Venom is one of the most recognizable characters in Marvel Comics lore. The greatest characters in Marvel have been defined by their backstories, antagonists, and their iconic moments. Now it’s time to see which moments turned the Venom symbiote from a Spider-Man villain into one of the most famous anti-heroes in all of comics.
Over the years, Venom has gone through many changes in attitude, look, and history. Chronologically, these are the 10 most important events that have brought Venom from humble beginnings to an entity that controls space and time.
10 Black Suit Symbiote Origins
The Venom concept was drawn up by a young fan named Randy Schueller in 1982. He won a Marvel Comics contest that saw contestants come up with a new suit for Spider-Man. The concept would be used as the basis for the black symbiote suit for Spider-Man on Battleworld during 1984’s Secret Wars event. The black suit would make its official debut in Amazing Spider-Man #252 by Tom DeFalco, Roger Stern, and Ron Frenz and Spider-Man would keep the new look for four years until the symbiote began ruining Peter’s life.
9 Eddie Brock Becomes Venom
After Spider-Man realizes the black suit was a symbiote trying to take over his body, he used sonic waves and fire to forcibly remove it. However, the symbiote would return with a new look and host when 1988’s Amazing Spider-Man #299-300 by David Michelinie and Todd MacFarlane introduced Venom. After Peter freed himself of the black suit, the symbiote now had a deep hatred for Spider-Man and sought to kill him by finding a new host: Eddie Brock. Brock had lost everything after he was fired from The Daily Globe thanks to Spider-Man. The symbiote found Eddie praying in a church and quickly attached itself to his new host. With his enhanced strength and knowledge of Spider-Man’s identity, Venom’s mission was to terrorize and destroy Spider-Man and his loved ones.
8 Let There Be Carnage
Venom’s battles with Spider-Man eventually landed him in prison where he met his cellmate, Cletus Kasady. Kasady was a nihilistic serial killer who had no regrets for his victims and was fascinated by the destruction caused by Venom. The Venom symbiote grew an offspring as a contingency plan after sensing that Thanos was looking for the Infinity Stones. Venom’s child proceeded to latch on to Kasady, turning him into the killer symbiote Carnage. Debuting in 1992’s Amazing Spider-Man #361 by David Michelinie and Mark Bagley, Carnage would commit random murders, which came with a bloody calling card writing of “CARNAGE RULES.” An enemy to both Venom and Spider-Man, Carnage only lives to destroy out of sheer amusement.
7 Scorpion Becomes Venom
After Eddie Brock found God and ended his run as Venom, the symbiote found a new host in the form of Mac Gargan aka the Scorpion. Scorpion started out as a villain hired by J. Jonah Jameson to kill Spider-Man until he learned Spidey’s identity from Norman Osborn. In 2008’s Marvel Knights: Spider-Man #10 by Mark Millar, Terry Dodson, and Rachel Dodson, Scorpion was approached by the Venom symbiote and became its new vessel. Gargan’s run as Venom was much more chaotic as he became a fake version of Spider-Man in Norman Osborn’s Dark Avengers and developed a taste for human flesh. After having a mental breakdown due to the symbiote taking control, Gargan was freed of it after being sent to the Raft and became the Scorpion again thanks to Alistaire Smythe.
6 Anti-Venom
While Scorpion was still Venom, Eddie Brock embraced a new anti-hero symbiote persona: Anti-Venom. Anti-Venom debuted in Amazing Spider-Man #569 by Dan Slott and John Romita Jr. as Eddie was diagnosed with cancer and was working as a volunteer at the F.E.A.S.T community center. The center was run by Martin Li aka Mr. Negative who used his lightforce abilities to remove Eddie’s cancer, but there were some side effects to the process. The small particles of the Venom symbiote mixed with Mr. Negative’s lightforce created Eddie’s new black and white symbiote form Anti-Venom. This new symbiote had miraculous healing abilities that could cure any disease and wound easily. Finally seeing his symbiote as a gift than a curse, Eddie used Anti-Venom to save lives and even cure Spider-Man of the Spider-Virus that was turning him into a giant spider.
5 Flash Thompson, Agent Venom
After the Scorpion was arrested and freed of the Venom symbiote, it ended up finding its strangest vessel to date: Flash Thompson. The former bully of Peter Parker turned his life around when he joined the military, fought in Iraq and lost both of his legs in battle. Amazing Spider-Man #654 by Dan Slott, Paulo Siqueira, and Ronan Cliquet saw Flash become the new host for the Venom symbiote through the Project: Rebirth 2.0 Super Soldier program. The symbiote, as the key element in the program, bonded with Flash and he became Agent Venom. As Agent Venom, Flash worked for the US government and later the Secret Avengers as a symbiote soldier for hire. His Venom form was equipped with a special armor, camouflage, and mastery of all weapons that could be attached to his symbiote form. Flash as Venom is the polar opposite of Eddie and Scorpion due to his brave and honest nature.
4 Dylan Brock, The New Venom
Dylan Brock, the son of Eddie Brock and Anne Weying, is an anomaly when it comes to the Venom symbiote. He first appeared in 2018’s Venom #7 by Donny Cates and Iban Coello when Eddie showed up at his father’s house to find out he had a young son named Dylan. It’s revealed later on that Dylan was born as a result of Eddie passing the Venom symbiote to his wife, Anne, who became She-Venom. The bond both Eddie and Anne had with the symbiote led to a piece of Venom growing inside Anne until she was pregnant with a symbiote/human hybrid boy whom she named Dylan. After Anne’s death, Dylan was raised by his abusive grandfather, Carl Brock, and awakened to his powers as Venom shortly after meeting Eddie. Dylan would later become a full human after Eddie’s battle with the demigod Knull but would later encounter the Venom symbiote. With the symbiote fueling his childhood rage and his father Eddie taking up his mantle as King in Black, Dylan became the new Venom much to Eddie’s horror.
3 Knull, The Symbiote God
In the beginning, there was a void of darkness and from that darkness came the symbiote demigod: Knull the King in Black. Knull made his first official appearance in 2018’s Venom #4 by Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman as the primordial god of darkness and creator of all symbiotes. Knull ruled the void known as the Abyss until the Celestials created the universe and drowned out his darkness with the power of light. He was given the title of King in Black by the Celestials who expected him to help create a new multiverse. Knull responded by creating the first symbiote, All-Black the Necrosword, and killing a Celestial before being banished back to the void. The lord of darkness swore revenge on the gods by spreading terror and ruin across the galaxy using his symbiotes, including Venom. Eventually, the King in Black became a boogeyman to all alien cultures as the most powerful and evil entity in existence until Eddie Brock stepped up to claim his throne.
2 Eddie Brock, The King in Black
Eddie Brock/Venom senses that Knull has been trying to escape from the Void and he must be stopped during the 2020 King in Black event by Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman. Eddie battles his nemesis Carnage, who tricks Venom into killing him in order to summon Knull and his Symbiote Hive out of the Void. After destroying the symbiote homeworld of Klyntar, Knull plans to conquer Earth and the entire multiverse with his symbiotes. Eddie brings in almost every superhero he can find to help defeat Knull, but the King in Black seems impossible to destroy. Even after Eddie is killed and Venom is absorbed into Knull, the God of Light manages to revive Eddie and turn him and Venom into a cosmic symbiote version of Captain Universe. Before Knull can save himself by possessing Dylan Brock, Eddie uses his cosmic powers to remove Dylan’s symbiote half and completely destroys Knull. With the war over, the symbiotes choose Eddie Brock/Venom as their new King in Black.
1 The Venomverse
After Eddie Brock is crowned the King in Black, there is much more to be done involving the Venomverse. Eddie comes to realize that destroying Knull was only just the beginning and that he has an even greater role to play as the Eventuality. The Eventuality reveals itself in 2023’s Venom #18 by Al Ewing and CAFU as the Symbiote Hive’s mind and the future version of Venom. As Eddie is trapped in the “Unbeyond” limbo world, the Eventuality shows that Eddie Brock was always meant to kill Knull and become the new god of symbiotes. The Venom symbiote has been linked to the timeline as the catalyst for the Venomverse. The future Venom shows Eddie that he is meant to spread the Venom symbiote across all of time and space in order to become the most powerful being in existence. Reluctantly, Eddie accepts his destiny as the Eventuality and uses his new powers to reunite with his son Dylan to help him become a better Venom than he ever was.