured by Silver Sable, who was hired by Bolivar since the suit technically belonged to him and ordered Adrian Toomes to conduct his experiments on the suit in an attempt to remove the suit from Eddie. Then Beetle tried to capture Venom, but Venom escaped and was confronted by Spider-Man. During a battle the suit eventually separated itself from Eddie and forcibly bonded itself with Peter, turning him into Venom. The Ultimates arrived and were able to separate Peter from the suit. Eddie later approached Peter and demanded that he retrieve the suit for him but was rebuffed. During a confrontation between Peter, Eddie and Gwen Stacy, Gwen transformed into Carnage. Contact with Carnage caused trace amounts of the suit within Eddie's body to multiply, transforming him into Venom, at which point the two symbiotes began to fight. After a brief battle the Venom symbiote absorbed all traces 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.[177]
Venom appeared with his trademark white spider symbol in Ultimates 3.[178] He attacks the Ultimates' mansion, demanding to find the woman. The Ultimates fight him until Thor strikes him with lightning, turning him into a puddle of organic matter. He is revealed to be an android created by Ultron as a pawn in a master plan.[179]
Conrad Marcus was an employee at Oscorp that helped create the spider behind Miles Morales's powers.[180] An employee of the Roxxon Corporation, Marcus willingly becomes the Venom symbiote's new host and was a more larger Venom than the Eddie Brock's version. When investigative reporter Betty Brant incorrectly assumes that the new Spider-Man (Miles Morales) is Jefferson Davis, Venom kills Betty.[181] Afterwards, Venom destroys Oscorp's abandoned building and later appears at Miles's apartment due to his believing Jefferson to be the new Spider-Man. During the ensuing battle between Venom and Spider-Man, Jefferson is injured and taken to a hospital. Venom appears there, leading to another battle with Spider-Man and the police that accidentally kills both Rio Morales and Marcus.[182]
In Venomverse, various versions of the character are featured as they are recruited to fight off an army of Poisons:
A version of X23 became bonded to the Venom symbiote while she was trying to escape the facility before they were approached by a Venomized Captain America to join the Venom army.[183]
A version of Old Man Logan was captured by Angel, Spider-Girl (Ashley Barton), and Hulk Jr before being eaten by a symbiote infected Devil Dinosaur. However, the symbiote bonded to Logan and helped him kill his attackers.[184] During the climax of the event, he was presumed dead.
Deadpool from another universe investigated a facility where illegal experiments were being performed with parasitic worms and bonded to the symbiote to expel the worms inside him. During the events of Venomverse, he is willingly consumed by a Poison to act as a double-agent for the Venom army. Following the Poisons' defeat, Venomized Deadpool is presumed dead.[185]
In another universe, Gwenpool steals the symbiote from an unknown place and mistakenly writes Daredevil's secret identity on a piece of paper which her boss acquires. She tries to get it back alongside Daredevil, but discovers that her boss is a member of the Hand and kills him. During Venomverse, she is consumed by Poison and killed by Poison Deadpool.[186]
In an alternate universe, Venom bonds to Robbie Reyes and assumes control over the body alongside Eli Morrow. During Venomverse, he is consumed by the Poisons and killed by Carnage.[187]
A Venomized Rocket Raccoon was featured in the event. After his universe's Groot is consumed by Poison, Rocket is forced to kill him. Following this, he becomes a bounty hunter and attempts to kill his universe's Captain America. During Venomverse, he constructs a bomb to destroy the Poisons' base.[188][189]
A Venomized version of Black Panther from Earth-TRN654 appears during the event to aid the Venoms in fighting the Poisons. Following the Poisons' defeat, Venom-Panther returns to his dimension.[188]
A version of Ant-Man bonds to Venom and aids Rocket in building a bomb to destroy the Poisons' base. Ant-Venom is later killed by Venom-X23 after a Poison tries to consume him.[188]
An alternate version of Agent Venom joins the Venom army after being recruited by a Venomized Doctor Strange to fight the Poisons. He is later killed by Poison Hulk.[188]
An alternate version of Spider-Man who reunited with the symbiote after it left Brock was recruited to fight the Poisons. However, he was tricked by a Poison into thinking it was Aunt May and consumed by it; becoming an enemy to Venom before being killed by Venom-Rocket's bomb.[188]
A Venomized version of Doctor Strange from Earth-TRN644 recruits Venoms from across the multiverse to help him stop the Poisons after they eradicate his Earth. After he is captured by the Poisons, Strange realizes that the Poisons feed on Venom symbiotes and he should not have brought the Venoms together. In the climax of the event, he returns the surviving Venoms to their home universes.[188]
A Venomized version of Captain America makes an appearance recruiting different versions of Venoms from across the multiverse. He is captured by the Poisons in an attempt to convince him join them willingly. When he refuses, they consume him to make him join them. He was later killed by Poison Deadpool.[183]
In the alternate universe of Earth-TRN650, Rhino obtains the Venom symbiote and battles Black Panther. During the battle Ngozi, a wheelchair-bound Nigerian girl, bonds to the symbiote and defeats Rhino after he kills T'Challa.[189][190]
In the alternate universe of Earth-TRN651, Venom agrees to help the Punisher kill the Kingpin in exchange for the latter helping him kill Spider-Man. After killing the Kingpin, the symbiote possesses Punisher and nearly kills Spider-Man until Venom-Strange recruited him to help fight the Poisons. During the battle, he was consumed by the Poisons and killed by Anti-Venom while invading Earth-616.[189][191]
In this one-shot, after obtaining the symbiote costume, Spider-Man waits too long before visiting Mister 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 kills the alien because of anger at the death of Spider-Man.[192]
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 killing many super-criminals. The symbiote eventually influences him to confront and beat Spider-Man, but before it can kill the Web Slinger, Castle's soldierly discipline wins out. With his new powers, Punisher takes 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 Spider-Man's borrowed sonic blaster allows Punisher to overcome and tame the symbiote by convincing it that his war on 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.[193]
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.[194]
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.[195]
In this one shot, which happens to take place in Earth-90211, Spider-Man has the Venom symbiote costume. Wade Wilson, as Deadpool, is hired by Galactus to kill the Beyonder for merging MODOK to Galactus's rear end in exchange for the Community Cube. He was given a weapon called the Recton Expungifier, the only weapon that could kill the Beyonder. When Deadpool tracked down his target to a night club, he was enticed into the Beyonder's partying lifestyle, getting Jheri curls in the process. While hanging out with the Beyonder in a flying limousine, Spider-Man broke into the car and demanded the symbiote costume be removed from himself. Beyonder's driver shoots Spider-Man out of the limousine and the symbiote leaves Spider-Man and merges with Deadpool, creating Venompool. However, after years of partying, Beyonder grew tired and threw Venompool to the world, snapping him out of the Beyonder's magic. Venompool attempted to resume his contract and kill the Beyonder, but he accidentally pawned the Recton Expungifier. He decides to get himself clean by kidnapping and selling a drunken Tony Stark to A.I.M. Unfortunately, he cannot join any major superhero teams, like the Avengers, Defenders and Fantastic Four because of his newly acquired Jheri curls.
This five-part series offers an alternate take on what would happen if Peter chose to keep the symbiote costume rather than reject it after Reed Richards revealed it was alive. Spider-Man starts acting more aggressive, even unmasking and threatening Hobgoblin (Roderick Kingsley) during an altercation. This leads Kingsley to track him down to May's house, where he blows it up and kills May in the process. Enraged, Peter brutally murders Hobgoblin and decides to take justice into his own hands by killing any criminals that come in his way. After Spider-Man seemingly kills the Kingpin, the Sinister Six (consisting of Kraven, Electro, Rhino, Mysterio, Eddie Brock possessing Doctor Octopus' arms and a reluctant J. Jonah Jameson) assemble in the countryside to take him down. Though Spider-Man kills Electro, Rhino, and Mysterio, Kraven and Jameson separate Peter from the symbiote after discovering its weakness to fire.
Jameson takes Peter home, where they meet up with Mary Jane and Black Cat and find out that Kingpin had leaked Spider-Man's secret identity to the press. As Felicia takes Jameson to safety, Peter and Mary Jane discover that the symbiote has possessed Reed and taken over the Baxter Building, where it has used his scientific knowledge to make itself stronger and take control of anyone inside, including the Thing. Knowing the suit still wants him, Peter ventures into the building with Mary Jane and the Human Torch, where they find out that the symbiote used Reed to create other symbiotes to possess the other heroes present near the building. It then orders them to attack Mary Jane, as Peter's love for her is what prevented it from taking over him completely. Spider-Man and the Torch then lure the symbiote back to the Baxter Building, where Peter offers himself to the symbiote willingly. After the symbiote kills Reed, it attempts to bond to Peter again, however it is revealed that "Peter" was actually a disguised Torch using Reed's image inducer that the real Peter gave him, allowing him to annihilate the symbiote with his flames. Peter turned himself in for the murders, but was ultimately declared not guilty since the other heroes who were possessed by symbiotes testified on his behalf. Susan Storm invites Peter to join the Fantastic Four to take Reed's place.
In the epilogue, it is revealed that Kingpin barely survived Spider-Man's brutal assault and is determined to get revenge on Peter. His assistant Wesley reveals that his doctors have gotten ahold of one of the symbiote's offspring, to help him recover and give him the power he needs to take on Spider-Man. In Extreme Venomverse Kingpin bonds with the symbiote to become "King Pain", and he nearly succeeds in killing Spider-Man before he is murdered by the Carnage symbiote from Earth-616.[196]
In this AU, when Ben Grimm returned to Earth from Battleworld, he saw the symbiote in its prison while still feeling bitter at Reed's lie, and the symbiote played on Ben's current issues to convince him to accept the symbiote, which promised that it would be able to help him assume human form. The symbiote was able to neutralize the cosmic radiation in Ben's system so that he could assume a human form, but when he went for a walk in New York he was attacked by the Lizard. The Lizard manipulated Ben into believing that the symbiote could be used to help others like them deal with unwanted transformations, but simply trapped Ben and stole the symbiote for himself, subsequently attacking the Baxter Building and killing Reed and Sue before Ben was able to follow and take it back. He subsequently killed the Lizard on the streets by crushing his head, but was also merged with the symbiote again, the issue ending with the musing that Ben has regained his human form at the cost of what was left of his humanity.[197]
In this five-issue limited series, Venom is rejected by Eddie Brock and then bonds with She-Hulk, Wolverine, Doctor Strange, Loki, and Moon Knight.[198]
In the Spider-Ham parody, What The--?!, "The Bee-Yonder" gives Spider-Ham a version of the black uniform.[199] In issue #20, Pork Grind, a pig version of Venom is introduced as an enemy of Peter Porker, the Spectacular Spider-Ham. He was a Wild Boar from Australia, who accepted a deal with a supervillain to become Pork Grind, because every Superhero needs to have an evil counterpart. He was much stronger than Spider-Ham, who was smashed by him like paper. Spider-Ham in an attempt to stop Pork Grind, he ate some spinach and was able to finally defeat him.
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 antihero and Carnage as the antagonist. By 2007, the film rights to Venom had reverted to Sony Pictures.[210]
In March 2012, Josh Trank was in talks to direct a new Venom film as a part of The Amazing Spider-Man film series.[211] In December 2013, Sony officially announced two spin-offs of The Amazing Spider-Man film series, one of which was a Venom film called Venom: Carnage, written by Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci and Ed Solomon, with Kurtzman directing it.[212] In September 2014, Kurtzman stated that they had been considering different incarnations of the character, including Eddie Brock, Anne Weying, and Flash Thompson.[213] The film, along with the other spin-offs, was cancelled prior to the studios' contract agreement with Marvel Studios.
Venom appears in Spider-Man 3, with Peter Parker's version portrayed by Tobey Maguire and Eddie Brock's version portrayed by Topher Grace. After landing on Earth, the symbiote bonds with Spider-Man until he eventually rejects it, after which it bonds with Brock and forms an alliance with Flint Marko to kill Spider-Man, only to be killed by Spider-Man via one of the New Goblin's pumpkin bombs.
In July 2007, Sony executive Avi Arad revealed a spin-off of Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy focused on the still-alive Venom symbiote was in the planning stages, with Jacob Aaron Estes commissioned to write a script, tentatively entitled Venom.[214] In September 2008, Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick signed on to write the film after Estes' script was rejected,[215] while Gary Ross would direct.[216] Variety reported that Venom would become an anti-hero in the film, and Marvel Entertainment would produce the film.[217] This potential film was ultimately cancelled.
In March 2016, following the introduction of Spider-Man to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it was announced that Sony was moving forward with a standalone film after hiring Dante Harper to write the script, and Arad, Matt Tolmach and Amy Pascal producing. The film was initially reported to have no connection to the MCU nor have any relation to Spider-Man; it would be set in its own continuity.[218][219][220] A year later, Sony announced that Venom would be released on October 5, 2018, with Scott Rosenberg and Jeff Pinkner signed on as screenwriters.[221] It was reported to be Rated R and the first in a series of Spider-Man character-related spin-off films called the "Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters", later renamed to Sony's Spider-Man Universe.[222][223] In May 2017, Tom Hardy was announced to be cast as Eddie Brock / Venom, with Ruben Fleischer attached to direct.[224] Furthermore, Brad Venable provides additional sound effects and dialogue for the character.[225] Carlton Drake / Riot appeared as the film's primary antagonist, as did Anne Weying, Brock's ex-wife from the comics.[226][227] The film has been described by Fleischer as taking inspiration from the works of David Cronenberg and John Carpenter. The supporting cast also consists of Riz Ahmed, Michelle Williams, and Jenny Slate. Variety reported that Kelly Marcel would write the script with Pinkner and Rosenberg.[228] Filming officially began on October 23, 2017.[229] Venom was released in the United States on October 5, 2018, with a PG-13 rating.
A sequel, Venom: Let There Be Carnage was released in the United States on October 1, 2021. Loosely adapting the events of the "Maximum Carnage" comic book story arc and The Venom Saga from the 1994 Spider-Man animated series, the film sees Venom and Brock having to battle Cletus Kasady / Carnage and Shriek while also learning how to better live and work together as the "Lethal Protector".[230] The film's post-credits scene sees Eddie and Venom being transported to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), where they witness J. Jonah Jameson expose Peter Parker's identity as Spider-Man on television.[231] This is continued in the mid-credits scene of the MCU film Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), where, just as the pair begin to learn about the heroes and major events that occurred in this universe, they are taken back to their home dimension by Doctor Strange's spell along with other universe-displaced individuals; inadvertently leaving behind a piece of the symbiote.[232]
Originally David Michelinie planned to kill Venom in Amazing Spider-Man #400, and have other villains become the host. However due to the popularity of the character Marvel would not allow this, leading him to create Carnage instead.[250]
Comics journalist and historian Mike Conroy writes of the character: "What started out as a replacement costume for Spider-Man turned into one of the Marvel web-slinger's greatest nightmares."[251][252] Venom was ranked as the 22nd Greatest Comic Book Villain of All Time in IGN's list of the top 100 comic villains.[253] IGN also ranked Mac Gargan's incarnation of Venom as #17 in their list of "The Top 50 Avengers",[254] while the Flash Thompson incarnation was ranked as #27.[255] The character was listed as #33 on Empire's 50 Greatest Comic Book Characters[256] and was also ranked at #8 in Marvel's Top 10 Spider-Verse Characters.[257] Spike Chunsoft and Danganronpa mascot Monokuma was designed by Rui Komatsuzaki and Kazutaka Kodaka to partially resemble Venom.[258]
The Australian spider Venomius is named after the character, with the species name (V. tomhardyi) referencing Tom Hardy's portrayal of the character.[259]
An original page of the 1984 Marvel Superheroes Secret Wars, showing Spider-Man wearing the black suit for the first time, was sold by Heritage Auctions in January 2022 for over $3 million. At the time, it was the highest price paid for a single comic-book page at an auction.[260]
Scorpion (Mac Gargan)
The Venom symbiote approached Mac Gargan, the villain formerly known as Scorpion, and offered him new abilities as the second Venom.[42] Gargan bonded with the creature, which would later give him an extra edge as part of Norman Osborn's Sinister Twelve.[43] As the Avengers dealt with the rest of the Twelve, Spider-Man swiftly defeated Gargan, even with these additional powers, which Spider-Man suggests is attributed to the fact that Mac Gargan does not hate Spider-Man as much as Eddie Brock did.[44]
Gargan later became a member of a sub-group of the Thunderbolts,[45] which was drafted[46] by the Avengers to hunt down the members of the fugitive New Avengers. It was then revealed that he had been outfitted with electrical implants by the government to keep the symbiote in check.[47]
When in the Venom persona, Gargan retained very little of his original personality and was controlled almost completely by the symbiote, which drove him to cannibalism. When the symbiote was dormant in his body, he expressed nausea and fear of the organism.[48] 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 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.[volume & issue needed]
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 Spider-Man, a member of the Dark Avengers, while unveiling the team.[49] After the Siege of Asgard, Gargan and most of the Dark Avengers were taken into custody. While being held on the Raft, the Venom symbiote was forcefully removed from him, ending his run as Venom.[50]
On December 9, 2010, Marvel Comics announced a new "black ops" Venom owned by the government. This new Venom was featured in a new series called Venom in March 2011. The birth of the new Venom can be seen in The Amazing Spider-Man #654 in February 2011.[51] On January 28, 2011, the identity of "black ops" Venom was revealed to be Flash Thompson.[52][53] Flash is hired by the government to be a special agent wearing the Venom symbiote as part of Project Rebirth. Flash is only allowed to wear the suit for up to 48 hours, or risk a permanent bonding with the symbiote. Along with the alien, Flash is equipped with a "Multi-Gun" designed to change into any type of gun Flash needs. The Government is also equipped with a "kill switch" designed to take Flash out if he loses control. Flash rejects the kill switch and later joins the Secret Avengers,[54] Thunderbolts,[55] Guardians of the Galaxy,[56] and even becomes appointed by the Klyntar a Space Knight.[57]
Lee Price first appeared in Venom vol. 3 #1. After being separated from Flash Thompson through unspecified means, the Venom symbiote happens upon a black market deal between Black Cat's gang and Tombstone's gang. He resorts to bonding with one of the men present, a discharged Army Ranger named Lee Price who was with Scorpion as part of Black Cat's gang. The weakened symbiote pleads with Price, attempting to convince him to become a hero like Thompson. Price ignores and overpowers it, intent on using it for personal gain as a new, wholly villainous Venom.[58]
Lee Price makes his way to Black Cat's hideout where Scorpion accuses him of botching the black market sale by causing the shoot-out. After having to keep the Venom symbiote from attacking Black Cat, Lee Price takes his leave from Black Cat's lair as Scorpion gets suspicious towards Lee. His departure is seen by some FBI Agents. Lee Price later gets attacked by Tombstone's minion Firebug. Upon defeating Firebug, an FBI Agent with a bazooka appears telling Lee Price that he is under arrest.[59]
Lee Price eventually loses the symbiote when Eddie Brock and Spider-Man take him down and he is arrested by the NYPD.[41]
While incarcerated at the New York Corrections Supermax Facility for Superhuman Incarceration, Lee Price is feared by most of the inmates and he even defeats three inmates in the prison's cafeteria when they try to kill him to boost their reputation. Lee swears to get out, reclaim the Venom symbiote, and plan revenge on those who have wronged him.[60] Lee Price is later visited by his lawyer who tells him that two of the inmates he defeated had died in the infirmary and that Venom has resurfaced upon it being revealed in the news.[61] At the courthouse, Lee Price's lawyer stated that Lee's actions as Venom were caused by the Venom symbiote while the opposing lawyer mentions about Venom still being at large. The judge then asked for some evidence to help with the trial. After the trial, Lee Price is released from prison and begins his plans to reclaim the Venom symbiote and take revenge on those who have wronged him.[62]
In Venom Inc., Lee Price steals the Mania symbiote from Andy and becomes Maniac. He uses the symbiote to infect the crime bosses and become a criminal kingpin, but he is defeated by Spider-Man, Venom, Black Cat and Agent Anti-Venom.[63]
When Cletus Kasady was collecting the codex left in the bodies of previous hosts, he disguised himself as Eddie and went to jail where he killed Lee after ripping the Maniac symbiote off him, while framing Eddie for the murder.[64]
Tel-Kar first appeared in Venom: First Host #1. During the Kree-Skrull War, the Kree, desiring to replicate the Skrull's shape-shifting abilities, they obtain the newborn Venom, which had been outcast from the other symbiotes, on Gorr's planet where Knull had created the symbiotes.[65] Tel-Kar is recruited to be bonded to the newborn symbiote to infiltrate the Skrull army. Tel-Kar's body is biologically altered so he can have full control over the symbiote's mind to the point of erasing its memories. He successfully infiltrated the Skrull army discovering various secrets. However he blew his cover up to save some Kree refugees and handed the symbiote to them to return it to Hala. Then Tel-Kar was betrayed by Ronan the Accuser who used a Kree Sentry to capture Tel-Kar and was given to the Skrulls as a war criminal. Separated from Tel-Kar after his capture, the symbiote goes on to be bonded to Spider-Man.[66][67]
Tel-Kar escapes the Skrulls and wanders through the Galaxy thinking that the War is still going on, until he hears of an agent from Earth called Flash Thompson with a black symbiote suit. Recognizing it as his symbiote, he goes to Earth to find it. Eddie Brock arrives with the symbiote and saves Tel-Kar from the Warbride Skrull M'Lanz, who had followed him. Angered by Venom's refusal to return to him, Tel-Kar threatens to bond to Venom's latest offspring and turn it into a monster. Acceding to Tel-Kar, Venom reunites with him and they go to a Skrull research base to get a Skrull bioweapon. Simultaneously, Eddie is bonded to the offspring calling itself Sleeper and allies with M'Lanz to stop Tel-Kar. During the ensuing battle, Tel-Kar concludes that he does not need Venom anymore and uses an electrified spear to detach himself from it while scarring himself in the process. Later he is betrayed by the Kree Empire while Eddie escapes with Venom and M'Lanz with Sleeper. Tel-Kar, now furious, attempts to release the bioweapon on Earth to kill all humanity, but Sleeper bonds to Tel-Kar and lobotomizes him as punishment for what he did to Venom and Eddie. Sleeper, now with Tel-Kar's body, wishes Eddie farewell and goes on to explore the universe.[68]
During the War of the Realms event, after Venom was separated from Eddie,[69] the symbiote, in its humanoid form, joined the War Avengers (composed of Captain Marvel, Deadpool, Sif, Winter Soldier, Weapon H, Black Widow, and Captain Britain)[70] to fight off Malekith's invasion. However, upon fighting Malekith, the Dark Elf with the use of the Ebony Blade, teleported away along with Venom.[71] Since Malekith was aware of Knull and Gorr's All-Black the Necrosword, he tortured the symbiote and turned it into his own weapon similar to All-Black to use it against the Asgardians.[72] During the end of the event, Malekith enhanced the symbiote with his dark magic and bonded the symbiote to his various acolytes, turning them into the Spider-Elves. After the Thor Corps arrived, which consisted of Thor, King Thor, Young Odinson and Jane Foster, Malekith using the Venom Blade/Symbio Sword, covered one of Thor's hammers with the symbiote and declared himself the Butcher of Thor. However, he was defeated and the symbiote was ultimately free from Malekith's control.[73][74]
Aside from the aforementioned hosts, there have been other, shorter term hosts for the Venom symbiote.
In the Planet of the Symbiotes storyline, the symbiote was rejected by Eddie, causing it to release a powerful scream that attracts the other symbiotes to Earth. Subsequently, the symbiote sees Scarlet Spider, (Ben Reilly) and takes the form of his hooded top attempting to bond to Ben mistaking him for Spider-Man but failed owing to Ben's strong will. When it was later discovered by Brock and Peter Parker, the symbiote returned to Eddie.[75]
Anne Weying first appears in The Amazing Spider-Man #375. She is Eddie Brock's ex-wife and a successful lawyer. Weying assists Spider-Man by sharing some of Brock's history. Later, she follows Spider-Man to the amusement park where Venom had Peter's (fake) parents. She confronts Brock and manages to convince him to end his feud. After 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 lashes out against the men who had hurt her, and Brock becomes afraid for her (and of her) and compels the symbiote to return to him. Ann is left distraught at her actions while bonded. Later Ann is arrested on a false charge as part of a trap for Venom. She manages to warn Brock who sends the symbiote to her, allowing her to become She-Venom and escape custody. Some time later, Ann, traumatized by her experiences with Venom and the symbiote, commits suicide after seeing Spider-Man pass by her window in a black costume, believing it is Brock returning for her.[38]
The story follows U.S. Army communication specialist Patricia Robertson.[76] During a supply run to an Ararat Corporation owned outpost she discovers everyone at the installation dead except for one scientist. It is revealed that the Ararat Corporation is run by an alien colony of miniature spider robots led by an entity named Bob, that have infiltrated the American government. The Ararat Corporation has cloned Venom to facilitate the extermination of humanity, but the clone ravages its hosts. The clone is responsible for the death of the outpost crew.[77]
Robertson finds an ally in the Suit, a mysterious individual made of the same miniature robots as Bob, revealed to have been accidentally brought to Earth by Reed Richards.[78] The Suit modifies Robertson while she is unconscious to allow her to control the clone if it bonds with her. The Suit sabotages Wolverine, the clones favored host, forcing it to bond with Robertson. One of Bob's agents convinces Robertston to kill the real Venom to save humanity, causing her to free the incarcerated Venom. She and Venom fight, but Venom escapes. Bob remotely deactivates the technology allowing Robertson to control the clone forcing her to rely on willpower. Later, Robertson and Venom again fight, and Venom absorbs the clone.[79] Venom decides to carry out the clone's mission given to it by the Ararat corporation. The series did not continue and the plot remained unresolved as of 2012. The Venom symbiote would later regurgitate and expel the clone from its body, allowing it to bond with a teenager named Andrea "Andi" Benton. Taking the name Mania, Benton became Agent Venom's partner for a time.[80]
Angelo Fortunato first appeared in Marvel Knights Spider-Man #7 created by Mark Millar and Terry Dodson. Angelo is the son of Don Fortunato, a prominent Mafia capo. His frail physique and shy attitude leave Angelo frequently bullied and humiliated by his father, who attends a supervillain auction and purchases the Venom symbiote from a sickly Brock for $100 million. Brock warns Angelo of the symbiote, but Angelo rebuffs him, saying that he has nothing to lose.[81] After bonding with the symbiote, Angelo discovers the secret identity of Spider-Man, and attempts to kill him to prove his worth. Spider-Man ultimately defeats Angelo and when he tries to escape, the symbiote abandons Angelo for his cowardice while he is leaping between buildings, leaving him to fall to his death. Spider-Man tried to save him, but he ran out of webs.[82]
In the 2008 Spider-Man / Red Sonja miniseries, where Spider-Man and Red Sonja, possessing the body of Mary Jane, fought the evil wizard Kulan Gath, who had possessed a U.S. senator, Kulan detached the symbiote from Eddie and bonded to it, becoming Kulan Venom. Luckily, the symbiote returned to Eddie, following the defeat of Kulan.[83]
During the Siege, Mac Gargan with the symbiote was fighting Spider-Man and Ms. Marvel. When they separated Mac from Venom, the symbiote briefly bonded to Carol and started flying away. But Carol gathered her powers and detached from the symbiote which rebonded to Mac.[84]
During the Circle of Four storyline, when Red Hulk came crashing into Flash's apartment so he can recruit him, the symbiote sensing Red Hulk as a danger, briefly bonds to him so he does not do any harm to Flash. Then when Red Hulk calms down, the symbiote returns to Flash. During the fight against Blackheart, Hulk bonded again with the symbiote along with Zarathos to prevent Hell from coming to Earth.[85]
When Flash Thompson with the symbiote was infiltrating into the Crime Master's men, Superior Spider-Man came attacking the criminals who was then confronted by Agent Venom. Doc Ock, thinking that Venom was still evil, attacked Flash with Web Shooters filled with burner fuel and in the process injured Flash. While Flash was recovering, Superior Spider-Man put the symbiote in a canister and gave Flash a pair of prosthetic legs. Then the symbiote broke out and, instead of bonding to Flash, bonded to Superior Spider-Man, as it was still connected to Peter's body. After bonding to the symbiote, Otto called himself the Superior Venom and went solving crime in a much more brutal way. Then Mary Jane called the Avengers to stop the Superior Venom. But the Avengers proved to be no match to Superior Venom since he had the abilities of Spider-Man, powered by Venom, with the mind of Doctor Octopus. In the fight Otto realizes that the symbiote was messing with his head and with the help of Peter's consciousness and Flash's (who had arrived in an Iron Man suit) he separated himself from Venom which returned to Flash.[86]
When Flash was part of the Guardians of the Galaxy he got separated from the symbiote and his teammates decided to send him to Earth. While traveling, Groot accidentally bonds to the symbiote and started attacking the others. Rocket tried to save his friend, but the symbiote left Groot and bonded to him. He then tried to convince them to leave the ship, but Drax grabbed Rocket by the tail and started bashing him against the wall until the symbiote bonded to Drax and defeated the whole team. The symbiote possessed Drax took control of the ship and went to a planet formed from symbiotes named Klyntar (later revealed to be Knull's cage) where the symbiote was purified and bonded to Flash.[87]
Agent Venom as Venom Space Knight foils the Gramosian's attempts to steal resources from the home planets of the P'qui[88] and the Wugin,[89] and to acquire chemical weapons derived from the blood of kidnapped Vvexians.[90]
Mercurio forces a Ruu'lto named Pik Rollo, whose child he is holding hostage, to try and assassinate Agent Venom, but Rollo instead betrays Mercurio, and joins forces with Venom.[91] When the two lay siege to Mercurio's headquarters, he incapacitates and imprisons them, and separates the Venom symbiote from Flash Thompson.[92] Sensing the symbiote's suppressed bloodlust, Mercurio attempts to convince it to join him, but it instead frees and returns to Thompson. The reformed Agent Venom and his allies proceed to dismantle Mercurio's forces, but Mercurio himself escapes, and swears vengeance on both the symbiote and Thompson.[93]
A bout of temporary insanity that the Venom symbiote subsequently experiences is eventually discerned to have been caused by its brief fusion with Mercurio, whose evil had undone the mental "cleansing" that the creature had earlier undergone.[94]
In the mini-series Symbiote Spider-Man (set during the period when Spider-Man was still bonded to the symbiote), Mysterio blackmailed Black Cat into stealing a piece of Spider-Man's suit for him. When he had his friend, Jonathan Ohnn, a scientist working for the Kingpin, examine the piece, the symbiote controlling Peter's body came to retrieve it, however, after clashing with the Kingpin's men, was unable to find it and fled. The severed piece of symbiote bonded to Mysterio, allowing him to escape from the Kingpin's interrogation. He then went after Spider-Man to steal the suit and use it for himself.[95]
Though it requires a living host to survive, the Venom symbiote is adept at fending for itself independent of a host. The symbiote is capable of shapeshifting abilities, including the ability to form spikes or expand its size,[96] as well as mimic the appearance of other humanoids after it has obtained a host. The organism can additionally use its shape-shifting abilities to conceal itself by altering its coloration or by becoming completely invisible. It also contains a small "dimensional aperture", allowing its hosts to carry items without adding mass to the costume. The symbiote also exhibits telepathic abilities, primarily when it needs to communicate with its host,[citation needed] possibly also technopathy as it is able to summon a flying device to help it escape from the Baxter Building.[97]
Because of its contact with Spider-Man, the symbiote grants all of its subsequent hosts that hero's powers and cannot be detected by his 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. Retaining its memory from the time it was bonded with Spider-Man, Venom is also capable of producing webbing similar to Spider-Man's variety created from its biomass.[25]
The symbiote greatly enhances the physical strength of those it bonds with. Its hosts experience a vastly larger size and musculature. The symbiote displays non-human teeth, which are very sharp, and commonly protrude a long, prehensile tongue from its mouth. Venom is depicted as being physically much bigger than Spider-Man, as well as having more brute strength.
Venom exhibits some immunities to the supernatural powers of others such as the Penance Stare of Ghost Rider or Spider-Man's extrasensory spider-sense.
Some incarnations of the Venom symbiote have shown it able to replicate itself. This ability is shown in the 2005–2006 miniseries Spider-Man: Reign when Venom recreates his symbiote to combat his loneliness.
The Venom symbiote is vulnerable to fire and sonic waves, causing it great pain and exhaustion if it sustains enough exposure. It can sense and track all of its offspring symbiotes except Carnage, who learned how to block this ability shortly after bonding with Cletus Kasady and confronting Venom/Eddie Brock for the first time.[33]
The Venom symbiote is shown to form giant web-like dragon wings when it was in contact with Knull.
