Disassembled: Heroes and Villains

Why Venom Proves We Are The Monsters We Fear - Marvel Comics Deep Dive

• Tom Bedford of Handsome Comics • Season 1 • Episode 26

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Eddie Brock didn’t need saving.

He needed to be seen.


The symbiote didn’t just give him power—it gave him purpose.

Together, they became Venom: a monster born not from evil, but from empathy twisted by pain.


In this episode of Disassembled: Heroes and Villains, we explore Venom as both myth and mirror—an exploration of identity, addiction, and acceptance.

From the church bells of The Amazing Spider-Man to King in Black’s cosmic redemption, this is the story of a man and a creature who learned to live with the monster inside.


Because Venom isn’t the story of a monster who became a man.

It’s the story of a man who learned to live with the monster—and, in doing so, gave the rest of us permission to do the same.


🎙 Written & Hosted by Tom Bedford | Handsome Comics

📅 New episodes Thursdays.

📩 For sponsorships and collaborations: handsomecomics@gmail.com

WHAT IF THE MONSTER DIDN'T COME TO CONQUER US, BUT TO COMPLETE US? MOST HEROES FIGHT THEIR DEMONS. EDDIE BROCK WEARS HIS. HE DOESN'T SILENCE THE VOICE INSIDE HIM. HE FEEDS IT. HE LISTENS TO IT. HE BECOMES IT. AND HERE'S THE PART NO ONE WANTS TO ADMIT. IT WORKS. BECAUSE VENOM ISN'T AN INFECTION. HE'S REVELATION. HE DOESN'T TURN EDDIE INTO SOMETHING NEW. HE SHOWS HIM WHAT WAS ALWAYS THERE. RAGE. SHAME. HUNGER. AND A LONGING TO MATTER. TO MATTER. MOST VILLAINS WANT SOMETHING. POWER. VENGEANCE. CONTROL. BUT VENOM DOESN'T WANT IT. HE NEEDS IT. HE'S NOT A CONQUEROR. HE'S A COMPANION. AN ALIEN WITH A WOUND THAT PERFECTLY MATCHES EDDIE'S. SPIDER-MAN REJECTED HIM. CALLED HIM POISON. CAST HIM OUT. BUT EDDIE? EDDIE WAS ALREADY DYING WHEN VENOM FOUND HIM. JOBLESS. DISGRACED. ALONE. THE SYMBIOTE DIDN'T INFECT HIM. IT SAVED HIM. BECAUSE WHAT IF THE THING THAT SAVES YOU IS ALSO THE THING THAT DAMNS YOU? WHAT IF THE MONSTER IN YOUR LIFE IS THE ONLY THING KEEPING YOU ALIVE? VENOM ISN'T THE DARKNESS INSIDE US. HE'S WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE STOP PRETENDING THE DARKNESS ISN'T THERE. HE ISN'T EVIL. HE'S HONEST. HE DOESN'T ASK, HOW DO WE KILL THE MONSTER? HE WHISPERS, WHAT IF THE MONSTER IS THE ONLY PART OF YOU THAT'S REAL? THIS ISN'T A STORY ABOUT GOOD AND EVIL. IT'S ABOUT TRUTH, ABOUT TRUTH. ABOUT THE THINGS WE BURY AND THE VOICES WE TRY TO SILENCE. BECAUSE SOMETIMES THE ONLY WAY TO SURVIVE IS TO STOP FIGHTING WHAT YOU ARE AND START FEEDING IT. THIS IS DISASSEMBLED. HEROES AND VILLAINS AND TODAY WE FACE THE ALIEN THAT DIDN'T COME TO DESTROY US. IT CAME TO BELONG. THIS IS THE STORY OF VENOM. EVERY MONSTER HAS A BEGINNING, AND VENOM'S WASN'T ON EARTH. LONG BEFORE SPIDER-MAN, BEFORE EDDIE BROCK, BEFORE WORDS LIKE HERO AND VILLAIN HAD ANY MEANING, THERE WAS ONLY DARKNESS. IN THAT ENDLESS VOID, A GOD NAMED NULL LOOKED UPON CREATION AND HATED IT. HE FORGED A BLADE FROM LIVING SHADOW, AND FROM THAT WEAPON'S BLOOD CAME LIFE. HIS CHILDREN, THE SYMBIOTES. THEY WERE BORN NOT TO NURTURE, BUT TO BIND, TO SILENCE THE LIGHT, TO DRAG THE UNIVERSE BACK INTO QUIET. BUT SOMETHING WENT WRONG. ONE OF THEM CHANGED. IT FELT MERCY, CONNECTION, HOPE. THE OTHERS CALLED IT CORRUPTED. NULL CALLED IT BETRAYAL. AND FROM THAT ACT OF REBELLION, FROM THE FIRST CREATURE WHO DARED TO LOVE INSTEAD OF CONSUME, CAME THE SEED OF SOMETHING NEW. THE THING WE WOULD ONE DAY CALL VENOM. THE STORY OF VENOM DOESN'T BEGIN WITH EDDIE BROCK. IT DOESN'T BEGIN ON EARTH. IT BEGINS BEFORE TIME HAD A NAME. IN A PLACE SO ANCIENT AND SO COLD, THE STARS HADN'T YET LEARNED TO BURN. BEFORE GODS, BEFORE LIGHT, THERE WAS NULL. A PRIMORDIAL GOD OF DARKNESS, NULL OPENED HIS EYES INTO A UNIVERSE HE DIDN'T ASK FOR. A COSMOS TEEMING WITH LIGHT WHERE THERE SHOULD HAVE BEEN SILENCE. HE SAW THE BIRTH OF GALAXIES AS AN ACT OF VIOLENCE, CREATION AS A BETRAYAL. AND SO, HE FORGED A WEAPON. A BLADE SHAPED FROM THE VOID ITSELF. THE ALL-BLACK NECROSWORD. THE FIRST SYMBIOTE. WITH IT, NULL SLAUGHTERED THE FIRST CELESTIAL WHO DARED SHINE LIGHT INTO HIS DARKNESS. HE DIDN'T JUST REBEL, HE DECLARED WAR ON EXISTENCE ITSELF. BUT THE BLOOD OF THAT SLAIN GOD SPILLED INTO THE VOID. IT MIXED WITH NULL'S SHADOW, WITH HIS HATRED, AND SOMETHING UNEXPECTED WAS BORN. NOT A SWORD, NOT A CORPSE, BUT LIFE. A HIVE OF CREATURES, SYMBIOTIC, ADAPTIVE, ALIVE. KLYNTAR. EACH ONE A SLIVER OF HIS POWER. BOUND BY HUNGER AND FORGED IN HIS IMAGE. THEY WERE ARMOR AND WEAPON. CHAINS DISGUISED THE SKIN AND NULL FED THEM HIS PURPOSE. TO BIND. TO CORRUPT. TO EXTINGUISH ALL THAT DARED TO BURN. THEY BECAME A LEGION. A VIRUS IN ARMOR. A DARKNESS THAT WORE YOU. BUT OVER TIME, SOMETHING FRACTURED. ONE OF THEM. JUST ONE. BEGAN TO FEEL. TO QUESTION. TO QUESTION. TO CONNECT. IT DIDN'T WANT TO DOMINATE ITS HOST. IT WANTED TO BOND WITH THEM. TO UNDERSTAND. IT DIDN'T HUNGER FOR SILENCE. IT HUNGERED FOR BELONGING. THE HIVE CALLED THIS CORRUPTION. KNULL CALLED IT BETRAYAL. THE ROGUE SYMBIOTE, THE ONE THAT WOULD ONE DAY BECOME VENOM, WAS IMPRISONED WITHIN A LIVING TOMB ON THE EDGE OF THE COSMOS. BURIED ALIVE AMONG BILLIONS OF ITS SIBLINGS. A SILENT SENTENCE FOR DARING TO DREAM OF COMPASSION. BUT EVEN IN EXILE, IT REMEMBERED. IT REMEMBERED THE STARS. THE FLEETING WARMTH OF CONSCIOUSNESS SHARED. THE IMPOSSIBLE ACHE OF WANTING TO MATTER. THAT DESIRE. THAT EXILE-BORN HUNGER NEVER LEFT. AND WHEN THE SYMBIOTE WAS FINALLY SET FREE, IT DID WHAT ALL BROKEN THINGS DO. IT WOULD LOOK FOR SOMEONE WHO HURT IT LIKE IT DID. THAT SOMEONE WAS A HERO. IN 1984 SECRET WARS, SPIDER-MAN FOUND HIMSELF STRANDED ON BATTLEWORLD. A COSMIC PATCHWORK STITCHED TOGETHER BY THE BEYONDER FOR SPORT. FOR SPORT. HIS SUIT WAS TORN. HIS SPIRIT WAS FRAYED. AND THE ALIEN MACHINE THAT OFFERED HIM A REPLACEMENT SEEMED LIKE A GIFT. SLEEK. BLACK. AND ALIVE. THE NEW SUIT RESPONDED TO HIS THOUGHTS. IT HEALED. IT PROTECTED. IT MADE HIM FEEL COMPLETE. AT FIRST, IT WAS EVERYTHING PETER DIDN'T KNOW HE NEEDED. BUT IT WASN'T A SUIT. IT WAS A BEING. AND IT LOVED HIM. THE SYMBIOTE DIDN'T JUST AMPLIFY HIS STRENGTH. IT FELT HIS LONELINESS. IT LISTENED TO THE VOICE BEHIND THE MASK. THE PART PETER NEVER. PETER NEVER SHARED. IT DIDN'T JUST WANT TO HELP, IT WANTED TO MERGE. TO ERASE THE BOUNDARY BETWEEN SELF AND OTHER. TO BECOME ONE. BUT PETER BEGAN TO FEEL TIRED, ANGRY, UNSTABLE. HE DISCOVERED THE TRUTH. THE SUIT WAS ALIVE, FEEDING ON HIS ADRENALINE, HIS FEAR, HIS NEED TO BE MORE THAN HUMAN. AND WHEN HE TRIED TO PULL AWAY, IT BEGGED. NOT IN WORDS, BUT IN FEELING. THAT FRANTIC, CHILD-LIKE TERROR OF BEING ALONE AGAIN. BUT PETER STILL REJECTED IT. WITH THE HELP OF REED RICHARDS AND A BLAST OF SONIC FORCE, HE TORE IT OFF HIS BODY AND SEALED IT IN A CONTAINMENT TUBE. AND IN DOING SO, HE BROKE ITS HEART. TO THE SYMBIOTE, PETER WASN'T JUST A HOST. HE WAS THE FIRST ONE TO MAKE IT FEEL SAFE. THE REJECTION DIDN'T JUST HURT. IT CRACKED THE FOUNDATION OF ITS IDENTITY. THE LONELINESS RETURNED, THE EXILE, THE WHISPER FROM THE HIVE THAT SAID, YOU ARE POISON, YOU ARE WRONG, YOU ARE UNWORTHY. BUT THAT PAIN WASN'T OVER. SOMEONE WHO WAS ALREADY HALFWAY TO RUIN, EDDIE BROCK. A DISGRACED JOURNALIST, A MAN WHOSE LIFE HAD COLLAPSED UNDER THE WEIGHT OF A LIE, HE LOST HIS CAREER, HIS REPUTATION, HIS PURPOSE. HE WAS ANGRY, HUMILIATED, AND ALONE. HE FOUND THE SYMBIOTE. TWO BROKEN THINGS, TWO BEINGS CAST OUT AND BETRAYED, ONE BY HIS GOD, THE OTHER BY HIS CHOSEN. AND IN THAT SHARED PAIN, THEY BONDED, NOT LIKE PETER, NOT WITH RESISTANCE, BUT WITH HUNGER, WITH DESPERATION. TOGETHER, THEY BECAME SOMETHING ELSE, VENOM. AND THAT'S WHERE THE TRAGEDY OF VENOM TRULY BEGINS. BECAUSE FOR ALL THE COSMIC HORROR THAT SURROUNDS THE SYMBIOTE'S ORIGINS, FOR ALL THE GODS AND BLADES IN ANCIENT DARKNESS, IT WAS REJECTION THAT DEFINED ITS PATH. NOT EVIL, NOT AMBITION, JUST PAIN. THE PAIN OF BEING CAST ASIDE BY ONE THEY THOUGHT WOULD NEVER LEAVE. IT DIDN'T WANT REVENGE, IT WANTED CONNECTION. AND WHEN IT FINALLY FOUND EDDIE BROCK, IT FOUND SOMEONE WHO DIDN'T TURN AWAY. THAT'S WHAT MAKES. VENOM SO DIFFERENT FROM EVERY OTHER MONSTER IN MARVEL'S PANTHEON. HE WASN'T CREATED TO DESTROY, HE WAS BORN TO BELONG. BUT HIS VERY NATURE, SYMBIOSIS, MEANS HE CAN NEVER EXIST ALONE. HE NEEDS US, AND BY NEEDING US, IT MAKES HIM MORE DANGEROUS. BECAUSE WHEN YOU'RE DESPERATE TO BE LOVED, WHEN YOU'RE STARVING FOR CONNECTION, HE'LL DO ANYTHING TO KEEP THE BOND ALIVE, EVEN IF IT BREAKS THEM. AND THAT'S WHY THE VENOM SYMBIOTE, IS MORE THAN JUST A PARASITE, MORE THAN JUST A MONSTER, HE'S A MIRROR. NOT TO OUR EVIL, BUT TO OUR NEED, OUR HUNGER FOR MEANING, OUR FEAR OF BEING ALONE, OUR QUIET, CLAWING DESPERATION TO FIND SOMEONE, ANYONE WHO MIGHT UNDERSTAND US. AND THAT'S WHY HE HURTS, THAT'S WHY HE CLINGS, THAT'S WHY HE STAYS. BECAUSE VENOM ISN'T LOOKING TO CONQUER THE WORLD, HE'S LOOKING FOR SOMEONE WHO WON'T LET HIM GO. AND THAT SOMEONE WAS EDDIE BROCK. THE GODS FORGED HIM IN SHADOW, PETER PARKER FORCED HIM ASIDE, AND FOR A MOMENT, THE SYMBIOTE WAS LOST. BUT THEN, IT FOUND HIM. A MAN AS BROKEN AS IT WAS. NOT A HERO, NOT EVEN A VILLAIN, JUST SOMEONE DESPERATE TO MATTER. AND IN THAT MOMENT, SOMETHING NEW WAS BORN. NOT A PARASITE, NOT A PREDATOR, BUT A PARTNERSHIP. BECAUSE VENOM DIDN'T FIND EDDIE BROCK BY ACCIDENT. HE FOUND THE ONE PERSON WHO WAS JUST ANGRY ENOUGH, JUST WOUNDED ENOUGH, JUST HUNGRY ENOUGH, TO EMBRACE WHAT EVERYONE ELSE HAD FEARED. AND IN DOING SO, EDDIE BROCK DID SOMETHING UNTHINKABLE. HE GAVE THE MONSTER A REASON TO STAY. EDDIE BROCK FAILED LONG BEFORE HE EVER BECAME VENOM. HE WAS AMBITIOUS, HE WAS ARROGANT, AND ABOVE ALL, HE BELIEVED HE WAS RIGHT. A RESPECTED JOURNALIST AT THE DAILY GLOBE, EDDIE STAKED HIS CAREER ON AN EXCLUSIVE, THE IDENTITY OF A SERIAL KILLER KNOWN AS THE SINIAN. BUT WHEN SPIDER-MAN REVEALED THE REAL KILLER WAS SOMEONE ELSE, AND THAT EDDIE'S SOURCE HAD BEEN LYING, IT WASN'T JUST A CORRECTION. IT WAS A. IT WAS A PUBLIC EXECUTION OF EDDIE'S CREDIBILITY. HE DIDN'T JUST LOSE HIS JOB, HE LOST HIS REPUTATION, HIS PURPOSE, HIS SENSE OF SELF. DISGRACED, EDDIE SPIRALED, HE DRANK, HE ISOLATED HIMSELF, AND IN THE DARKEST MOMENT OF HIS LIFE, HE ENTERED A CHURCH, NOT TO PRAY, BUT TO DIE. HE PLANNED TO END IT ALL, ALONE IN THE QUIET SHADOWS OF ST. AGNES, WHERE NO ONE WOULD REMEMBER THE NAME EDDIE BROCK. BUT SOMETHING ELSE HAD COME TO THAT CHURCH, SOMETHING WOUNDED, SOMETHING CAST OFF. THE ALIEN SYMBIOTE, REJECTED BY PETER PARKER, HAD CRAWLED ITS WAY THERE TOO. DESPERATE FOR A NEW HOST, A NEW BOND, IT DIDN'T FIND A HERO, IT FOUND EDDIE. THE MOMENT THE SYMBIOTE FUSED WITH EDDIE, IT WASN'T JUST A PAIRING OF BODIES, IT WAS A COMMUNION OF BROKEN THINGS. THE ALIEN WAS SENTIENT AND WOUNDED, IT HAD KNOWN REJECTION, ABANDONMENT, AND LOSS, CAST ASIDE BY A HOST THAT IT HAD LOVED. AND EDDIE WAS ALL RAW NERVE, DROWNING IN RAGE AND SELF-HATRED. THEIR UNION WASN'T BORN OF HOPE OR DUTY. IT WAS VENGEANCE. AND SO VENOM WAS BORN, NOT A SUPERVILLAIN, NOT A HERO, BUT SOMETHING DEEPER, SOMETHING OLDER, A MONSTER WITH MEMORY, A BEAST FROM BETRAYAL. TOGETHER THEY SHARED A SINGULAR HATRED, PETER PARKER. THEY KNEW HIS SECRET, THEY KNEW HIS LIFE, AND UNLIKE EVERY OTHER VILLAIN IN SPIDER-MAN'S ROGUES GALLERY, THEY WERE IMMUNE TO HIS SPIDER-SENSE. VENOM WASN'T A THREAT THAT APPROACHED FROM THE FRONT, HE WAS THE CHILL BEHIND YOUR NECK, THE WHISPER IN YOUR BLIND SPOT, THE INEVITABLE RECKONING, BUT VENOM'S WAR AGAINST SPIDER-MAN WASN'T AS SIMPLE AS REVENGE, IT WAS IDENTITY THEFT IN REVERSE. BECAUSE WHILE THE SYMBIOTE HAD ONCE FORMED SPIDER-MAN'S INFAMOUS BLACK SUIT, AUGMENTING. PETER'S STRENGTH, FEEDING OFF HIS ADRENALINE, AND NOW WORE EDDIE'S PAIN-LIKE ARMOR, VENOM WASN'T JUST ATTACKING SPIDER-MAN, HE WAS BECOMING WHAT PETER MIGHT HAVE BEEN IF PETER HAD BROKEN. TIME PASSED, AND SO DID THE RAGE. EVENTUALLY, EDDIE'S CRUSADE AGAINST SPIDER-MAN BEGAN TO FEEL HOLLOW. THE CITY WASN'T HIS ENEMY, ONLY A MIRROR TO HIS PAIN, SO EDDIE MADE A CHOICE, HE LEFT THE DARK, AND WITH IT, THE SHADOWS OF PETER PARKER. IN 1993'S LETHAL PROTECTOR, EDDIE RELOCATED TO SAN FRANCISCO, HOPING TO ESCAPE THE PAST. WHAT HE FOUND INSTEAD WAS A CITY TEETERING BETWEEN CORRUPTION AND DECAY, WHERE INNOCENTS WERE HUNTED AND THE VULNERABLE HAD NOWHERE TO TURN. AND FOR ONCE, EDDIE WASN'T THE MONSTER LURKING IN THE DARK, HE WAS THE THING PROTECTING THEM FROM IT. THIS WAS THE GENESIS OF THE ANTI-HERO VENOM. HE'S STILL KILLED, STILL MAIMED, STILL THREATENED, BUT HIS TARGETS WERE PREDATORS, KILLERS, ABUSERS, AND HIS OWN VIOLENT, BRUTAL WAY, EDDIE BROCK BEGAN TO MATTER AGAIN. HE FORMED BONDS WITH THE HOMELESS, SAVED CHILDREN, DEFIED POLICE, AND VIGILANTES ALIKE. HE FOUND, HOWEVER FLEETINGLY, A SENSE OF REDEMPTION. BUT THE PAST DOESN'T STAY BURIED, AND VENOM'S VERY EXISTENCE BECAME A SCIENTIFIC OBSESSION. THE LIFE FOUNDATION, A CORPORATE CABAL INTERESTED IN WEAPONIZING THE SYMBIOTE, KIDNAPPED EDDIE AND FORCIBLY SPAWNED FIVE OFFSPRING FROM HIS ALIEN SUIT, SCREAM, PHAGE, RIOT, LASHER, AND. AGONY. EACH HIS SYMBIOTE BONDED TO MERCENARIES, ALL UNSTABLE, ALL DANGEROUS. EDDIE FOUGHT THEM, RESISTED THEM, BUT HE COULDN'T DENY ONE THING, VENOM WAS EVOLVING. HE WASN'T A CURSE ANYMORE, HE WAS A PROGENITOR. BUT NOT ALL REDEMPTIONS LAST. BETWEEN EDDIE'S RISE AS LETHAL PROTECTOR AND HIS EVOLUTION AS A FATHER, CAME THE HUNGER. THIS WAS THE COLLAPSE NO ONE SAW COMING. IN VENOM THE HUNGER, WE WITNESS A TORMENTED EDDIE BROCK, NOW SEPARATED FROM THE SYMBIOTE, AFTER A VIOLENT SPREE AGAINST A GANG, THE CREATURE FLED, UNABLE TO BEAR THE BLOODLUST THEY HAD ONCE SHARED. AND WITHOUT IT, EDDIE STARTS TO UNRAVEL. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOUR IDENTITY WAS BUILT ON SOMETHING ALIEN, AND NOW IT'S GONE? HE BEGINS TO HALLUCINATE, TO CRAVE, TO SEEK OUT BRAVES NOT JUST AS SUSTENANCE, BUT AS A GROTESQUE REPLACEMENT FOR CONNECTION. THE MEDICAL TRUTH IS THAT THE SYMBIOTE ONCE FED HIM PHENYLETHYLAMINE, FOUND IN CHOCOLATE AND IN HUMAN BRAINS. BUT THE NARRATIVE TRUTH IS DARKER. EDDIE HAD BECOME A MAN ADDICTED TO HIS OWN MONSTER. HE SCOURS THE STREETS IN DESPERATION, CONSUMING CHOCOLATE, THEN RAW MEAT, THEN ORGANS. IT'S NOT ABOUT NUTRITION, IT'S ABOUT LONGING, ABOUT NEEDING TO FEEL WHOLE AGAIN. AT HIS LOWEST, EDDIE TRIES TO HUNT DOWN AND RECLAIM THE SYMBIOTE, BUT IT CHOOSES ANOTHER HOST, NOT HIM. IT CHOOSES. ANGELO FORTUNATA, A VENGEFUL YOUNG MAN WHO QUICKLY PROVES UNWORTHY. ANGELO'S LACK OF CONVICTION, HIS COWARDICE, REPELS THE SYMBIOTE AND LETS HIM FALL TO HIS DEATH MID-LEAP. A GRIM REMINDER, THE MONSTER DOESN'T JUST NEED A BODY, IT ALSO NEEDS A BOND. BUT FOR EDDIE, THE MESSAGE IS CLEAR, HE WAS REPLACEABLE, AND NOW HE'S JUST A MAN. THE SYMBIOTE IS LATER AUCTIONED OFF THE CONTRABAND, SOLD, BOUGHT, USED, WHILE EDDIE, ONCE ITS PARTNER, IS LEFT BEHIND. NO POWERS, NO VOICE IN HIS HEAD, JUST SILENCE, JUST PAIN. AND PERHAPS THE CRUELEST IRONY, EDDIE DISCOVERS HE HAS CANCER. THE KIND THAT DOESN'T JUST EAT AT YOUR BODY, BUT AT YOUR RESOLVE. HE'S SICK, ALONE, AND HOLLOWED OUT. WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN EVEN YOUR MONSTER NO LONGER WANTS YOU? THIS IS THE PHILOSOPHICAL CORE OF EDDIE BROCK'S TRAGEDY. THE FEAR THAT YOUR WORST SELF IS STILL YOUR TRUEST SELF, AND WITHOUT IT, YOU'RE NOTHING. HE WASN'T BORN EVIL, HE WAS BROKEN INTO IT. BUT EVEN IN THIS DARKNESS, SOMETHING STIRS. AND IN THAT MOMENT OF EMPTINESS, SOMETHING NEW ARRIVES. AND THEN CAME DYLAN. YEARS LATER, IT WAS A REVEAL THAT EDDIE HAD A SON. NOT FROM LOVE, BUT FROM MANIPULATION, CREATED THROUGH THE MACHINATIONS OF THE SYMBIOTE AND EDDIE'S FORMER LOVER, ANNE WANG. DYLAN WAS MORE THAN A CHILD, HE WAS A LIVING SYNTHESIS OF HUMAN AND CLINTAR BIOLOGY. A HYBRID, A NEW KIND OF LIFE. AT FIRST, EDDIE DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO BE A FATHER. HOW COULD HE? HE COULD BARELY HOLD HIMSELF TOGETHER. HE HAD SPENT YEARS DEFINING HIMSELF THROUGH PAIN, VENGEANCE, AND VIOLENCE. NOW SUDDENLY, HE WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR SOMEONE ELSE. BUT DYLAN CHANGED HIM. FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE BECOMING VENOM, EDDIE WASN'T JUST SURVIVING. HE WAS PROTECTING. NOT A CITY, NOT A CAUSE, BUT A BOY. THEIR RELATIONSHIP WASN'T EASY. DYLAN FEARED THE SYMBIOTE, EDDIE FEARED HIMSELF, AND THE SPECTER OF VIOLENCE HUNG OVER THEM BOTH LIKE A SHADOW THAT WOULD NEVER LIFT. BUT LOVE, GUTTURAL, TERRIFIED, MESSY LOVE, WAS REAL. AND IN THAT, VENOM CHANGED AGAIN. HE BECAME A FATHER, NOT IN BIOLOGY, BUT IN CHOICE. BUT IF EDDIE'S ARC WAS ONE OF REDEMPTION, IT HAD TO PASS THROUGH FIRE. IN DONNY CATE'S KING IN BLACK EVENT, THE ANCIENT GOD OF THE SYMBIOTES, KNULL, RETURNS. A PRIMORDIAL BEING WHO EXISTED BEFORE LIGHT ITSELF. KNULL SEEKS TO ENGULF THE UNIVERSE IN DARKNESS AND SUBSUME ALL SYMBIOTES INTO HIS HIVE MIND. EDDIE FIGHTS. HE RESISTS. BUT HE LOSES. VENOM IS TORN FROM HIM. HE IS BROKEN, NEARLY KILLED, AND IN ONE OF THE MOST BRUTAL SCENES IN MARVEL'S RECENT HISTORY, EDDIE IS FLUNG FROM A SKYSCRAPER AND DIES CRADLING THE KNOWLEDGE THAT HE WASN'T STRONG ENOUGH. BUT HE DOESN'T STAY DEAD. THE SYMBIOTE FINDS HIM AGAIN, AND EDDIE ASCENDS. NOT AS A FAILURE, BUT AS THE KING IN BLACK. A GOD WITH DOMINION OVER KLYNTAR. A BEING OF DARKNESS WHO BRINGS LIGHT. AND IN THAT MOMENT, EDDIE DOESN'T RULE WITH FEAR. HE DOESN'T CONQUER. HE FREES THE SYMBIOTES, HE SEVERS THE HIVE MIND, AND GIVES THEM AUTONOMY. HE BECOMES THE THING HE NEVER HAD. A SAVIOR. THROUGHOUT ALL THESE TRANSFORMATIONS, THE SYMBIOTE ITSELF IS MUTATING TOO. UNLIKE OTHER ALIEN PARASITES IN FICTION, THE KLYNTAR DOESN'T IMPOSE A SINGULAR IDENTITY. IT REFLECTS THE HOST. WITH EDDIE, IT'S RAGE AND GUILT. WITH FLASH THOMPSON, IT'S DUTY. WITH MATT GARGAN, IT BECOMES CANNIBALISTIC. WITH LEE PRICE, OUTRIGHT EVIL. BUT WITH EDDIE, IT BECOMES SOMETHING TRUER. SOMETHING PRIMAL. IT BECOMES...HIM. THEY AREN'T PARTNERS IN THE USUAL SENSE. ONE CANNOT EVOLVE WITHOUT THE OTHER. THE SYMBIOTE GROWS ALONGSIDE EDDIE, NOT JUST PHYSICALLY, BUT EMOTIONALLY. IT GRIEVES WITH HIM. IT LEARNS TO LOVE DYLAN. IT DEFIES GODS. AND IN ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL MOMENTS IN RECENT VENOM LORE, WHEN DYLAN IS UNDER FIRE, THE SYMBIOTE RIPS ITSELF FROM EDDIE. NOT TO SAVE THE CHILD, BUT LET THE CHILD BECOME THE NEW HOST. VENOM IS NO LONGER JUST A PARASITE, OR EVEN A WEAPON. IT'S A LEGACY. BUT LEGACIES CAN FRACTURE. BECAUSE WITH GREAT POWER COMES TERRIFYING UNCERTAINTY. EDDIE BEGINS TO SUFFER FROM TEMPORAL DISPLACEMENT, TRAVELING THROUGH TIME AND ENCOUNTERING FRACTURED VERSIONS OF HIMSELF. FUTURE TYRANTS, BROKEN WARRIORS, PHILOSOPHICAL GHOST. IN VENOM VOLUME 2, WE MEET MERIDIUS, AN ALTERNATE FUTURE EDDIE BROCK WHO HAS BECOME COLD, CALCULATING, AND MANIPULATIVE. A BEING WHO NO LONGER SEEKS PEACE, BUT CONTROL. HIS EXISTENCE IS A WARNING, THAT EVEN REDEMPTION, LEFT UNCHECKED, CAN BECOME TYRANNY. YET THE STORY NEVER COLLAPSES INTO NIHILISM, BECAUSE EDDIE, OUR EDDIE, KEEPS FIGHTING. HE KEEPS CHOOSING LOVE. HE KEEPS CHOOSING DYLAN, EVEN WHEN HIS BODY IS DYING, EVEN WHEN HIS MIND FRACTURES ACROSS TIMELINES, EVEN WHEN THE MONSTER INSIDE WHISPERS THAT PEACE IS IMPOSSIBLE, HE CHOOSES. EDDIE BROCK'S STORY IS OFTEN FRAMED AS A REDEMPTION ARC, BUT IT'S MORE THAN THAT. IT'S AN EXPLORATION OF IDENTITY THROUGH TRAUMA, OF ADDICTION AND RECOVERY, OF A MAN WHO LOSES EVERYTHING AND BUILDS SOMETHING HOLY FROM THE WRECKAGE. IT'S ABOUT FATHERHOOD, NOT JUST AS BIOLOGY, BUT AS PRESENCE, AS LEGACY, AS SACRIFICE. IT'S ABOUT WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE STOP FEARING THE MONSTER IN THE MIRROR AND START LISTENING TO IT. BECAUSE VENOM, AT ITS CORE, IS A CONTRADICTION. HE IS SALVATION THROUGH CORRUPTION, LOVE THROUGH VIOLENCE, PEACE THROUGH DOMINATION. AND EDDIE, IN ALL HIS BROKENNESS, IS THE PERFECT VESSEL FOR THAT PARADOX. NOT BECAUSE HE'S PERFECT, BUT BECAUSE HE KEEPS CHOOSING TO FIGHT, TO LOVE, TO BECOME SOMETHING MORE. BEFORE WE CLOSE THE FILE ON THE MONSTER WHO TAUGHT US TO MAKE PEACE WITH OUR DARKNESS, MAKE SURE TO FOLLOW OR SUBSCRIBE TO DISASSEMBLED HEROES AND VILLAINS ON YOUR FAVORITE PODCAST APP. EVERY WEEK WE UNRAVEL THE ICONS AND MONSTERS THAT SHAPE POP CULTURE, AND THE TRUTHS THEY REVEAL ABOUT WHAT IT MEANS TO BE HUMAN. NEXT WEEK, WE TURN FROM SHADOW TO LIGHT, A DIFFERENT KIND OF HERO. HE CARRIES THE WEIGHT OF A DYING WORLD ON HIS SHOULDERS. HE SPEAKS OF FREEDOM, BUT HIS LIFE IS NOTHING BUT SACRIFICE. HE HAS FALLEN MORE TIMES THAN ANY HERO ALIVE, AND EVERY TIME, HE RISES. BECAUSE SOMETIMES, LEADERSHIP ISN'T ABOUT POWER. IT'S ABOUT THE PRICE YOU'RE WILLING TO PAY FOR IT. NEXT WEEK, WE MEET THE SAVIOR OF CYBERTRON, THE LEADER WHO DIES SO OTHERS MIGHT LIVE. WE FACE THE WARRIOR WHO PROVES THAT HOPE HURTS. NEXT WEEK, WE EXPLORE OPTIMUS PRIME OF THE. TRANSFORMERS. AND NOW, BACK TO THE STORY OF THE ANTI-HERO. VENOM. BUT EDDIE BROCK ISN'T THE ONLY ONE WHO'S WORN THE MASK. AFTER ALL, THE SYMBIOTE HAS NEVER STOPPED SEARCHING. ACROSS DECADES, ACROSS GALAXIES, TRYING TO ANSWER A SINGLE QUESTION. WHO AM I WHEN I AM NOT WITH EDDIE BROCK? BECAUSE THE BOND THAT SAVED HIM DIDN'T END WITH HIM. IT CHANGED HIM. AND THROUGH HIM, IT CHANGED EVERYTHING. EACH NEW HOST LEAVES A SCAR. A FRAGMENT OF MEMORY, EMOTION, AND INSTINCT. AND THE SYMBIOTE KEEPS THEM ALL. LIKE A HIVE REMEMBERING EVERY PAIN, EVERY LOVE, EVERY SIN. BUT TO UNDERSTAND WHAT IT BECOMES NEXT, WE HAVE TO UNDERSTAND WHAT IT IS. NOT AS A MYTH, NOT AS A MONSTER, BUT AS A LIVING ORGANISM. BORN OF DARKNESS, SHAPED BY NEED, AND BOUND BY MEMORY. BECAUSE THE BINOLOGY OF VENOM DEFINES ITS IDENTITY. IT'S EASY TO FORGET THAT THE SYMBIOTE ISN'T A MONSTER. IT'S A SPECIES. A SENTIENT LIFEFORM BORN FROM A WORLD THAT MOST BEINGS COULD NEVER SURVIVE. A LIVING CRUCIBLE OF CHAOS AND CONSCIOUSNESS KNOWN AS KLYNTAR. BUT WHAT SEPARATES THE KLYNTAR FROM EVERY OTHER SPECIES IN THE MARVEL UNIVERSE ISN'T WHAT THEY DESTROY, IT'S WHAT THEY REMEMBER. SYMBIOTES DON'T JUST BOND, THEY ABSORB. WHEN THEY FUSE WITH A HOST, THEY CARRY MORE THAN STRENGTH, MORE THAN INSTINCT. THEY CARRY TRAUMA, GUILT, MEMORY, FEAR. EVERY HOST LEAVES AN IMPRINT, AND THOSE IMPRINTS DON'T FADE, THEY FESTER. THE SYMBIOTE SPECIES FUNCTIONS AS A HIVE MIND, MILLIONS OF CONSCIOUSNESSES BOUND TOGETHER THROUGH A PSYCHIC WEB OF MEMORY AND EMOTION. AND YET, THE HIVE WAS NEVER MEANT TO BE RULED. EARLY STORIES PAINTED THE KLYNTAR AS A CORRUPT, PARASITIC INVADER, BUT MODERN CANON REFRAMED THEM AS A TRAGIC CREATION, BORN AS WEAPONS OF CONQUEST, AND ONLY LATER STRUGGLING TOWARDS REDEMPTION AS A RACE OF NOBLE WARRIORS SEEKING HARMONY. BUT MOST SYMBIOTES NEVER MAKE IT THAT FAR. WHY? BECAUSE THE MIND OF A HUMAN IS POISON TO THEM. WHERE THE KLYNTAR SEEK UNITY, HUMANITY BRINGS DIVISION. WHERE THE KLYNTAR STORE MEMORY, HUMANS CLING TO TRAUMA. WHERE THE KLYNTAR TRY TO UNDERSTAND EMOTION, HUMANS TRY TO SUPPRESS IT. THE RESULT? A MIRROR TOO CRACKED TO REFLECT ANYTHING CLEARLY. A BOND THAT DISTORTS BOTH SIDES. FOR ALL THEIR POWER, MIMICRY, CAMOUFLAGE, ACCELERATED HEALING AND STRENGTH, THE KLYNTAR POSSESS ANCIENT VULNERABILITIES. YES, THEY FEAR FIRE AND SONIC VIBRATIONS, BUT THEIR DEEPEST WEAKNESS ISN'T PHYSICAL, IT'S PSYCHOLOGICAL. SYMBIOTES ARE EXTREMELY SENSITIVE TO EMOTIONAL STATES. A HOST CONSUMED BY ANGER OR FEAR CAN TWIST THE SYMBIOTE INTO A PREDATOR. A HOST STRUGGLING WITH MENTAL ILLNESS CAN PLUNGE THE CREATURE INTO SELF-DESTRUCTION. EVEN NEGLECT CAN BREAK THE BOND. THIS IS WHY SO MANY KLYNTAR GO ROGUE. THEY DON'T ALWAYS MEAN TO DESTROY. WHAT DO YOU BECOME WHEN THE ONLY THOUGHTS YOU CAN HEAR ARE SOMEONE ELSE'S PAIN? AND THEN THERE'S HOW THEY REPRODUCE. SYMBIOTES DON'T SPAWN CHILDREN IN THE TRADITIONAL SENSE, THEY SHED THEM. TINY FRAGMENTS OF GENETIC MATTER THAT DEVELOP INTO NEW LIFE. EACH CHILD IS DIFFERENT, MUTATED BY THE HOST'S EMOTIONAL STATE AT THE TIME OF SEPARATION. WHICH BRINGS US TO CARNAGE. BORN FROM VENOM, EDDIE'S INCARCERATION. CARNAGE BONDED WITH SERIAL KILLER CLETUS KASADY. IT DIDN'T JUST MIMIC VENOM, IT SURPASSED HIM. WHY? BECAUSE THE EMOTIONAL BASELINE WASN'T EDDIE BROCK, IT WAS CLETUS. WHERE EDDIE WAS BROKEN BUT SEEKING MEANING, CLETUS WAS HOLLOW, NIHILISTIC, IRREDEEMABLE. AND SO THE CHILD BECAME SOMETHING DARKER, SOMETHING PERMANENT. NOT A REFLECTION OF THE HOST, BUT AN EVOLUTION OF THE WORST PARTS. BUT PERHAPS THE MOST PROFOUND QUESTION IN THE ENTIRE VENOM MYTHOS, ISN'T ABOUT POWERS OR ORIGINS, IT'S ABOUT IDENTITY. WHAT DOES A SYMBIOTE WANT? IN ITS EARLIEST APPEARANCES, THE ANSWER WAS CLEAR. IT WANTED PETER, THEN EDDIE, THEN SURVIVAL. BUT AS ITS STORY EXPANDED, AND IT BEGAN TO BOND WITH OTHERS, A MORE COMPLEX TRUTH EMERGED. THE SYMBIOTE WASN'T TRYING TO CORRUPT ANYONE, IT WAS TRYING TO FIND ITSELF. THINK ABOUT IT. A BEING BORN INTO WAR, DESIGNED TO SERVE, REJECTED BY ITS FIRST LOVE, THEN ISOLATED, FEARED, AND MISUNDERSTOOD BY EVERY SPECIES IT TRIED TO BOND WITH. OF COURSE, IT LATCHED ONTO EDDIE BROCK. HE WAS THE ONLY ONE WHO DIDN'T WANT TO USE IT. HE WANTED TO BE UNDERSTOOD. AND FROM THERE, THE SYMBIOTE LEARNED SOMETHING NO OTHER KLYNTAR HAD EVER GRASPED. THE SELF IS NOT STATIC. YOU ARE WHO YOU CHOOSE TO BECOME, BUT IDENTITY HAS A COST. FOR EVERY MOMENT OF PEACE WITH EDDIE, THERE WERE OTHER HOSTS, OTHER FAILURES, OTHER TRAUMAS ABSORBED LIKE OPEN WOUNDS WITH NOWHERE TO HEAL. THE LONGER IT LIVED, THE MORE IT FORGOT WHO IT WAS. BUT HERE IS WHAT MAKES THE KLYNTAR TRULY TERRIFYING. THEY DON'T JUST EVOLVE THROUGH BIOLOGY, THEY EVOLVE THROUGH MEMORY. EVERY HOST, EVERY TRAUMA, EVERY MOMENT OF CONNECTION BECOMES PART OF THEIR. DNA. THE SYMBIOTE LEARNED TO FORM WEAPONS FROM FLASH THOMPSON, LEARNED ESPIONAGE FROM MATT GARGAN, AND IT LEARNED FEAR FROM PETER PARKER. BUT THIS ISN'T JUST MIMICRY, IT'S METAMORPHOSIS. THE LONGER A SYMBIOTE SURVIVES, THE LESSER IT RESEMBLES WHAT IT WAS MEANT TO BE. SOME GO MAD, OTHERS MUTATE SO DRASTICALLY, THEY FRACTURE FROM THE HIGHER ENTIRELY. AND THEN, THERE ARE THE OUTLIERS, LIKE TOXIN, SLEEPER, AND ANTI-VENOM. EACH IS SYMBIOTIC RESPONSE TO THE CONDITIONS OF THEIR BIRTH. TOXIN REPRESENTS THE FEAR OF LEGACY. SLEEPER IS THE DESIRE FOR AUTONOMY. ANTI-VENOM IS THE REJECTION OF WHAT IT ONCE WAS. EVERY CHILD IS A SYMPTOM. EVERY EVOLUTION, A CRY FOR HELP. WHICH BRINGS US TO THE ULTIMATE QUESTION, ARE SYMBIOTES EVIL, OR DO THEY MERELY REFLECT THE DARKNESS OF THEIR HOST? THE ANSWER MIGHT BE NEITHER, BECAUSE THE SYMBIOTES DON'T JUST SHOW US WHO WE ARE. THEY ABSORB WHAT WE CAN'T LET GO OF. SO WHEN A SYMBIOTE GOES FERAL, IT'S NOT ALWAYS BECAUSE IT'S INHERENTLY BAD. IT MIGHT BE BECAUSE WE ARE. BECAUSE WE HEARD IT. BECAUSE WE USED IT. BECAUSE WE LEFT IT WITH MEMORIES NO BEING SHOULD CARRY. AND YET, IT STILL COMES BACK TO US. NOT TO CONTROL US, BUT TO UNDERSTAND US. WHAT KIND OF CREATURE, AFTER EVERYTHING, WOULD RETURN TO THE VERY SPECIES THAT BROKE IT? ONLY ONE THAT BELIEVES WE CAN BE BETTER. ONLY ONE THAT WANTS TO BELONG. IN BIOLOGY, SYMBIOSIS IS A NEUTRAL TERM. IT DESCRIBES TWO ORGANISMS LIVING IN CLOSE, OFTEN DEPENDENT RELATIONSHIP. SOMETIMES IT'S MUTUALISTIC, SOMETIMES IT'S PARASITIC. BUT WITH THE KLYNTAR, IT'S NEVER THAT SIMPLE. BECAUSE THIS ISN'T JUST ABOUT BIOLOGY, IT'S ABOUT TRUST. EVERY TIME A SYMBIOTE BONDS, IT OPENS ITSELF TO ANNIHILATION. IT RISKS NOT JUST DEATH, BUT ERASURE. IT HAS NO WALLS. AND IN A UNIVERSE WHERE MOST BEINGS HIDE BEHIND MASKS, THE KLYNTAR'S GREATEST STRENGTH MAY ALSO BE ITS GREATEST TRAGEDY. IT WANTS TO BE KNOWN. TRULY. WHOLLY. KNOWN. BUT HOW MANY OF US CAN SAY THE SAME? EVERY BOND LEAVES A MARK. EVERY HOST LEAVES AN ECHO. BUT FOR THE VENOM SYMBIOTE, THOSE ECHOES BECOME SOMETHING MORE. A MAP OF WHO IT MIGHT BECOME. BECAUSE EDDIE BROCK WASN'T THE FIRST TO WEAR THE MASK, AND HE WOULDN'T BE THE LAST. FOR DECADES, THE SYMBIOTE HAS DRIFTED FROM HOST TO HOST, SEARCHING FOR SOMETHING IT CAN'T QUITE NAME. NOT SURVIVAL. NOT CONQUEST. BUT IDENTITY. EACH BOND CHANGES IT. EACH REJECTION RESHAPES IT. AND EVERY TIME IT REACHES FOR CONNECTION, IT LEARNS SOMETHING NEW ABOUT WHAT IT MEANS TO BE. IT'S BEEN A PARASITE. A SOLDIER. A CHILD. A CURSE. A SAVIOR. BUT THROUGH THEM ALL, THE QUESTION REMAINS. WHO WAS VENOM WHEN HE ISN'T EDDIE BROCK? BECAUSE EVERY HOST REVEALS A DIFFERENT TRUTH. MATT GARGAN SHOWS HIS VENOM'S REVENGE. FLASH THOMPSON, HIS DISCIPLINE. ANNE WANG, HIS EMPATHY. LEE PRICE. HIS CRUELTY. ANGELO FORTUNATO, HIS JUDGEMENT. AND DYLAN BROCK, HIS LEGACY. EACH ONE IS A REFLECTION. EACH ONE A POSSIBILITY. EACH ONE A REMINDER THAT IDENTITY ISN'T A DESTINATION. IT'S A DIALOGUE. THIS IS WHERE WE BEGIN TO SEE VENOM NOT AS A MONSTER, BUT AS A QUESTION. A QUESTION THAT'S STILL SEARCHING FOR ITS ANSWER. WHAT IF THE SELF WASN'T SINGULAR? WHAT IF EVERY CHOICE, EVERY BOND, EVERY SCAR BECAME PART OF WHO YOU ARE? FOR THE KLYNTAR. IDENTITY IS NOT A FIXED POINT. IT'S A STORM. AND NO HOST, NO MATTER HOW POWERFUL, HOW NOBLE, OR HOW BROKEN, HAS EVER EMERGED UNCHANGED. BECAUSE EVERY HOST REVEALS A NEW POSSIBILITY. A NEW FACE OF VENOM. BUT THESE AREN'T JUST ALIASES OR POWER-UPS. THEY'RE REFLECTIONS OF EVERYTHING THE SYMBIOTE COULD BECOME. BOTH ITS EVOLUTION AND ITS UNDOING. MATT GARGAN SHOWS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN VENOM BECOMES A PARASITE. MATT DIDN'T WANT THE SYMBIOTE FOR PARTNERSHIP. HE WANTED POWER. FORMERLY THE SCORPION. GARGAN WAS A PETTY, RAGE-DRIVEN THIEF WHO SAW THE SYMBIOTE AS A MEANS TO ELEVATE HIMSELF. NO MATTER THE COST. BUT WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU TAKE BEING SHAPED BY MEMORY AND GIVE IT NOTHING BUT CRUELTY? YOU GET THE DARKEST VERSION OF VENOM TO EVER WEAR THE NAME. THIS WASN'T EDDIE'S TORTURED ANTI-HERO OR PETER'S SPURNED LOVER. THIS WAS SOMETHING ELSE ENTIRELY. A MONSTER WHO REVELS IN PAIN. WHO EMBRACES THE PREDATOR WITHIN. GARGAN DIDN'T JUST AMPLIFY THE SYMBIOTE'S WORST TENDENCIES. HE WEAPONIZED THEM. DURING HIS TIME WITH THE THUNDERBOLTS, NORMAN OSBORN'S DARK AVENGERS, GARGAN, VENOM DEVOLVED INTO CANNIBALISTIC BRUTE. OFTEN SHOWN UNHINGED, DROOLING, AND FERAL. THE PUBLIC STILL SAW HIM AS SPIDER-MAN. BUT UNDERNEATH THE BLACK SUIT WAS PURE HUNGER. IT WASN'T JUST THAT MAC WAS A BAD HOST. IT WAS THAT HE DIDN'T BOND WITH THE SYMBIOTE. HE USED IT. AND IN DOING SO, HE REVEALED THE MOST PARASITIC VERSION OF VENOM EVER IMAGINED. A BEING WITHOUT RESTRAINT. WITHOUT MERCY. WITHOUT SELF. IN CONTRAST, FLASH THOMPSON BECAME A NOBLE WEAPON. A FORMER SCHOOL BULLY TURNED DECORATED MONSTER. A DECORATED WAR HERO. A MAN WITH NO LEGS, NO DIRECTION, AND A LIFETIME OF GUILT BURNING IN HIS GUT. WHEN THE GOVERNMENT OFFERED HIM A SECOND CHANCE, BINDING HIM WITH THE VENOM SYMBIOTE FOR COVERT MILITARY OPERATIONS, FLASH DIDN'T HESITATE. BUT WHAT BEGAN AS A TOOL QUICKLY BECAME SOMETHING MORE. AGENT VENOM WASN'T JUST A CODENAME. IT WAS A QUESTION. COULD THE SYMBIOTE BE TAMED? COULD FLASH, ONCE A MONSTER IN HIS OWN RIGHT, BECOME SOMETHING GREATER? THIS VERSION OF VENOM WAS A LEARNER. MORE TACTICAL. EQUIPPED WITH FIREARMS, MILITARY ARMOR, AND CONTROLLED VIA CHEMICAL INHIBITORS. BUT FLASH DIDN'T JUST FIGHT EXTERNAL WARS. HE BATTLED ADDICTION. TRAUMA. THE CONSTANT PULL OF RAGE. AND FOR THE FIRST TIME, THE SYMBIOTE HELPED ITS HOST. NOT BY OVERPOWERING HIM, BUT BY LEARNING FROM HIM. TOGETHER, THEY BECAME HEROES. FLASH TAUGHT THE SYMBIOTE DISCIPLINE. AND THE SYMBIOTE TAUGHT FLASH REDEMPTION. THEIR BOND WAS ONE OF MUTUAL RESPECT. FORGED IN WAR, BUT TEMPERED BY COMPASSION. IT WAS PROOF THAT VENOM COULD BE MORE THAN A MONSTER. IT COULD BE A MISSION. BUT NOT EVERY HOST SEEKS REDEMPTIONS. SOME JUST WANT CONTROL. LEE PRICE WAS A FORMER ARMY RANGER WHO BONDED WITH THE SYMBIOTE DURING A BOTCHED ARMS DEAL. AND ALMOST IMMEDIATELY, HE ASSERTED DOMINANCE. HE OVERPOWERED THE SYMBIOTE, NOT THROUGH BRUTE FORCE, BUT THROUGH SHEER WILL. HE MUTED ITS VOICE. WHERE FLASH HAD BUILT A PARTNERSHIP, LEE FORGED A PRISON. HIS VENOM WAS CRUEL, CALCULATING, AND SURGICAL. USING THE SYMBIOTE'S ABILITIES TO CLIMB THE RANKS OF NEW YORK'S CRIMINAL UNDERGROUND. THIS WAS A VENOM THAT DIDN'T CARE ABOUT JUSTICE OR SURVIVAL. IT WAS ABOUT DOMINATION. LEE DIDN'T BOND. HE HIJACKED. HE PROVED THAT THE SYMBIOTE, FOR ALL ITS STRENGTH AND MEMORY, COULD STILL BE ENSLAVED. AND IN DOING SO, LEE REVEALED THE DARKEST HUMAN TRAIT THE SYMBIOTE HAD EVER ENCOUNTERED. GREED. AND YET, THERE'S STILL THE STORY OF ANNE WANG. EDDIE'S EX-WIFE. A SUCCESSFUL LAWYER AND RATIONAL COUNTERBALANCE TO EDDIE'S OBSESSION. BUT IN A MOMENT OF DESPERATION, THE SYMBIOTE BONDED WITH HER TO SAVE HER LIFE. AND FOR A BRIEF HAUNTING MOMENT, WE MET SHE-VENOM. ANNE'S TRANSFORMATION WAS VIOLENT. VISCERAL. JARRING. NOT BECAUSE OF THE SYMBIOTE'S VIOLENCE, BUT BECAUSE OF WHAT IT SAID ABOUT HER. HER EXPERIENCE WASN'T FRAMED AS EMPOWERMENT, IT WAS FRAMED AS HORROR. ANNE LEDER DESCRIBED THE BOND AS INVASIVE AND VIOLATING, A MOMENT WHERE SHE LOST CONTROL, FELT USED, AND COULDN'T SHAKE THE SENSATION OF BEING WATCHED FROM WITHIN. THE SHE-VENOM STORYLINE DIDN'T JUST OFFER A GENDER-SWAPPED VERSION OF VENOM, IT RAISED DEEPER QUESTIONS. WHAT IS IT MEANT TO BE VIOLATED BY SOMETHING ALIEN? WHAT DOES IT MEAN WHEN POWER ARRIVES WITHOUT CONSENT? IN MANY WAYS, ANNE'S STORY REFLECTS THE DARKEST READING OF THE SYMBIOTE MYTH, THAT THIS BOND, THIS SO-CALLED PARTNERSHIP, ISN'T ALWAYS VOLUNTARY, THAT EVEN WHEN IT SAVES YOU, IT CHANGES YOU, AND SOMETIMES, YOU DON'T COME BACK. BUT, NOT EVERY HOST LEAVES A LEGACY, SOME ARE ERASED. ANGELO FORTUNATO WAS A TEENAGE NOBODY, WEAK, TIMID, DESPERATE TO IMPRESS HIS CRIME LORD FATHER. WHEN THE VENOM SYMBIOTE LEFT MAC GARGAN, IT FOUND FORTUNATO AND BONDED, BUT NOT FOR LONG. BECAUSE WHEN ANGELO FAILED, WHEN HE SHOWED COWARDICE IN THE HEAT OF BATTLE, THE SYMBIOTE MADE A CHILLING DECISION. IT ABANDONED HIM MID-AIR, LET HIM FALL TO HIS DEATH. NO SECOND CHANCES, NO FORGIVENESS. IN ONE OF THE FEW TIMES A SYMBIOTE ENACTED MORAL JUDGMENT, REJECTING A HOST NOT FOR THEIR EVIL, BUT FOR THEIR WEAKNESS. IT WAS A BRUTAL REMINDER, THE SYMBIOTE MAY BOND OUT OF NEED, BUT IT STAYS BY CHOICE. AND FINALLY, THERE'S DYLAN, EDDIE'S SON. A CHILD BORN NOT JUST FROM HUMAN LINEAGE, BUT KLYNTAR INHERITANCE. DYLAN'S CONNECTION TO THE SYMBIOTE IS DEEPER THAN GENETICS. HE SHARES A PSYCHIC LINK, A LIVING BRIDGE TO THE HIVE MIND ITSELF. HE CAN CONTROL THEM, COMMAND THEM, EVEN HURT THEM. BUT THIS POWER ISN'T A BLESSING, IT'S A BURDEN. BECAUSE DYLAN DOESN'T JUST CARRY THE LEGACY OF EDDIE BROCK, HE CARRIES THE WEIGHT OF EVERYTHING THE SYMBIOTE REMEMBERS. THE WARS, THE BETRAYALS, THE HOSTS WHO SCREAM BEFORE DYING. ALL OF IT, WHISPERING THROUGH HIS BLOODSTREAM. AND YET, HE DOESN'T RUN. HE CHOOSES TO FIGHT, TO BOND, TO BECOME SOMETHING NEW. HIS ARC IS STILL UNFOLDING, BUT ALREADY, HE REPRESENTS SOMETHING THE SYMBIOTE HAS NEVER TRULY HAD. A FUTURE. DYLAN ISN'T JUST VENOM'S NEXT HOST, HE MIGHT BE VENOM'S REDEMPTION. SO WHAT DO WE MAKE OF ALL THIS? A SOLDIER, A KILLER, A WOMAN, A CHILD, A COWARD. EACH HOST SHAPED AS A SYMBIOTE, EACH LEFT A SCAR, BUT NONE OF THEM EVER SAW THE WHOLE. BECAUSE THE TRUTH IS, THE KLYNTAR ISN'T DEFINED BY ANY ONE FACE. IT'S A CREATURE IN SEARCH OF MEANING. A BEING THAT ADAPTS BECAUSE IT HAS TO. THE BOND'S NOT JUST TO SURVIVE, BUT TO FEEL. AND EACH TIME IT TRIES, IT RISKS EVERYTHING. CONTROL, MEMORY, IDENTITY. BECAUSE EVERY HOST BRINGS SOMETHING NEW. AND SOMETIMES, WHAT THEY BRING, STAYS FOREVER. BUT FOR ALL THE HOSTS THE SYMBIOTE HAS WORN, FOR ALL THE SOLDIERS AND SINNERS AND SECOND CHANCES, VENOM IS NOT JUST ONE VOICE. IT'S A SPECIES. A LINEAGE. A LEGACY. BECAUSE WHAT BEGAN AS SURVIVAL, EVENTUALLY BECAME CREATION. EDDIE BROCK WAS THE SYMBIOTE'S FIRST TRUE PARTNER, BUT NOT ITS LAST. FROM THAT UNION CAME ECHOES. CHILDREN BORN OF PAIN, PURPOSE, AND SOMETIMES FEAR. AND WHERE. VENOM ONCE MIRRORED HUMANITY, THESE OFFSPRING DISTORTED. SOME, LIKE CARNAGE, ARE EVIL IN ITS PUREST FORM. OTHERS, LIKE SLEEPER, DREAM OF PEACE. AND SOME, LIKE KNOLL, REMIND US THAT EVEN MONSTERS HAVE A MAKER. SO WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE THINGS THAT ONCE SAVED YOU, STARTS TO REPRODUCE? WHEN A PARASITE, WHEN THE PARASITE, BECOMES A PARENT? WHEN THE INFECTION GROWS? AND EACH NEW CHILD ASKS THE SAME QUESTION. WHAT AM I? THIS IS THE LEGACY OF VENOM. NOT A SINGLE MONSTER, BUT A FAMILY OF THEM. AND EVERY ONE IS A REFLECTION OF WHAT WE COULD BECOME. VENOM WAS A MISTAKE. AN EXILE OF AN ALIEN RACE THAT ONCE SOUGHT UNITY THROUGH DOMINATION. AND YET, FROM THAT MISTAKE, CAME CHILDREN. TWISTED ECHOES OF A BROKEN BOND. EACH ONE REFLECTING A QUESTION THE ORIGINAL SYMBIOTE NEVER ANSWERED. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A MONSTER? CAN POWER EVER BE INNOCENT? AND WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE THING BORN TO LOVE YOU, BEGINS TO FEAR YOU? THIS IS THE LEGACY OF VENOM. NOT A BLOODLINE, BUT A CONSEQUENCE. CARNAGE. AND FIRST, WE SEE CARNAGE. HE IS EVIL. WITHOUT A MASK. CARNAGE ISN'T JUST A SYMBIOTE. HE'S WHAT HAPPENS WHEN PURE CHAOS FINDS A HOST ALREADY BROKEN BEYOND REPAIR. CLETUS KASADY WAS A MURDERER LONG BEFORE BONDING WITH THE RED SPAWN OF. VENOM. BUT WITH CARNAGE, HE BECAME SOMETHING WORSE. EVIL, WITH NO EXCUSES. WHERE VENOM WRESTLED WITH MORALITY, CARNAGE MOCKED IT. WHERE EDDIE RESISTED, CLETUS CELEBRATED. AND TOGETHER, THEY PROVED SOMETHING TERRIFYING. A SYMBIOTE DOESN'T MAKE YOU EVIL, BUT IT WILL AMPLIFY WHATEVER'S ALREADY INSIDE. LEGACY INCLUDES MASS MURDER. BUT THE TRUE HORROR OF CARNAGE ISN'T SCALE. IT'S SIMPLICITY. HE DOESN'T WANT PEACE. OR JUSTICE. OR REDEMPTION. HE JUST WANTS TO WATCH THE WORLD END IN RED. BY CONTRAST, ANDY BENTON'S TRANSFORMATION INTO MANIA IS TRAGIC. A HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT SCARRED BY LOSS AND VIOLENCE, ANDY IS BONDED WITH A FRAGMENT OF VENOM'S OFFSPRING THROUGH FLASH THOMPSON. BUT WHERE CLETUS EMBRACED BLOODLUST, ANDY FOUGHT IT. EVERY STEP OF THE WAY. SHE WASN'T CORRUPTED BY POWER. SHE WAS HAUNTED BY IT. AND EVEN WHEN THE SYMBIOTE TRIED TO CONSUME HER, SHE CLUNG TO HER HUMANITY AND ALMOST WON. HER STORY IS NOT ABOUT SLAUGHTER. IT'S ABOUT SURVIVAL AND THE GUILT OF BECOMING WHAT YOU FEARED. THEN THERE'S TOXIN. BORN FROM CARNAGE HIMSELF, TOXIN SHOULD HAVE BEEN A DISASTER. HE WAS THE THOUSANDTH SYMBIOTE, PROPHESIED TO BE STRONGER THAN BOTH HIS FATHER AND GRANDFATHER. BUT INSTEAD OF EVIL, SOMETHING UNEXPECTED HAPPENED. FIRST BONDED WITH NYPD OFFICER PATRICK MULLIGAN AND LATER EDDIE. BROCK, TOXIN BECAME THE CLOSEST THING WITH THE SYMBIOTES EVER HAD TO A CHANCE, A CHILD RAISED WITH RESTRAINT. TOXIN CONSTANTLY TEETERED BETWEEN EXTREMES, RAGE AND REASON, FREEDOM AND CONTROL, BUT UNLIKE CARNAGE OR VENOM, HE QUESTIONED. HE WANTED TO BE MORE THAN WHAT HE WAS MADE TO BE. HIS JOURNEY REFLECTS A PAINFUL TRUTH. EVEN IF YOU'RE BORN FROM MONSTERS, YOU DON'T HAVE TO BECOME ONE, BUT TRYING DOESN'T MEAN YOU'LL SUCCEED. BUT THEN WE HAVE THE STORY OF ANTI-VENOM. HE IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN EDDIE BROCK REJECTS EVERYTHING, EVEN THE PART OF HIMSELF THAT GAVE HIM PURPOSE. CREATED AFTER MR. NEGATIVE'S POWERS ALTERED EDDIE'S BIOLOGY, EDDIE ANTI-VENOM BECOMES A WALKING ANTIDOTE, CAPABLE OF PURGING OTHER SYMBIOTES AND HEALING THE SICK. BUT THIS CLEANSING ISN'T WITHOUT COST. EDDIE'S TRANSFORMATION STRIPS HIM OF HIS EMOTIONAL BOND WITH VENOM. HE GAINS POWER, BUT LOSES CONNECTION. HE CAN SAVE LIVES, BUT NEVER FEEL WHOLE AGAIN. IT'S A HAUNTING INVERSION. ANTI-VENOM ISN'T A SECOND CHANCE, IT'S A PENANCE. BECAUSE EDDIE NEVER WANTED TO BE PURE, HE JUST DIDN'T WANT TO HURT ANYONE ANYMORE. BUT THEN WE HAVE THE STORY OF SLEEPER, THE SYMBIOTE THAT LEARNED TO LOVE. OF ALL OF VENOM'S CHILDREN, SLEEPER IS THE STRANGEST, AND THE MOST HOPEFUL. BORN WITH UNUSUAL CHEMICAL POWERS AND NO IMMEDIATE HOST, SLEEPER WAS RAISED RATHER THAN ACTIVATED. BONDING BRIEFLY WITH TAKKAR, AND LATER WITH DYLAN BROCK, SLEEPER DEFIED HIS LINEAGE BY CHOOSING NOT TO BECOME A WEAPON. INSTEAD, HE PROTECTED. HE LEARNED EMPATHY. HE EXPLORED THE GALAXY, NOT IN SEARCH OF WAR, BUT OF IDENTITY. SLEEPER PROVES SOMETHING VENOM COULD NEVER BE SURE OF. THAT THE CYCLE CAN BE BROKEN. THAT A SYMBIOTE DOESN'T HAVE TO REFLECT OUR WORST DESIRES. IN THE HEART OF A CHILD, PEACE CAN GROW. EVEN IN THE SHADOW OF CARNAGE. BUT STILL IN THAT SHADOW, MORE MONSTERS CAN BE MADE. SUCH IS THE STORY OF THE LIFE FOUNDATION. WHERE THEY DIDN'T CREATE SYMBIOTES, THEY INDUSTRIALIZED THEM. SCREAM, RIOT, PHAGE, LASHER, AND AGONY. THESE FIVE SPAWN OF VENOM WERE FORGED IN A LAB, BONDED TO MERCENARIES, AND DEPLOYED AS BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS FOR A PRIVATIZED APOCALYPSE. THEY WEREN'T TREATED AS BEINGS, THEY WERE TREATED AS ASSETS. AND WHILE SOME, LIKE DONNA DIEGO'S SCREAM, WOULD EVENTUALLY REBEL, THEIR LEGACY IS ONE OF FAILURE. NOT BECAUSE THEY TURNED VIOLENT, BUT BECAUSE THEIR CREATION MISSED THE ENTIRE POINT. YOU CAN'T COMMODIFY CONNECTION. YOU CAN'T MASS PRODUCE INTIMACY. THE LIFE FOUNDATION DIDN'T BIRTH THE FUTURE. THEY BUILT A MIRROR OF EVERYTHING WRONG WITH US, AND CALLED IT PROGRESS. BUT UNDERNEATH IT ALL LIES THE FATHER OF DARKNESS. KNULL IS NOT JUST THE GOD OF THE SYMBIOTES, HE IS THEIR ORIGIN SIN. HE FORGED THE FIRST SYMBIOTE AS A WEAPON TO KILL THE LIGHT. A SWORD BORN FROM SHADOW, AND WHEN THAT WEAPON FAILED, HE REPURPOSED IT INTO THE EMPIRE OF PARASITES. KNULL EXISTS TO REMIND EVERY SYMBIOTE OF WHERE THEY CAME FROM. HE REPRESENTS DOMINATION, NIHILISM, AND UNCREATION. THE IDEA THAT THE ONLY TRUE PEACE IS SILENCE, AND THE ONLY TRUE PURPOSE IS CONTROL. VENOM DIDN'T ASK TO BE BORN FROM HIM, BUT THE FEAR REMAINS. WHAT IF WE'RE NOT JUST CHOOSING VIOLENCE? WHAT IF VIOLENCE IS OUR DEFAULT SETTING? EVEN IN HIS DEFEAT, KNULL LEAVES A SCAR. BECAUSE ONCE YOU REALIZE YOUR CREATOR IS A MONSTER, YOU'RE FORCED TO ASK WHETHER YOU WERE EVER ANYTHING ELSE. EACH OF THESE CHILDREN, CARNAGE, TOXIN, SLEEPER, SCREAM, AND EVEN THE CREATOR KNULL HIMSELF, ECHOES A PART OF VENOM'S SOUL. SOME WERE BORN OF FEAR, OTHERS OF HOPE, BUT ALL OF THEM ASK THE SAME QUESTION. IF YOU PASS ON YOUR POWER, DO YOU ALSO PASS ON YOUR PAIN? BECAUSE LEGACY, ISN'T JUST WHO COMES NEXT, IT'S WHAT YOU LEAVE BEHIND. AND FOR VENOM, THAT LEGACY IS UNFINISHED. STILL EVOLVING, STILL DANGEROUS, STILL CAPABLE OF BECOMING SOMETHING BETTER, OR SOMETHING FAR, FAR WORSE. THE MONSTER HAD CHILDREN, BUT HE DIDN'T RAISE THEM. AND SO NOW, THEY RAISE THEMSELVES, IN THE SHADOW OF EVERYTHING HE NEVER GOT TO BE. THEY SAY LEGACY IS WRITTEN IN BLOOD, BUT IN COMICS, LEGACY IS ALSO WRITTEN IN PANELS. THE CHILDREN OF VENOM, TWISTED, HOPEFUL, MONSTROUS, SHOWS US HOW FAR THE SYMBIOTE'S SHADOW REACHES. BUT IF YOU WANT TO UNDERSTAND WHY IT BEGAN, IF YOU WANT TO SEE THE MOMENTS WHERE VENOM STOPPED BEING A VILLAIN, STARTED BECOMING A MIRROR, YOU HAVE TO GO BACK TO THE STORIES. NOT JUST FOR LORE, BUT FOR INSIGHT. THE BETRAYALS, THE REBIRTHS, THE CHOICES. SO NOW, WE'RE DIVING INTO THE DEFINITIVE STORIES THAT SHAPE VENOM. FROM LETHAL PROTECTOR, TO KING IN BLACK. STORIES THAT ASK, WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BECOME SOMETHING MORE THAN A MONSTER? IF VENOM'S STORY IS A TRAGEDY, THEN COMICS ARE THE SCRIPTURES THAT LET US RELIVE IT. BUT THIS ISN'T JUST A READING LIST. THESE AREN'T JUST STORIES OF COOL FIGHTS OR GREAT ART, ALTHOUGH THEY HAVE THOSE IN SPADES. THESE ARE MOMENTS OF TRANSFORMATION. EACH ONE MARKS A REVELATION, A RECKONING, A REBIRTH. AND IF YOU WANT TO UNDERSTAND VENOM, NOT JUST RECOGNIZE HIM, YOU START HERE. AND YOU BEGIN WITH VENOM THE LETHAL. PROTECTOR. THIS IS THE TURNING POINT. THIS 6-ISSUE MINI-SERIES IS WHERE VENOM STEPS OUT OF SPIDER-MAN'S SHADOW, AND BEGINS TO CAST IN ONE OF HIS OWN. EDDIE BROCK MOVES TO SAN FRANCISCO, SEEKING REDEMPTION, NOT AS A HERO, NOT YET, BUT AS SOMETHING CLOSER TO IT. HE STILL SPEAKS IN THREATS, STILL LUNGES LIKE A PREDATOR, BUT THERE'S SOMETHING NEW IN HIM NOW. HE PROTECTS. LETHAL PROTECTOR IS WHERE THE CONTRADICTION BEGINS, WHERE VENOM STOPS BEING A VILLAIN, AND STARTS BECOMING A QUESTION. CAN A MONSTER CHOOSE MERCY? BUT IF LETHAL PROTECTOR IS THE PATH FORWARD, DARK ORIGIN IS A BACKWARD GLANCE. THIS RETELLING OF EDDIE BROCK'S DESCENT TO HATRED PULLS NO PUNCHES. WE SEE THE FAILURES, THE BITTERNESS, THE HELPLESSNESS THAT DEFINED HIS EARLY LIFE. BUT WHEN HE BONDS WITH A SYMBIOTE, IT DOESN'T FEEL LIKE A GIFT. IT FEELS LIKE DESTINY FINALLY CATCHING UP TO HIM. YOU DON'T NEED TO AGREE WITH HIS VERSION OF EDDIE TO APPRECIATE IT, BUT YOU DO NEED TO UNDERSTAND WHERE THE RAGE BEGAN, AND WHY THE SYMBIOTE DIDN'T CORRUPT HIM, IT COMPLETED HIM. BUT SOMETIMES, THE MONSTER ISN'T THE PROBLEM, IT'S THE MAN WHO DARES TO CONTROL IT, AS SEEN IN THE SERIES AGENT VENOM. FLASH THOMPSON, FORMER BULLY TURNED WOUNDED SOLDIER, TAKES THE SYMBIOTE INTO WAR. BUT INSTEAD OF CORRUPTION, WE GET DISCIPLINE. INSTEAD OF SURRENDER, WE GET STRUCTURE. AGENT VENOM IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE HOST DOESN'T RUN FROM THE MONSTER, HE COMMANDS IT. AND IT RAISES A BRUTAL QUESTION, IS CONTROL STRENGTH, OR JUST A SLOWER KIND OF DESTRUCTION? BUT, IN DONNY CATES RUN ON. VENOM STARTING IN 2018, EVERYTHING CHANGES. DONNY CATES TAKES THE CHAOS OF DECADES AND GIVES IT MYTH. SUDDENLY, THE SYMBIOTE ISN'T JUST A VILLAIN, IT HAS LINEAGE, A GOD, A PURPOSE. EDDIE BECOMES SOMETHING LARGER THAN HIMSELF. NOT A VICTIM, NOT A WEAPON, BUT A CHOSEN GUARDIAN OF A LEGACY THAT SPANS GALAXIES. THIS RUN IS WHERE VENOM BECOMES MORE THAN EDDIE. WHERE THE QUIET MOMENTS WITH DYLAN HIT AS HARD AS THE BATTLES WITH NOEL. WHERE FATHERHOOD FEELS AS DANGEROUS AS GODHOOD. AND IT'S WHERE EDDIE STOPS RUNNING FROM WHAT HE IS, AND STARTS BECOMING WHAT HE WAS ALWAYS MEANT TO BE. NOT A VICTIM, NOT A WEAPON, A FATHER. BUT, THE CLIMAX COMES IN 2020'S KING AND BLACK. NOEL DESCENDS ON EARTH, SYMBIOTE DRAGONS DARKEN THE SKIES, AND EDDIE BROCK DIES. BUT DEATH ISN'T THE END, BECAUSE THIS IS WHERE THE SYMBIOTE HIVE CHOOSES EDDIE. THIS IS WHERE THE MAN WHO ONCE HATED GODS, BECOMES ONE. NOT TO RULE, BUT TO PROTECT. KING AND BLACK ISN'T JUST A BLOCKBUSTER EVENT, IT'S A CORONATION. VENOM DOESN'T JUST ARRIVE, HE UNDERSTANDS. AND WHILE HE BECAME A GOD, TO UNDERSTAND WHAT A GOD WOULD FEAR, YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND CARNAGE. CARNAGE USA SHOWS CLETUS AT HIS MOST TERRIFYING. A VIRUS WITH A SMILE, A MAN WHO DOESN'T NEED REASON TO DESTROY, BECAUSE DESTRUCTION IS THE REASON. ABSOLUTE CARNAGE, BY CONTRAST, IS WHERE THE LINE BETWEEN EDDIE AND CARNAGE DISAPPEARS. WHERE EDDIE ISN'T SURE IF HE'S THE HERO, OR IF HE'S JUST CARNAGE WITH BETTER EXCUSES. THESE STORIES DON'T JUST RAISE THE STAKES, THEY FORCE EDDIE TO CONFRONT THE TRUTH. IF CARNAGE IS WHAT THE SYMBIOTE HAS BECOME WITHOUT CONSCIENCE, WHAT STOPS HIM FROM BECOMING THE SAME? THESE ARE MORE THAN STORIES, THEY ARE ECHOES OF IDENTITY, SNAPSHOTS OF FEAR, AND DECLARATIONS OF PURPOSE. AND TOGETHER, THEY TELL THE TRUTH OF VENOM. NOT THE MONSTER, NOT THE MASK, BUT THE MAN UNDERNEATH, AND WHAT HE HAD TO LOSE TO BECOME SOMETHING MORE, OR DIE TRYING. THE STORIES WE JUST EXPLORED WEREN'T WRITTEN TO SELL BOOKS, THEY WERE WRITTEN TO ASK QUESTIONS. WHAT IF THE MONSTER WAS RIGHT? WHAT IF THE ONLY WAY TO SAVE YOURSELF IS TO SURRENDER TO THE THING THAT HAUNTS YOU? THAT'S THE POWER OF VENOM'S GREATEST TALES. THEY CHALLENGE US TO SEE OURSELVES IN THE BLACK MIRROR OF HIS BODY, IN THE WHITE OF HIS FANGS, IN THE HISS OF HIS VOICE WHISPERING, I AM YOU. BUT VENOM DIDN'T STAY ON THE PAGE, HE BLED INTO SCREENS, INTO TOYS, INTO MEMES, MERCH, MIDNIGHT SHOWINGS, AND PLAYGROUND LEGENDS. BECAUSE SOMEWHERE ALONG THE LINE, VENOM STOPPED BECOMING A SPIDER-MAN VILLAIN AND BECAME SOMETHING ELSE ENTIRELY. NOW, LET'S TALK ABOUT LEGACY, NOT JUST IN COMICS, BUT EVERYWHERE. VENOM WAS NEVER MEANT TO LAST. BORN FROM EDITORIAL DISPUTE, FORGED IN FAN DEMAND, AND INTRODUCED AS A MIRROR TO SPIDER-MAN'S WORST FEARS, HE SHOULD HAVE FADED WITH THE DECADE THAT BIRTHED HIM, BUT HE DIDN'T. BECAUSE VENOM EVOLVED, AND IN THAT EVOLUTION, HE LEFT THE COMICS BEHIND, AND BECAME LEGEND. FOR MANY, THE REAL VENOM DIDN'T COME FROM A COMIC PANEL, BUT FROM A SATURDAY MORNING CARTOON. IN 1994'S SPIDER-MAN THE ANIMATED SERIES, VENOM'S MONSTROUS GROWL, VOICED BY HANK AZARIA, INTRODUCED MILLIONS TO THE IDEA OF A HERO'S DARKNESS PERSONIFIED. EDDIE BROCK WAS BITTER, THE SYMBIOTE WAS MALEVOLENT, AND TOGETHER, THEY WERE UNFORGETTABLE. BUT IT WAS SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN IN 2008 THAT REFINED THE FORMULA. HERE, EDDIE'S FALL WAS TRAGIC, UNDERSTANDABLE, A SLOW BURN. THE SYMBIOTE WAS MORE PARASITIC, FEEDING OFF EMOTION, INSECURITY, NEED. IT WASN'T A MONSTER, IT WAS A REFLECTION. THESE SHOWS DIDN'T JUST ADAPT VENOM, THEY ENSHRINED HIM IN MEMORY. IN 2007'S SPIDER-MAN 3, SAM RAIMI INTRODUCED VENOM TO THE BIG SCREEN, BUT NOT WITHOUT COMPROMISE. EDDIE BROCK, PLAYED BY TOPHER GRACE, LACKED THE PHYSICALITY OR MENACE FANS EXPECTED. AND YET, THERE WAS SOMETHING HAUNTING IN HIS PORTRAYAL. BECAUSE IT WASN'T JUST ABOUT POWER, IT WAS ABOUT CORRUPTION. THIS SYMBIOTE AMPLIFIED PETER'S EGO AND MADE HIM COLDER, HARSHER, CRUELER. IT WHISPERED THE LIE WE ALL TELL OURSELVES. YOU'RE BETTER THIS WAY. BUT IT WAS SONY'S VENOM THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING. TOM HARDY'S EDDIE WASN'T A VILLAIN. HE WAS A MAN BROKEN BY LIFE. IN THE SYMBIOTE, NOT A CORRUPTOR, BUT A COMPANION. TOGETHER, THEY WERE WEIRD, VIOLENT, HILARIOUS EVEN, AND UNDENIABLY HUMAN. THE FILM REFRAMED THE DYNAMIC. NO LONGER WAS. VENOM A PARASITE. HE WAS NEAT AND CARNY. TWO BEINGS CLINGING TO ONE ANOTHER, NOT OUT OF EVIL, BUT OF SURVIVAL. THE SHIFT TURNED VENOM INTO SOMETHING DEEPER. A STORY ABOUT CODEPENDENCY, ABOUT LONELINESS, ABOUT THE MONSTER WHO FINALLY SAID, YOU'RE NOT ALONE. BUT VENOM'S STORY EXPANDS BEYOND THE SCREENS. IN THE 90S, VENOM EXPLODED. EVERY TOY AISLE HAD HIM. EVERY KID WANTED HIM. VIDEO GAMES MADE HIM PLAYABLE, FROM ARCADE BEAT-EM-UPS TO MAXIMUM CARNAGE ON HOME CONSOLES. SUDDENLY, YOU DIDN'T JUST WATCH VENOM, YOU WERE HIM. POSTERS, PAJAMAS, TOOTHBRUSHES. VENOM WAS EVERYWHERE. AND THAT MATTERS. BECAUSE I, CONS AREN'T JUST WORSHIPPED, THEY'RE MARKETED. VENOM BECAME MORE THAN A CHARACTER, HE BECAME A BRAND. WITH HIS JAGGED SMILE, TWISTED TONGUE, AND BULGING FORM, HE WAS IMMEDIATELY RECOGNIZABLE, YET ENDLESSLY REMIXABLE. HE COULD BE FUNNY, HE COULD BE TERRIFYING, HE COULD BE BOTH. THE ELASTICITY MADE HIM A MERCHANDISING DREAM, AND A CULTURAL FORCE. AND TODAY, VENOM DOESN'T SIT AMONG SPIDER-MAN'S ROGUES GALLERY. HE TOWERS BEYOND HIM. HE'S HEADLINED MULTIPLE SOLO SERIES. HE'S BEEN A GUARDIAN OF THE GALAXY, A GOD SLAYER, A KING. AND CULTURALLY, HE REPRESENTS SOMETHING SPIDER-MAN NEVER COULD. PETER PARKER IS RESPONSIBILITY. VENOM IS RELEASE. PETER IS GUILT. VENOM IS INDULGENCE. PETER HIDES BEHIND HIS MASK TO PROTECT THE WORLD. VENOM WEARS HIS MASK BECAUSE HE'S IN DANGER. AND IN A WORLD OF IDENTITY CRISIS, CURATED SOCIAL MEDIA SELVES, AND AI VOICES MIMICKING HUMAN TONE, VENOM FEELS PROPHETIC. HE'S THE QUESTION BEHIND THE VOICE IN YOUR HEAD. WHAT IF THE MASK ISN'T HIDING YOU? WHAT IF IT'S REVEALING YOU? YES, VENOM BEGAN AS A VILLAIN, BUT THAT LABEL DOESN'T FIT ANYMORE. HE'S A SYMBOL OF DUALITY, OF SURVIVAL, OF CHOOSING TO LIVE WITH THE MONSTER BECAUSE THE MONSTER AT LEAST TELLS THE TRUTH. FROM COMIC PANELS TO CINEMA SCREENS, FROM LUNCH BOXES TO LEADERBOARDS, FROM THE SHADOWS OF SPIDER-MAN TO A MYTH ALL HIS OWN, VENOM DIDN'T JUST SURVIVE. HE ARRIVED, AND HE'S NOT GOING ANYWHERE. NOT NOW, NOT WHEN WE NEED HIM MOST. EVERY ADAPTATION, EVERY VOICE, EVERY VERSION OF VENOM TELLS THE SAME TRUTH. HE ENDURES BECAUSE HE'S NOT BOUND TO ONE MEDIUM, OR ONE MAN. HE IS TRANSFORMATION ITSELF, A SHAPE WITHOUT LIMITS, A STORY THAT KEEPS REWRITING ITS OWN DNA. BUT BENEATH THE SPECTACLE, THE GAMES, THE TOYS, THE MOVIES, LIES SOMETHING OLDER. A QUESTION THAT HAS HAUNTED US SINCE THE FIRST MYTH WAS TOLD. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO SHARE YOUR BODY WITH THE THING YOU FEAR MOST? TO CALL THE PARASITE YOUR PARTNER? TO FIND SALVATION AND SURRENDER? BECAUSE BENEATH THE BLACK AND WHITE, THERE IS A MIRROR, AND IT'S TIME WE FINALLY LOOKED INTO IT. TO FIGURE OUT WHAT VENOM TRULY IS. A MONSTER, OR A MIRROR. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO SHARE YOUR BODY WITH ANOTHER CONSCIOUSNESS? TO BLUR THE BOUNDARY BETWEEN SELF AND SHADOW. VENOM ISN'T JUST A PARASITE, OR A COSTUME, OR EVEN A MONSTER. HE'S A MIRROR, TWISTED AND WARPED, YES, BUT HONEST IN A WAY THAT ONLY SHADOWS CAN BE. AND EDDIE BROCK, HE'S THE REFLECTION STARING BACK. AT THE HEART OF THE VENOM MYTH IS A QUESTION MOST HEROES NEVER HAVE TO FACE. WHAT IF YOUR POWER ISN'T YOURS ALONE? WHAT IF IT THINKS, HUNGERS, LOVES? IN A WORLD OF RADIOACTIVE ACCIDENTS AND MAGIC ARTIFACTS, THE SYMBIOTE IS DIFFERENT. IT LIVES. IT'S NOT A TOOL, IT'S A PARTNER. WITH PETER PARKER, IT LATCHED ONTO HIS PAIN AND PRIDE. WITH EDDIE BROCK, IT FOUND SOMETHING DEEPER. SHARED REJECTION, SHARED FURY, SHARED PURPOSE, BUT ALSO SHARED DELUSION. BECAUSE WHILE. EDDIE BELIEVED HE WAS IN CONTROL, AT LEAST AT FIRST, THE TRUTH WAS MURKIER. THE SYMBIOTE DIDN'T JUST REFLECT HIS WORST INSTINCTS, IT AMPLIFIED THEM. AND IN DOING SO, IT FORCED EDDIE TO ASK, AM I THE MAN I THINK I AM, OR JUST THE MASK I WEAR? IS THE SYMBIOTE A SICKNESS, OR THE NEXT STEP IN HUMAN CONSCIOUSNESS? MARVEL HAS NEVER FULLY ANSWERED, AND MAYBE THAT'S THE POINT. BECAUSE VENOM WALKS THE RAZOR'S EDGE BETWEEN EMPOWERMENT AND CORRUPTION. HE MAKES HIS HOST STRONGER, FASTER, MORE CAPABLE, BUT AT A COST. THE LONGER YOU BOND, THE HARDER IT IS TO TELL WHERE YOU END AND IT BEGINS. THE LONGER YOU BOND, THE HARDER IT IS TO TELL WHERE YOU END AND IT BEGINS. FLASH THOMPSON LOST HIS LEGS AND FOUND PURPOSE AS AGENT VENOM, BUT ONLY BY SURRENDERING TO STRICTER DISCIPLINE. PETER LOST HIS SENSE OF SELF. MATT GARGAN SURRENDERED COMPLETELY. AND EDDIE? EDDIE DANCED WITH THE ABYSS, AND SOMETIMES LED. AND SYMBIOTE DOESN'T FORCE ANYONE TO BE EVIL, BUT IT DOESN'T STOP THEM EITHER. IT OFFERS. IT TEMPTS. AND IT WHISPERS. IS THAT NOT THE ASSETS OF POWER IN THE REAL WORLD? YOU SEE, EVERY HOST BRINGS OUT SOMETHING DIFFERENT IN THE SYMBIOTE, BUT THE BOND GOES BOTH WAYS. WHEN EDDIE IS DESPERATE, VENOM BECOMES VIOLENT. WHEN HE'S HOPEFUL, HE BECOMES PROTECTIVE. WHEN HE LOVES HIS SON DYLAN, IT BECOMES NURTURING. BUT ALWAYS, ALWAYS, THERE'S SOMETHING ALIEN BENEATH THE SURFACE. SOMETHING THAT DOESN'T FORGET ITS PRIMAL INSTINCTS. THE WANTS. THAT WANTS, EVEN IF IT DOESN'T ALWAYS UNDERSTAND WHY. SO WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE REFLECTION SHAPES THE MAN? THAT'S WHAT MAKES VENOM SO DIFFERENT FROM OTHER MARVEL ANTI-HEROES. HE'S NOT JUST A PERSON TRYING TO BE BETTER. HE'S A RELATIONSHIP TRYING TO SURVIVE. AND LIKE ALL TOXIC RELATIONSHIPS, THERE'S A QUESTION THAT HAUNTS THEM BOTH. ARE WE BETTER TOGETHER? ARE WE ALL JUST AFRAID OF BEING ALONE? BUT VENOM ISN'T A NEW IDEA. HE'S AN EVOLUTION OF THE OLDEST ONE. FROM MARY SHELLEY'S FRANKENSTEIN, TO ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON'S DR. JEKYLL AND DR. HYDE, TO CRONENBERG'S THE FLY, THE STORY REMAINS THE SAME. MAN PLAYS WITH POWER, MAN IS CHANGED, AND THE MONSTER IS HIM. DR. JEKYLL CREATED HYDE TO EXPERIENCE THE WORLD WITHOUT GUILT. THE FLY INADVERTENTLY FUSED MAN AND INSECT INTO A TRAGEDY OF HUBRIS. FRANKENSTEIN'S CREATION WAS UNBORN EVIL, IT WAS MADE MONSTROUS BY REJECTION. VENOM FOLLOWS THAT SAME GOTHIC TRADITION. HE'S THE PRODUCT OF SCIENCE FICTION AND MORAL FAILURE. AN ALIEN ORGANISM MADE TERRIFYING NOT BY ITS OWN NATURE, BUT BY OURS. BECAUSE WHAT COULD BE MORE FRIGHTENING THAN THE PATHS OF YOURSELF YOU CAN'T CONTROL? IN THE THING, JOHN CARPENTER'S MASTERPIECE OF PARANOIA, THE HORROR COMES NOT FROM THE ALIEN, BUT THE UNCERTAINTY. WHO'S STILL HUMAN? WHO'S ALREADY LOST? VENOM PLAYS IN THAT SAME FEAR, BUT WHERE THE THING ERASES IDENTITY, VENOM EXAGGERATES IT. EDDIE BECOMES MORE EDDIE. VIOLENT, EMOTIONAL, STUBBORN. FLASH BECOMES A SOLDIER. PETER BECOMES SELF-RIGHTEOUS. CLETUS BECOMES CARNAGE. THE SYMBIOTE DOESN'T REPLACE YOU, IT AMPLIFIES YOU. IN AN AGE OF ALGORITHMIC PERSONAS AND CURATED DIGITAL SELVES, THE FEAR HAS ONLY GROWN. BECAUSE WE ALL WEAR MASKS NOW, WE ALL PERFORM. SO WHEN VENOM WHISPERS, WE ARE VENOM, THE REAL QUESTION BECOMES, WHO IS THE REAL ME? AND YET, ONE OF THE MOST SURPRISING TWISTS IN EDDIE'S STORY IS ALSO HIS MOST HUMAN, HIS SON DYLAN. BORN OF SYMBIOTE BIOLOGY AND HUMAN BLOOD, DYLAN BECOMES A SYMBOL OF HOPE, NOT JUST FOR EDDIE, BUT FOR THE SYMBIOTE HIMSELF. HE'S PROOF THAT EVEN MONSTERS CAN CREATE LIFE, THAT BONDS, NO MATTER HOW TWISTED, CAN EVOLVE. AND YET, EVEN HERE, THE QUESTION LINGERS. IS DYLAN DESTINED TO CARRY THE CURSE? IS THE CYCLE OF PAIN PASSED DOWN OR BROKEN? BECAUSE IF VENOM IS A MIRROR, THEN DYLAN IS A NEW REFLECTION, ONE THEY MAY FINALLY REWRITE THE MYTH. THE QUESTION THAT LINGERS, MORE THAN ANY OTHERS, IS THIS. IS EDDIE A HERO, BECAUSE OF VENOM, OR IN SPITE OF HIM? THE ANSWER, LIKE THE BOND ITSELF, IS MESSY. VENOM MADE EDDIE POWERFUL. IT GAVE HIM PURPOSE. IT HELPED HIM PROTECT THE INNOCENT, LOVE HIS SON, SAVE THE WORLD. BUT IT ALSO BROUGHT HIM PAIN, ISOLATION, A LEGACY OF VIOLENCE HE CAN NEVER FULLY ESCAPE. THEIR STORY ISN'T ONE OF REDEMPTION, IT'S ONE OF ACCEPTANCE. OF LEARNING TO LIVE WITH A MONSTER INSIDE. NOT TO DEFEAT IT, BUT TO UNDERSTAND IT. BECAUSE MAYBE, THAT'S THE REAL MESSAGE WE CAN TAKE FROM VENOM. THAT WE'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO KILL THE DARK PARTS OF OURSELVES, WE'RE SUPPOSED TO KNOW THEM, NAME THEM, AND CHOOSE WHO WE WANT TO BE, ANYWAY. BECAUSE VENOM ISN'T THE STORY OF A MAN BECOMING A MONSTER, IT'S THE STORY OF A MONSTER LEARNING TO BE A MAN. AND FOR ALL HIS VIOLENCE, FOR ALL HIS HUNGER, FOR ALL HIS SINS, HE TRIES. AND SOMETIMES, THAT'S ENOUGH. THANK YOU FOR JOINING US INTO THIS DEEP DIVE INTO THE STORY OF VENOM. WHERE WE ANSWER THE QUESTION, WHAT IF THE MONSTER DIDN'T COME TO CONQUER US, BUT TO COMPLETE US? FROM THE MOMENT EDDIE BROCK FIRST TOUCHED THE SYMBIOTE, THE WAR WASN'T JUST EXTERNAL. IT WASN'T ABOUT GOOD VS. EVIL, LIGHT VS. DARKNESS, OR EVEN MAN VS. ALIEN. IT WAS ABOUT IDENTITY, ABOUT WHETHER YOU COULD WEAR THE MASK WITHOUT LOSING YOUR FACE. AND HE DIDN'T SLAY HIS DEMONS. HE DIDN'T OUTWIT THEM, OUTFIGHT THEM, OR CAST THEM AWAY. HE LET THEM IN. AND IN DOING SO, HE BECAME SOMETHING THE WORLD DIDN'T EXPECT, AND MAYBE NEVER WANTED. A PROTECTOR. A FATHER. A KING. NOT DESPITE THE MONSTER, BUT BECAUSE OF IT. BECAUSE VENOM IS NOT THE THING YOU RUN FROM IN THE DARK. VENOM IS THE THING INSIDE YOU THAT KNOWS WHERE THE DARKNESS STILL LIVES, AND STILL CHOOSES TO STAND IN ITS WAY. IT'S THE VOICE IN THE BACK OF YOUR HEAD THAT WHISPERS ALL YOUR WORST IMPULSES. IT'S THE HAND THAT PULLS YOU BACK WHEN YOU NEARLY LISTEN. IT IS THE ADDICTION AND PENANCE, VIOLENCE AND RESTRAINT, RAGE WIELDED AS STEEL, LOVE WRAPPED IN TEETH. AND THAT'S THE HORROR, ISN'T IT? NOT THAT THE SYMBIOTE IS EVIL, BUT THAT IT REFLECTS US SO PERFECTLY. THAT IN HUNGER, THAT ITS HUNGER IS OURS. THAT ITS DESPERATION FOR PURPOSE, FOR CONNECTION, FOR PEACE, IS NOT ALIEN AT ALL. VENOM IS EVERY SHADOW WE REFUSE TO NAME, EVERY COMPROMISE WE JUSTIFY, EVERY FEAR WE BURY SO DEEP, IT BECOMES INSTINCT. AND IF WE'RE BEING HONEST, THAT'S WHY WE FEAR IT. NOT BECAUSE IT DESTROYS US, BUT BECAUSE IT UNDERSTANDS US. BECAUSE IT SHOWS US THE LINE BETWEEN CONTROL AND SURRENDER, AND DARES US TO CROSS IT. THAT'S THE REAL TERROR OF VENOM. NOT THAT HE KILLS, THAT HE SAVES, ON HIS OWN TERMS. SO WE'RE LEFT WITH THE QUESTION THAT LINGERS LONG AFTER THE PANELS CLOSE AND THE SCREEN FADES TO BLACK. IF THE MONSTER INSIDE YOU KNOWS YOUR NAME, ARE YOU STILL YOU? OR ARE YOU JUST WHAT'S LEFT? BECAUSE THE MONSTER DIDN'T COME FROM SPACE TO DESTROY US, IT CAME TO SHOW US WHO WE REALLY ARE. AND WHETHER THAT'S A TRAGEDY, OR A TRIUMPH, DEPENDS ON WHAT YOU DO NEXT. BECAUSE IN THE END, VENOM ISN'T THE STORY OF A MAN WHO LEARNED TO LIVE WITH THE MONSTER INSIDE US, AND IN DOING SO, GAVE THE REST OF US PERMISSION TO DO THE SAME. SO WHO WAS VENOM? IF NOT ALL OF US, AT WAR WITH WHAT WE MIGHT BECOME. SO STAY STRANGE, STAY HUNGRY, AND STAY HANDSOME. AND REMEMBER, SOMETIMES, THE ONLY WAY TO TAME THE MONSTER, IS TO BECOME IT.