Venom (Eddie Brock)

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Venom
Eddie Brock as Venom
Publisher Marvel Comics First appearance Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 1) #252 (alien symbiote) Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 1) #298 (as Venom) Created by David Michelinie Todd McFarlane (contested, see below)
Characteristics Alter ego Edward Charles "Eddie" Brock Abilities Alien symbiote grants the host all of Spider-Man's powers (having been formerly bonded with Spider-Man), as well as limited shapeshifting ability and the power to avoid detection by Spider-Man's "spider-sense".

Venom (Eddie Brock) is a fictional Marvel Comics supervillain and anti-hero commonly thought to be an arch-enemy of Spider-Man. He first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #299 (April 1988).

Venom is the result of symbiosis between an extraterrestrial symbiote and Eddie Brock, a human host. Before this merger, Eddie was a reporter who held a personal grudge against both Spider-Man and Peter Parker.

Contents 1 Character history 1.1 The beginning 1.2 Progeny 1.3 Clone of the symbiote 1.4 The end? 2 Powers and abilities 3 Other versions of Venom 3.1 Ultimate Venom 3.2 Marvel Zombies 4 Appearances in other media 4.1 Television 4.2 Film 4.2.1 Spider-Man 3 4.3 Video games 5 Disputed creator credit 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Character history

[edit] The beginning

Born in San Francisco, Edward Charles Brock was raised in a Catholic upbringing to a cold and unloving father from whom he desperately tried to gain approval. Though as a child, he excelled in many subjects, particularly athletics, his father's response was always in the form of half-hearted encouragments. After reading a newspaper article on the Watergate Scandal, Brock quit athletics and switched his major to journalism. He moved to New York and obtained a job at the Daily Globe, a rival of the Daily Bugle. He proved himself to be highly talented, though even this could not get his father's approval. At some point in his career, he married Anne Weying. Sensing an opportunity, Brock decided to investigate in the Sin-Eater case and surprisingly came across someone actually confessing to the murders. Protecting his rights under the First Amendement, Brock interviewed the man as The Globe's popularity soared. However, with the authorities pressing for a suspect, Eddie was forced to reveal his subject's identity. To his horror though, it turned out that Spider-Man had caught the real killer and the man he had been interviewing turned out to be a compulsive liar. Fired from his job in disgrace, Brock was disowned by his father and divorced by his wife. With no decent publishers willing to hire him, Eddie was forced to work for sleazy tabloid magazines. Blaming Spider-Man for ruining his life, Brock resumed his passion for athletics through weightlifting to reduce stress. Though his body grew to near-olympic standards, his rage remained. Tiring of the futility of his life, Brock contemplated suicide and went to Our Lady of Saints Church where he pleaded to God for forgiveness, unaware the symbiote Spider-Man had discarded lay waiting for him.

The symbiote discovers Eddie Brock, is attracted by his intense hatred of Spider-Man and bonds with Brock. Brock is imparted with the knowledge of Spider-Man's secret identity. Brock and the symbiote name themselves "Venom" and torment Spider-Man. The symbiote is later revealed to be attracted to Spider-Man,^[1] and it attempts to leave Brock and reunite with Spider-Man. The bond between the symbiote and Brock is too strong, however, and the separation results in mental trauma to both. Brock is remanded to the Vault, a prison for superpowered criminals, until he escapes by faking his death and murdering one of the guards.

The origin story is later retconned with Brock having been diagnosed with a form of cancer that increases his production of adrenaline.^[2] Instead of their mutual hatred of Spider-Man, Brock's increased adrenaline production, on which the symbiote feeds, is the primary reason for their bonding. The bonding also saves Brock from his cancer.

[edit] Progeny

Venom is subdued and incarcerated when the plague-spreading super-villain, Styx, renders the symbiote unconscious.^[3] The symbiote finds and bonds with Brock, aiding in his escape. During the escape, the symbiote gives birth and leaves its spawn, which bonds to Brock's cell-mate Cletus Kasady, creating Carnage.^[4]

Venom abducts Spider-Man to a remote island where they fight. Spider-Man fakes his death to convince Venom that his vendetta is over, and Venom resigns himself to life on the island.^[5] Venom's retirement ends when Spider-Man, unable to defeat Carnage, returns and enlists Venom's aid.^[6] In the 1993 Spider-Man crossover storyline "Maximum Carnage", Venom teams up with Spider-Man and a number of other heroes to defeat Carnage when he and a team of powerful supervillains overtake New York City.

After Carnage is born, Venom assumes the rest of his progeny (the Life Foundation symbiotes Scream, Lasher, Riot, Phage, and Agony) will turn out the same way, and thus should be destroyed. However, the Life Foundation symbiotes are afraid of becoming like Venom, and instead want his help controlling their symbiotes so they can use them for good. Eddie refuses to help them and Scream goes insane and kills them (Venom: Separation Anxiety #4). When Scream later reforms, she aids Venom a couple of times. The remains of the other four symbiotes merge to form Hybrid, who considers Venom a threat.

Venom is put on trial,^[7] his symbiote held in check with a chemical inhibitor. Carnage is called as a witness, but he overcomes his own inhibitor and attacks. Venom, Spider-Man, and Daredevil subdue Carnage. Venom absorbs the Carnage symbiote and joins the Sinister Six, but Venom turns on the other members, crippling Sandman and Electro before making peace with Spider-Man. Venom's hatred for the web-slinger is renewed when Brock's wife commits suicide. Venom loses his chance for revenge when the powerful human/alien hybrid known as Senator Ward forcefully removes the symbiote from Brock once more.

The Carnage symbiote gives birth to the Toxin symbiote. Carnage attempts to kill the newborn Toxin, but Venom opposes him until he realizes that Toxin's policeman host will not ally with him, and calls a truce with Carnage to destroy Toxin, who is aided by Spider-Man. Spider-Man and Toxin drive off Carnage and Venom.^[8]

[edit] Clone of the symbiote

Further information: She-Venom

An alien race secretly operating within the United States government clones the Venom symbiote. Venom absorbs the clone, gaining its knowledge, and he decides to carry out the aliens' orders.^[9] Before he does, however, Brock learns that he has cancer and will die if he does not permanently bond with the symbiote.^[10] The Symbiote rejects Brock, not desiring to be bonded with his diseased body any longer. Ultimately, Spider-Man tricks the symbiote into permanently merging with Brock.^[11]

[edit] The end?

Following the revelation of his cancer, Brock had a religious awakening and decided against permanently merging with the symbiote. Brock instead chose to sell the symbiote to crimelord, Don Fortunato, intending to donate the $100 million received to charity before dying.^[12] Angelo Fortunato, the Don's son, became the second Venom for a brief period of time. However, Angelo proved to be a weak host for the Symbiote, being humiliated in a battle with Spider-Man. The symbiote abandoned Angelo mid-leap, and the subsequent fall killed Fortunato. Upon hearing that Angelo had died due to the symbiote, Brock slit his wrists in an alley and was seen waiting to die. However, he was found before his death and survived the suicide attempt. Eddie is currently recovering in a hospital.^[13]

[edit] Powers and abilities

See also: Symbiote (comics)

As a result of the symbiote's former bond with Spider-Man, it grants its hosts abilities parallel to those of the wall-crawler (i.e. superhuman strength, agility, and reflexes, and the ability to adhere to walls).

The symbiote is capable of enhancing the strength of its host to varying degrees. Due to Eddie Brock's natural physical strength from weight-training, his strength as Venom is greatly increased, far in excess of Spider-Man's, though his full strength often fluctuates. Venom has demonstrated strength ranging from only slightly greater than Spider-Man's to being capable of trading blows with high-powered individuals such as Juggernaut.

Venom's body is highly resistant to physical injury, capable of withstanding assault from high-calibre bullets as well as attacks from super powered individuals. Venom is also capable of surviving in harmful areas for long periods of time such as underwater or in toxic gases, the symbiote filtering breathable air to the host. Additionally, the symbiote is capable of healing injuries in the host at a faster rate than normal human healing allows. The symbiote is also capable of healing injuries and illness that current human medical care cannot such as cancer.

The symbiote contains a small 'dimensional aperture', similar to a pocket, that allows the host to carry items upon his/her person without adding mass to the costume. It also possesses some limited psychic ability, making it capable of obtaining information from its hosts and even other people and symbiotes simply by touch. This ability allowed Eddie Brock to know the secret identity of Spider-Man when the symbiote bonded with him. It can, however, be forced to forget information if the symbiote is inflicted with heavy trauma. The symbiote is also capable of psychically detecting its offspring; however, this ability can be blocked.

Due to Spider-Man being a host to the symbiote, Venom, and as a result his offspring, is able to bypass Spider-Man's spider-sense. As such, Venom is capable of attacking Spider-Man without alerting him, making Venom a deadly foe.

The symbiote is capable of mimicking the appearance of any form of clothing, camouflaging with its surroundings, and even mimicking other people.

The suit can also shoot webbing similar to that of Spider-Man, albeit from the back of the host's hand instead of the wrist, but as this is made from the symbiote itself, overuse weakens it. However, the symbiote is still capable of producing vast amounts of this webbing before it is forced to stop. Furthermore, it does have an upper limit as to how much webbing it can produce. In Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 1) #300, Spider-Man defeated Venom by forcing the symbiote to continually fire off its webbing, after correctly deducing that it uses its own substance to create it.

The symbiote is weak against sonics and fire.

In some incarnations, the symbiote (and, by extension, Venom) requires a certain chemical (most likely phenethylamine) to stay sane and healthy, which has been said to be found abundantly in two sources: chocolate and human brain tissue. Thus, Venom is forced to steal/purchase large amounts of chocolate or become an unwilling cannibal who devours the brains of those he kills.

[edit] Other versions of Venom

See also: Venom (comics)

[edit] Ultimate Venom

In Ultimate Spider-Man, Eddie Brock, Jr. is Peter Parker's closest childhood friend. Instead of a sentient alien, the Venom symbiote is a genetically engineered protoplasmic "suit" designed by Richard Parker and Edward Brock, Sr. Parker intends it to be used for medical purposes in his quest to cure cancer but Brock Sr. is more interested in the military applications of the suit. After the deaths of both men, Eddie continues the research. Peter Parker meets up with Eddie and the pair bond over their shared history before Eddie informs Peter of their legacy. Peter returns at night, determined to continue his father's research by taking a sample, but it instead bonds with him. After nearly being driven to murder by the suit, Peter warns Eddie of its danger and takes the sample to an industrial smoke stack where he destroys it. Eddie, after having little luck romantically with Gwen Stacy, becomes furious with Peter when he caught him destroying their "inheritance". Eddie then uses a second, larger sample and becomes Venom. The suit takes full control of Eddie, driving him to viciously attack Peter at his high school. Venom disappears after a flash caused when some power cables come in contact with water on the street. Later, in the Ultimate Spider-Man video game, Eddie gains full control of the Venom suit after he absorbs the remnants of the first sample in Peter's blood. In doing so, he develops the familiar white spider symbol on his chest.

In Ultimate Spider-Man, Venom is much more physically powerful than Spider-Man, although he is not as fast or agile. He cannot create organic webbing, instead using extruded tentacles to swing from building to building. In the Ultimate Spider-Man video game, he quickly leaps from building to building, jumping several hundred feet in a single bound. "Ultimate Venom", unlike the regular Venom, not only activates Peter Parker's spider-sense, but overloads it to the point that Peter is in such pain that he sometimes cannot move. Unlike the mainstream Venom, Ultimate Venom is not specifically vulnerable to sonics or fire, nor is he particularly concerned about killing innocent bystanders. In fact, the only way to prevent the suit from consuming Eddie is to allow the suit to "feed" on the random humans around Venom.

As a character, compared to his classic Marvel counterpart, Eddie Brock Jr. is a thinly built man who does not seem to be affilated with any religion. He does, however, retain the original's vindictiveness and obsessiveness.

The Spider-Man 3 film version of Eddie Brock is based on Eddie Brock, Junior in name, appearance and romantic interests.

[edit] Marvel Zombies

Main article: Marvel Zombies

Venom appears in the Marvel Zombies mini-series where an alternate Earth is over-run with a virus that turns people, namely most of the heroes and villains, into zombies. In this reality, a rotting carcass, Eddie's body is withering and no longer a suitable host, causing the symbiote to begin to die as there are no normal humans left for it to take. His powers tremendously amplified as a result of having consumed the Silver Surfer, Zombie Spider-Man kills Eddie. The fate of the symbiote is unknown, but the organism is presumed dead, as the Earth is later described as devoid of all "intelligent life".

[edit] Appearances in other media

[edit] Television

• Spider-Man: The Animated Series
  Like the comics' version of Venom, the version in this '90s cartoon is a former reporter named Eddie Brock who becomes bonded to an alien symbiote that was once attached to Spider-Man. The symbiote's origin is altered however, the alien being brought to Earth from an Earth-based space exploration. During their return, the astronauts are assaulted by the symbiote and crash their ship in the center of New York where Spider-Man arrives to help, inadvertently collecting the Symbiote when he leaves. Realizing that the symbiote's benefits are outweighed by the negative emotions it is creating in Spider-Man, he uses the sound of bells in a church tower to force it to leave his body where it bonds with a webbed-up Brock hanging below. Despite the fact that he is a popular character, Venom was only featured in a handful of episodes. Both Brock and Venom were voiced by Hank Azaria.
  • Character appearances:
    • "Night of the Lizard" (as Brock)
    • "The Spider Slayer" (as Brock)
    • "Return of the Spider Slayers" (as Brock)
    • "The Alien Costume, Part One" (as the symbiote)
    • "The Alien Costume, Part Two" (as the symbiote)
    • "The Alien Costume, Part Three" (as Venom)
    • "Venom Returns" (as Venom)
    • "Carnage" (as Venom)

• Spider-Man Unlimited
  Venom has also appeared in the later television series, Spider-Man Unlimited. Throughout this series, Venom is seen working together with Carnage in an effort to perpetuate the spread of an alien hive mind throughout the series' Counter-Earth. Within this series, Venom also displays powers markedly similar to that of Carnage.

[edit] Film

• Protagonist
  Venom's first appearance in a motion picture was originally to be as the star of the now defunct film, Venom, written by David Goyer and produced by New Line Pictures. Venom would have been portrayed as an anti-hero, and Carnage would have been the villain. The script was not produced, and the film rights to the Venom character ultimately reverted to Sony.[1]

• Spider-Man (2002)

In the 2002 film Spider-Man, it is mentioned that a Daily Bugle photographer named "Eddie" hasn't been able to get a good photo of Spider-Man. Presumably this is Eddie Brock (which the DVD's "Weaving the Web" pop-up factoids feature confirms). In the novelization of the film Eddie actually has a cameo and is mentioned by his full name, with J. Jonah Jameson unwittingly making an ironic allusion to Venom by screaming "Would it kill you to get a decent suit!?". Brock was set to be played by R.C. Everbeck; a cameo role was filmed, but was subsequently cut from the film during production.

Further information: Spider-Man (film)

[edit] Spider-Man 3

Main article: Spider-Man 3

Edward "Eddie" Brock, Jr has been confirmed to appear in the third film in the Spider-Man series, played by Topher Grace. Trailers and interviews indicate Eddie, Jr. will act as a mirror to Peter Parker in terms of employment and romantic interests. He works at the Daily Bugle as a photographer, and is one of the first to get a picture of Spider-Man wearing a new black costume. At one point in a trailer, Eddie is pushed against a wall by an angry Parker. On that same wall hangs a framed headline which reads "Spider-Man Shows His True Colors". To compound matters, Eddie's girl Gwen Stacy begins to pursue Parker romantically. A scene from an exclusive trailer released at Comic Con in 2006 also finds Eddie sitting alone in a church saying, "I want you to kill Peter Parker." The original teaser trailer for the film shows Parker ripping off the living, black, symbiotic costume in an active belltower, then cuts to Eddie looking up and saying "Parker?" in shock. In a leaked trailer that uses some of the footage from the official trailer as well as footage from Comic-Con, they show a scene of the symbiote dripping from the ceiling onto Brock.

The character's name, "Edward Brock, Jr." is taken from the ultimate continuity version mentioned above. Leaked images show that the movie incarnation of Venom borrows elements from other versions of the character. A leaked digital model of Venom appeared on the web briefly before being pulled by Sony, showing Venom to look very similar to the McFarlane & Bagley rendition of the character. However, the model had the same raised black webbing on its body that Spider-Man's film costume uses. The white spider symbol was present on the model's chest, but the white patches on the back of the hands are gone, replaced by more raised webbing. Venom's mouth is similar to the version from the '90s animated series, in that Venom has large, distinct "lips", conical-shaped teeth, and a tongue that is smaller than the comic book version.

[edit] Video games

• Spider-Man (Game Boy Color)
• The Amazing Spider-Man (Game Boy)
• Spider-Man: The Animated Series (video game) (Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo).
• Spider-Man and Venom: Maximum Carnage (Sega Genesis, SNES)
• The Amazing Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin (Sega Genesis, Sega CD)
• Spider-Man & Venom: Separation Anxiety (Sega Genesis, SNES, PC)
• Spider-Man (PC, PlayStation 2, Nintendo 64, Dreamcast)
• Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes (Dreamcast, PlayStation, Arcade)
• Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes (Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, Xbox, Arcade)
• Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro (PlayStation)
• Spider-Man (Playstation)
• Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects (Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube)
• Ultimate Spider-Man (Nintendo DS, Game Boy Advance, GameCube, Playstation 2, PC, Xbox, Mobile)
• Spider-Man arcade game
• Spider-Man 3 (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii).

[edit] Disputed creator credit

Main article: Venom creator credit dispute

Some controversy surrounds the creation of the Venom character. Although David Michelinie and Todd McFarlane are thought of as the creators, controversy exists due to the concepts of the character, such as Spider-Man's black costume, existing long before McFarlane's involvement. Additionally, the Venom character did appear in comics, albeit heavily concealed, before McFarlane contributed his design elements. Michelinie argues that McFarlane's design elements were minor compared to the background and personality of Venom which McFarlane had no part in developing.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Venom on the Marvel Universe Character Bio Wiki
• Ultimate Venom on the Marvel Universe Character Bio Wiki
• Venom's profile at Spiderfan.org
• Marvel Database: Venom