Few comic book characters conjure up horror and then heroism, and then back to horror
again, better than Venom.
Since debuting in Amazing Spider-Man #300, it wrapped its tendrils into the hearts of
fans everywhere.
With a new film starring Tom Hardy on the way, you may think you know all there is to
know about the symbiote.
But Venom has a long and curious history at Marvel that goes deeper than most people realize.
Fan-made
The idea for Venom began life as nothing more than a costume change for Peter Parker, when
Spider-fan Randy Schueller submitted what he called a "stealth suit" for a Marvel competition.
Marvel Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter bought the costume idea for $220, and gave Schueller
a chance to write the story.
John Byrne and Roger Stern later altered the original concept and made it into a self-repairing
costume for Spidey before David Michelinie and Todd McFarlane gave Venom his signature
look and characteristics.
Ironically, Schueller wasn't a fan of his design's villainous turn, saying he was "disturbed"
by the costume-gone-wild.
It wasn't until he saw Venom on the big screen in Spider-Man 3 that he finally came to terms
with it.
Grandpa Venom
In Amazing Spider-Man #333, Venom goes toe-to-toe with the villainous Styx and comes out on
the losing end of the battle.
Venom disintegrates, Eddie Brock goes to jail, and for awhile it seemed like the symbiote
had met its maker for good.
But, of course, he comes back.
Venom returned to break Eddie Brock out of prison in Amazing Spider-Man #345, and he
left something behind: a homicidal bundle of joy named Carnage, who bonded with convicted
serial killer Cletus Kasady in Amazing Spider-Man #361.
"Kasady is gone!
There is only Carnage!"
Roughly a decade later, Carnage made Venom a grandaddy-symbiote, bearing and then trying
to kill its own rugrat, Toxin, in Venom Vs. Carnage.
After Toxin's first host was killed, it found yet another kindred spirit in who else but
longtime host Eddie Brock, who got the pleasure of hosting two generations of symbiote.
Video game upload
Marvel got super-meta in 1995 when it released Venom: Carnage Unleashed, a comic about a
game that's based on a real-life video game called Maximum Carnage.
The four-issue story finds Carnage using the game's server to upload himself into phone
lines.
Because, you know, internet in the '90s.
Naturally, Venom joins the hunt for the cybernetic symbiote and eventually wins the day.
Considering dial-up speeds at the time, the biggest twist is that Carnage managed to upload
so much as a finger before the story ended.
Venom for sale
For Venom fans, there's really only one true host: Eddie Brock.
But before becoming Venom's host, Brock was dying of cancer, and when Eddie's cancer returned,
he chose to make a few changes to his vigilante lifestyle.
Brock decided the best way to be rid of Venom was auctioning it off for charity in Marvel
Knights Spider-Man #6—nothing could go wrong with that plan, right?
The suit ends up with Angelo, the son of a local mob boss, who proceeds to slaughter
several of Peter Parker's classmates.
Great decision, Eddie.
Identity crisis
Most of us assume that Venom and its host act as one organism when they're merged, but
Venom does have its own voice, and it doesn't always agree with its host.
While Venom and Eddie Brock usually got along, 2016's Venom reboot had Venom finding a new
host in former Army Ranger Lee Price.
And they bickered like an old married couple.
Venom continuously criticized Price's behavior and callous violence—even trying to sabotage
his criminal activities.
Of course, once Spider-Man teases it with a reunion, Venom reverts to its rage-filled
state.
Way to crush all that character development, Spidey.
Very uncool.
Lady Venom
According to the book Comics Creators on Spider-Man, Venom was originally conceived as a female
villain.
As Spidey writer David Michelinie explained, the idea was for a woman to go into labor
after her husband was accidentally killed during one of Spider-Man's battles.
Her child tragically dies during birth, and she's consumed by misdirected hatred toward
the Web-head.
The symbiote seeks her out, and the two bond over their loathing and hunt down Spider-Man.
Obviously, the idea never made it into the comics, but hey, there's always a chance it'll
come back in a future Venom reboot.
Deadpool wrecked Venom's mind
Comic book companies love - to mess with continuity, and that goes double for the writers of Deadpool.
In Deadpool's Secret Secret Wars, the story goes that Wade Wilson first discovered the
alien symbiote.
Not only does the revamp revel in lampooning the epic crossover, one of Marvel's first
major events, but it also gives Deadpool a chance to rewrite history in his inimitable
fashion.
But Wade quickly recognizes that the suit is sentient, and he doesn't think it's fair
to any living creature to make it spend time in his screwed up head.
So he rejects the symbiote, worrying that he's "driven it nuts or something," just before
Spider-Man gets to it.
Basically, Deadpool created the Venom we all know.
Natural predator
When you're a symbiotic life form, life is pretty sweet.
For the most part, Venom really doesn't have much to fear.
However, the symbiotes do have one known predator.
In the 1996 miniseries, Venom: The Hunted, our friendly neighborhood conjoined antihero
was stalked by a Xenophage, an alien species with a taste for symbiote-host brainwaves.
Xenophages are particularly dangerous because they transmute themselves into other shapes.
At one point it even hid out as a china cabinet, of all things.
Species origin
Although Venom received a semi-backstory in the "Planet of the Symbiotes" arc in 1995,
which revealed an entire planet of the parasitic life forms, the alien race didn't get an official
name for another 20 years.
During his time kicking it with Flash Thompson and the Guardians of the Galaxy, Venom finally
received an official origin story.
Guardians #23 introduced the Klyntar species and explained that the symbiotes are usually
pretty nice guys.
They just need to bond with evenly balanced hosts.
When their hosts have a couple screws loose, a symbiote easily becomes corrupted—which
is what happened with Venom and Eddie Brock.
It also didn't hurt that Venom spent some time inside Deadpool's head.
"Ohhhhh, that's not good."
Thanks for watching!
Click the Looper icon to subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Plus check out all this cool stuff we know you'll love, too!