Summary
- What If...? Dark: Venom #1 explores how a slight change in Marvel's history could have broken the Fantastic Four forever at the hands of the Venom symbiote.
- The issue features Ben Grimm bonding with the Venom symbiote after returning from Battleworld, with the alien being used to help people by manipulating Ben's fear of being seen as a monster.
- Ben's decision results in disastrous consequences, with Dr. Curt Conners double-crossing him and becoming a Venomized Lizard, leading to the deaths of Mr. Fantastic and Sue Storm, and leaving Ben without his team.
Warning: Contains spoilers for What If...? Dark: Venom #1
The Fantastic Four share an unbreakable bond as Marvel's First Family, but a new one-shot issue of Marvel's What If...? Dark takes the opportunity to explore how the slightest change in Marvel's history could have left the team forever broken at the hands of one surprising villain: the Venom symbiote.
What If...? Dark: Venom #1 – by the creative team of Stephanie Phillips, Jethro Morales, Israel Silva and Joe Sabino – is part of Marvel's series focusing on the dark potential behind iconic storylines and characters. The issue is set in the aftermath of marvels original 1984 Secret Wars crossover, and features Ben Grimm, Fantastic Four's the Thing, bonding with the Venom symbiote.
The Lizard Brutally Destroys The Fantastic Four
What If...? Dark: Venom #1 combines two aspects of the fallout from Marvel's first Secret Wars. The Thing returns from his solo time on Battleworld to find Reed Richards examining the symbiotic lifeform discovered there by Peter Parker. Left along with the symbiote, the Thing, emotionally fragile from losing the ability to turn back into Ben Grimm, winds up bonding with it. Rather than turn Thing-Venom into its villain, though, the issue takes another turn when the Thing encounters Dr. Curt Conners, who convinces him the alien could be used to help people around the world, playing on the Thing's fear of being seen as a monster, not a man.
The Best What If... Stories Leave Readers Asking, "What's Next?"
Of course, this is What If...? Dark, and the results of Ben's decision are disasterous. Connors double-crosses Ben taking the Symbiote for himself and becoming a Venomized Lizard. Going to the Baxter Building, Venom-Lizard bites off Mr. Fantastic's head and seemingly kills Sue Storm. Ben, arriving too late, takes the Symbiote back for himself and uses it to crush the Lizard's head in his hands. Though he's often portrayed as one of Spider-Man's more sympathetic villains, What If...? Dark: Venom #1 highlights how sinister The Lizard can truly be. When he kills Reed Richards, he says he's doing so as revenge for Reed believing himself smarter than Connors on Battleworld.
While the Thing is largely a tragic figure in the issue, What If...? Dark also shows the character's dark side. The plot's inciting incident is his moment of weakness, bonding with the symbiote, and the story climaxes as Ben – influenced by the Symbiote – kills The Lizard, an enemy who is fully incapacitated, with police arriving on the scene. Despite the horrifying deaths of his teammates at Lizard's hands, this unnecessary act of murder is Dark's darkest moment. As the issue ends, readers are left wondering what comes next for Ben Grimm, once again bonded with the Venom symbiote, left without The Fantastic Four, with blood on his hands.
What If...? Dark: Venom #1 is available now from Marvel Comics.