Who Is Venom?
Venom is an enemy of Spider-Man from the Marvel company. He first appeared in May 1984, created by David Michelinie, Mike Zeck and Todd McFarlane. This alien symbiote is one of Spider-Man's worst and most powerful enemies. As we have fans from all around the world reading our article, we will try to find out all there is to know about Venom.
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Who is Venom?
Venom's symbiote was the 998th generation of his lineage, born on the planet Klyntar from an egg. Raised to become an agent of the cosmos, he was united with the inhabitant of an icy planet, who proved unworthy of the honor, filled with hatred and cruelty. The host used the young symbiont to commit genocide on his home world, turning it into a devastated wasteland, and corrupted the symbiont with anger and bloodlust. At one point, the symbiote joined a group of corrupt Klyntar who used their hosts as cattle, and was considered deranged because of its desire to form a unique and strong symbiotic bond with a host to protect it. The symbiont was placed in a prison-like tank and apparently sentenced to death by disintegration. During the first Secret Wars (1984), Venom landed on Battleworld, where super-villains and super-heroes were pitted against each other in a merciless war. That's when he crosses paths with Spider-Man. Spider-Man has to repair his costume and merges with Venom. But another version exists. Just before Peter Parker came across the living suit, Deadpool came into contact with the symbiote. After a brief fusion, the mercenary would have rid himself of the symbiote, realizing the danger it represented. This would explain why Venom became a despicable being after his encounter with Wade Wilson's mad spirit.
In any case, Spider-Man brought the suit back to Earth. Once in Manhattan, he noticed the power of the symbiote. The hero found it increasingly difficult to remove the suit, and he became increasingly tired. Worried by this, Spider-Man paid a visit to Red Richards, who analyzed the black suit and discovered that it was a symbiote: Spider-Man's fatigue was caused by the creature, which possessed him at night to make him fight and gain adrenaline to feed on. Using a sonic cannon, Richards succeeded in removing Spider-Man's symbiote. The symbiote retains a fierce hatred of Spider-Man for having let him down. A hatred it shares with the other hosts.
Who are Venom's hosts?
Since then, Venom has had numerous hosts of varying lengths. Here are the main ones:
Eddie Brock: Venom's favorite host
The hero of the film Venom, Eddie Brock is Venom's most famous host. A journalist at the Daily Globe, he was fired for falsifying an article. But the descent into hell didn't stop there. Brock was unable to find stable employment, and his wife Anne Weying (briefly She-Venom) divorced him. With his private and professional life reduced to ashes, Brock tried to commit suicide. At the Church of Our Lady of the Saints he prayed for forgiveness, and Venom answered. In this link to Eddie Brock, Venom feeds on his cancer to increase his host's life expectancy. From then on, Venom became one of the Weaver's most dangerous enemies, defeating him on several occasions.
Venom emerges as a character of remarkable complexity and intrigue, governed by a distinct code of honor. This personal ethos mandates his intervention to aid those he deems innocent, yet demands the harsh judgment of death for those he perceives as criminals. This unique moral compass has, on multiple occasions, compelled Venom into uneasy alliances with Spider-Man, uniting against shared adversaries, most notably the formidable Carnage.
Following the separation from Venom, Eddie Brock's narrative takes an unexpected turn. His battle with cancer finds an unexpected resolution through an encounter with Mister Negative, leading to a cure. Subsequently, Brock forms symbiotic bonds with two other intriguing entities: Anti-Venom and Toxin. However, the symbiotic journey comes full circle as Eddie Brock reunites with Venom, strategically reclaiming the symbiote to maintain a delicate equilibrium and ensure his enigmatic ally remains aligned with his distinctive sense of justice.
Angelo Fortunato: the pathetic interlude
Eddie Brock's cancer is revealed in the Marvel Knights Spider-Man series. Brock puts Venom up for auction. He will be bought by Don Fortunato, head of the Maggia, so that his stooge son, Angelo, can prove his superiority to the others. Unfortunately for him, Venom sensed his host's cowardice and weakness, and left him in the middle of a superhuman leap. Angelo fell a hundred meters, abandoned by the symbiote, and died as a stain on the sidewalk.
McDoald Gargan: from Scorpion to symbiote
After abandoning Fortunato, Venom chose Gargan, Spider-Man's old enemy known as The Scorpion, as his host. Gargan initially feared the symbiote's influence on him when it forced him to indulge in cannibalism to satisfy his hunger, but eventually came to terms with his bloodlust. Mac Gargan went on to work for the U.S. government, first as part of the Thunderbolts team, capturing unregistered superhumans during the Civil War. He then joined the Dark Avengers team under Norman Osborn, posing as Spider-Man to the general public. Unfortunately for him, Venom has a good memory. Just after Brock was cured by Mr Negative, Venom tried again to merge with his first host, leaving Gargan behind. But with his new Negative cells, Brock was protected from Venom. During the fusion, Venom was rejected, and Eddie Brock became Anti-Venom, whose tissues are corrosive to symbiotes.
Who are the symbiotes?
Symbiotes are an extraterrestrial species from the Marvel Universe, originating in the Andromeda Galaxy. There are many of them, but Venom is obviously the most famous. But their real name is Klyntar. They are parasitic creatures that need a host to survive. Once the host is covered by the symbiote, it develops superhuman strength and a powerful regenerative capacity. The symbiont feeds on the host's adrenalin and gradually increases its aggressiveness. Klyntar have two weaknesses: fire and sonic vibrations. The Venom symbiote was capable of adapting to Spider-Man's thoughts and reacting to his mental commands even without having a true fusion with him. Venom's psychic scream was capable of attracting the attention of other symbiotes across space, while strong feelings of emotional anguish were capable of killing several symbiotes at once. Klyntar are endowed with genetic memory, enabling them to tap into their progenitor's knowledge through ancestral memories. On Earth, this allows Venom's offspring to benefit from their ancient bond with Spider-Man, gaining powers similar to those of the Weaver. Basically, the Klyntar want to conquer other planets and merge with the dominant species. Venom has a special place, since his aim was not to invade planets but to find a perfect relationship with his host. This personality was considered heretical on the planet of the symbiotes, which led to Venom's exile, before landing on Battelworld and meeting Spider-Man.
There are many symbiotes in the Marvel universe. Here are some of the most famous:
Carnage: the psychopathic killer
Cletus Kasady is host to the worst symbiote of them all: Carnage. Created by writer David Michelinie and artist Mark Bagley, the fictional character first appeared in 1991. In creating Carnage, writer David Michelinie wanted to create a darker version of Venom. His first idea was to have Eddie Brock, the carrier of Venom's symbiote, die and change the host. However, Brock was an extremely popular character, and the author, expecting fan dissatisfaction, changed his mind and decided to create a new symbiote with a new host, who would be a bloodthirsty psychopath who, unlike Venom, would have no sense of honor. To this end, his personality was inspired by that of the Joker, Batman's famous adversary. With his red hair, Kasady is a bloodthirsty, totally psychopathic serial killer. He committed his first murder at the age of six, killing his grandmother by pushing her down the stairs to see if human beings could fly. In prison, he shared a cell with Eddie Brock, alias Venom, the bearer of the symbiote from Spider-Man's black suit. Their relationship was far from cordial, with Brock claiming to be a man of integrity who protects the innocent, making Kasady the very embodiment of what he hates. During their captivity, the symbiote found Brock and remelded with him, forming Venom once again and enabling him to escape. Unfortunately, during the escape, Venom left a piece of himself in Kasady's cell. Naturally, it mixed with Kasady's bloodstream, transforming him into Carnage. The blood-red Carnage is far more powerful than Spider-Man and even Venom, often forcing the Weaver to join forces with Venom to stop Carnage. Carnage was killed during Electro's massive escape from the Raft, cut in half by Sentry. A new five-episode miniseries written by Zeb Wells and drawn by Clayton Crain orchestrates Carnage's return to Earth.
Toxin: the gentle symbiote
Created in 2004 by Peter Milligan and Clayton Crain, Toxin is the third influential symbiote and the only one considered by Spider-Man as a potential ally. Toxin is the son of Carnage and the 1,000th symbiote of his generation. Toxin is a derivative of Carnage, but Carnage has a deep-seated hatred for his offspring. He therefore decided to eliminate his offspring from birth. Venom, on the other hand, was quick to learn the news and decided to protect the new symbiote, hoping to take it under his wing and make it a partner. He was also worried that Toxin, being the 1000th symbiote of their generation, might become psychotic. First on the scene was Patrick Mulligan, a married policeman and concerned father-to-be. Carnage implanted Toxin in him, and waited until he had regained enough strength to kill him, but Venom's intervention enabled Mulligan to escape. He finally confronted Carnage, defeating him but unable to bring himself to kill him. Venom realized that Mulligan would oppose him, and finally allied himself with Carnage to eliminate Toxin and his host.
With the help of Spider-Man and the Black Cat, Mulligan was able to defeat them but, concerned about his ability to control the symbiote's murderous instincts, chose to stay away from his wife and newborn son to protect them, and quit the force. He led a solitary life for some time, during which Spider-Man, then a member of the New Avengers, tasked him with arresting several escaped criminals. Toxin defeated and arrested King Cobra. Then, later, the Demolisher and the Compressor. Eddie Brock then became Toxin and tried to kill Flash Thompson, who had meanwhile become the new Venom, by joining forces with the Savage Six. Brock eventually assured Flash that he'd kill him if he didn't keep control of the symbiote.
Anti-Venom: the key to symbiote destruction
Anti-Venom was created in 2008 by Dan Slott and John Romita Jr. when Venom wanted to merge with Eddie Brock. Eddie Brock, recently cured by Mr Negative, becomes Anti-Venom through contact with the symbiote. The powers of this new Klyntar are different from those of other symbiotes. He becomes the Achilles' heel of the Klyntar and can easily annihilate them. Eddie Brock, as Anti-Venom, embarks on a quest to purify the hosts of their symbiotes. Anti-Venom disappears when the spider virus turns all the inhabitants into spiders. Eddie Brock sacrifices his power to create a serum and save Manahattan from the virus, killing Anti-Venom in the process.
Riot and other symbiotes: the Suicide Squad
Trevor Cole is a mercenary working for the Life Foundation. This company is featured in the film Venom. Trevor is one of five hosts chosen by the foundation to become Venom carriers. These five children of the original symbiote are obviously bloodthirsty, and seek to spread their virus across the planet. Spider-Man and Venom are needed to stop them. Riot is accompanied by Agony, Phage, Scream and Lasher. Eventually, these five symbiotes merged to form Hybrid.
So much for the main symbiotes, but the Marvel universe has a host of others yet to be discovered.
Lethal Protector and Planet of the Symbiotes, the two comics that inspired the film
Released in 1993 by David Michelinie and Mark Bagley, Lethal Protector begins with a truce between Spider-Man and Venom. The latter will no longer be pursued by the Weaver as long as he keeps quiet. Unfortunately for him, he's soon pursued by a horde of symbiotes from the Life Foundation, including Riot, Agony, Phage, Scream and Lasher.
Planet of the Symbiotes was created by David Michelinie in 1995. This time, Riot sends a telepathic message into space, attracting other symbiotes to Earth. Spider-Man, Scarlet Spider and Venom launch an assault on the symbiote invaders, but are overwhelmed. Just as they are about to be defeated, Carnage appears, having grown to the size of a building by consuming symbiotes. Spider-Man and Scarlet Spider battle Carnage, while Venom attempts to create a more powerful telekinetic scream to subdue the symbiotes. Spider-Man and Scarlet Spider defeat Carnage, and Brock bonds completely with his symbiote to create the necessary scream. The cry creates enough pain and despair for the symbiotes to commit suicide.
So much for the story of Venom and his symbiote companions. A much-loved character among comic book fans, we hope Venom will get a second chance on the silver screen after the recent disappointment of Ruben Fleischer's blockbuster.
That's it for today, we hope you enjoyed our "Who is Venom?" article! If you love this kind of article, we suggest your check our blog post about Star Trek!
