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Quote1 How does it feel now? Look at you now! Look at you now!! A thief and a liar! You knew, Parker!! You knew my father had created — my father was a genius!! I have to!! It needs you — it needs you to survive. It needs you more than me!! I can't do it alone. It needs you... this is all your fault. Quote2
Venom (Eddie Brock)[src]

History

Creation[]

Scientists Richard Parker and Eddie Brock, Sr. worked together to develop a revolutionary means to heal humanity of disease and illness, creating a symbiotic biosuit that would encase and augment the wearer's body; and naming their creation "Project Venom". However, Richard and Eddie weren't able to complete their project past the unstable and dangerous Stage Two, and sought the partnership and resources of Trask Industries to help complete their project. As a result of the agreement that Parker and Brock signed with Trask, the company eventually took the project away from them - seeing it as a potential bioweapon and tool to create supersoldiers.

To prove their ownership of the suit in court, Richard and Eddie began secretly working on their own version of the suit, reaching Stage 2 of development - form-fitting and strength-enhancing.[3] However, as they flew to New York to battle Trask in court, Eddie tested the suit on the plane, which ultimately resulted in the deaths of himself and his wife, as well as Richard and Mary Parker. In the meantime, Trask Industries continued development of the "Symbiote Effect" project, engaging in a corporate war with Roxxon, which somehow managed to acquire samples of the Venom Suit.[4]

The Black Suit[]

Peter Parker (Earth-1610) and Venom (Symbiote) (Earth-1610) from Ultimate Spider-Man Vol 1 34 001

Bonded with Peter Parker.

Peter Parker (Earth-1610) and Venom (Symbiote) (Earth-1610) from Ultimate Spider-Man Vol 1 35 002

Losing control over the suit.

As a student at ESU, Eddie Brock Jr. discovered a sample of the Venom Project and began to study it under the oversight of Dr. Curt Conners, splitting the sample into two batches - a test group and a control group. Reuniting with his childhood friend Peter Parker, who had discovered boxes of old documents and videotapes regarding their fathers' work on the Venom Project, Eddie showed Peter "their inheritance". Disgusted and enraged over how Trask had robbed their fathers of their life's work, Peter returned to the lab to take a sample of the suit to research on his own. However, he spilled a drop onto his hand that engulfed him and formed into a black costume. The black suit augmented all of Peter's powers, making him immune to bullets and the Shocker's vibrational blasts. However, when an armed robber shot a man, Peter was reminded of the death of Uncle Ben and lost control of the suit, transforming into a monster and nearly devouring the robber. Struggling to free himself of the Suit, he accidentally leapt into some electric cables, destroying the Suit but leaving trace remnants in his bloodstream.[6]

Birth of Venom[]

Edward Brock Jr

Bonded with Eddie Brock Jr.

Peter returned to ESU intent on destroying the rest of the Venom Suit, where he was confronted by Eddie, who had seen him as Black Suit Spider-Man. Peter revealed his identity and told Eddie what had transpired, taking the Venom Suit and disposing of it in an industrial furnace. Embittered, Eddie returned to the lab and took the flask containing the control sample of the Venom Suit from storage, deliberately exposing himself to it and instinctively devouring a janitor. While Eddie was briefly able to control it, but due to his incompatible DNA, he lost it and transformed into a ravenous hulking, thorny monster called Venom when confronted by a pair of security guards.[6] Compelled by the suit's desire to be bonded to or consume Peter, Eddie tracked him down to Midtown High and the two battled. Eddie stepped on a loose power cable, seemingly vaporizing him instantly.[7]

Eddie survived his apparent electrocution and went into hiding for several months, surviving being consumed by the suit by feeding on innocent bystanders and hoping for someone to put him out of his misery. Eddie came across Spider-Man fighting R.H.I.N.O. and was surprised to feel something other than ravenous hunger from the symbiote: desire. That evening he was attacked by Silver Sable and her Wild Pack, but managed to escape by turning into Venom. A month later, he attacked Spider-Man at a museum and was beaten into submission by Silver Sable and her Wild Pack, placed into confinement by Bolivar Trask and Adrian Toomes.[8] Trask offered to remove the symbiote from Eddie, but only succeeding in angering him by claiming it belonged to his company. Toomes threatened to let the suit consume Eddie, causing him to turn into Venom and attack, but he was repelled by an electrical barrier. Brock accepted the deal and (as Venom) was contained in a research chamber, being studied by Trask and his scientists. A Latverian super-soldier called the Beetle suddenly broke into Trask's facility, freed Venom, and requested a sample of the symbiote. However, Venom attacked the Beetle, who cut off the symbiote's tongue before fleeing. Venom rampaged and devoured the scientists before chasing down the Beetle and cornering him in Times Square. When Spider-Man intervened and attacked Venom, the suit abruptly left Eddie and bonded with Peter, taking over him.[9] Eddie pleaded for the suit to take him back, but Peter - transformed into Venom - was unable to control his actions. Venom ignored Eddie, attacking the Beetle and flinging him away before the Wild Pack arrived and attacked him, retreating when the Ultimates arrived. When Iron Man's repulsors and Wasp's laser proved incapable of damaging the symbiote, Captain America attacked Venom but was quickly subdued. Just before Venom was about to devour him, Thor intervened with a bolt of lightning and Peter was freed from the suit, which was taken by S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives for study and potential weaponization.[10]

War of the Symbiotes[]

Gwendolyne Stacy (Earth-1610) vs. Edward Brock Jr

Venom Vs. Carnage.

Having become addicted to the symbiote's power, Eddie reappeared at Peter's high school and demanded that he get his suit back, threatening to reveal to the world that Peter was Spider-Man if he refused. Later, he showed up at the Parker household looking for Peter, where he was confronted by May Parker. Eddie lied to May that he was a friend of Peter, but after May asks a few questions to Eddie she held him at gun-point, having seen through his ruse. Eddie quickly overpowered May and took her gun, threatening her, but Spider-Man quickly subdued him and angrily brought him to a desolate industrial part of New York City. Peter berated Eddie for wanting the Venom Suit back, and when Gwen Stacy, who had followed them, arrived he asked her to transform into Carnage and show Eddie the kind of monster he wanted to become. This backfired when Eddie reached out to Carnage, the remnants of the Venom Suit within his body beginning to reform. Carnage fired a stream of biomass at Eddie, who assimilated it to fully regenerate his suit and became Venom again. Realizing what was happening, Spider-Man tried to separate the two, but was knocked aside by Venom, enraging Carnage.[11]

Ultimate Spider-Man Vol 1 128 Textless

Venom's second form after assimilating Carnage.

After a fierce battle, Carnage was absorbed by Venom, which not only freed Gwen but also transformed Eddie into an enormous monster with glowing red eyes. Venom told Spider-Man that he did not want to fight, as he had gotten what he came for, and quickly escaped into the sewers as Iron Man and S.H.I.E.L.D. agents arrived on the scene. Eddie later appeared in Central Park regaling his life-story to a passerby. When the passerby asked Brock if he fought Spider-Man and was Venom, Brock changed into the symbiote to devour the man. However, the passerby revealed himself to be the Beetle, and Venom was easily captured and taken to Latveria.[11]

New Host, New Venom[]

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man Vol 1 20 Textless

Bonded with Conrad Marcus.

When Betty Brant tried to uncover the true identity of the new Spider-Man - the successor of the deceased Peter Parker - and found the corpse of a genetically altered spider, Dr. Conrad Marcus - a former Oscorp scientist who had helped create the spider - stole one of Roxxon's samples of the symbiote and used it to transform into a new Venom.[12] As Venom, Marcus broke into Brant's apartment and killed her;[13] and then attacked Jefferson Davis, believing him to be the new Spider-Man based on Brant's research. The new Spider-Man, who was actually Jefferson's son Miles Morales, appeared and attacked Venom; and the two fought until the police arrived, mirroring Peter's first fight with Venom. Venom managed to get away by slipping into the sewers, leaving Miles with the police. Compelled by the symbiote's desire to either bond to or consume Spider-Man, Venom later reappeared at the hospital; having followed Jefferson Davis, who had been wounded during his battle with Spider-Man. Venom went into a frenzy, demanding he be given Spider-Man, and Miles appeared again to hold off the creature. As Venom consumed Miles, Rio Morales tried to shoot him with a pistol, to no effect. Venom turned his attention to Rio and mortally wounded her just as Miles used his Venom Blast to break out of the suit and separate it from its host. Marcus was shot by the police and died, but the fate of his sample of the symbiote was unclear.[14]

Project Oversight[]

Venom (Symbiote) (Earth-1610) from Venom Vol 4 20

Sample recovered

The Maker - the evil Reed Richards of Earth-1610 - managed to obtain a damaged sample of the Venom symbiote while trying to construct a portal from Earth-616. Intending to repair and stabilize it with samples of the symbiotes from Earth-616, the Maker built a machine to extract the codices - trace remnants of symbiote matter left in the bodies of hosts - from as many former hosts as possible, though this plan was foiled when Earth-616's Eddie Brock bonded to the amalgamated codices to fight his universe's Carnage.[5]

Reed Richards (Earth-1610) and Venom (Symbiote) (Earth-1610) from Venom Vol 4 26 001

Bonded with The Maker

Nevertheless, the Maker was able to not only find a means of stabilizing the Venom Suit but upgrading it, installing an artificial intelligence capable of responding to his commands. Shortly after bonding to it, the Maker was confronted by the Venom of Earth-616, who wanted his help to figure out what was wrong with his son Dylan. The Venomized Maker refused and used the upgraded Venom Suit to easily defeat the Earth-616 Venom, intent on returning to Earth-1610 before the arrival of Knull. When Virus attacked, the Maker begrudgingly engaged the interloper in a fight that destabilized the portal, pulling everyone present through. Thanks to the Venom Suit, the Maker was able to return to Earth-1610 unscathed and was delighted to find it a warzone ripe for the conquest.[15]

Personality

Edward Brock Jr

While not fully sentient, the Venom symbiote possesses a will of its own and was capable of acting independently of its host. Eddie Brock described being bonded to it as having two minds, one his own and the other filled with nothing but ravenous hunger. However, the symbiote desired to be bonded to or consume Spider-Man - both Peter Parker and Miles Morales - and was willing to abandon its host to achieve this.

At one point, The Maker obtained a sample of the symbiote, upgraded it and installed an artificial intelligence, stripped it of its feral behavior and will, and it operates under the full control of the Maker. Although only this enhancement is in this piece of the symbiote.

Attributes

Powers

Stage 2 of the Venom Suit was designated to restore and rebuild damaged body tissues while enhancing its host's natural abilities, granting Venom tremendous regenerative abilities and augmenting his physical abilities.

  • Limited Shapeshifting: Venom is able to morph and fashion its body, having protruding claws, spikes, and pseudopod tentacles as a means of locomotion and attacking prey; as well as manifesting fanged jaws in order to devour its victims. The suit cannot create organic webbing, but instead uses extruded tentacles to 'web-swing' from building to building.
  • Superhuman Strength: Venom is much more physically powerful than Spider-Man, although he does not have the same amount of speed and agility, being capable of lifting at least 25 tons. Venom can also use his impressive physical strength to leap from building to building at an incredibly fast rate, jumping several hundred feet in a single bound.[8]
  • Spider-Sense Overload: Unlike the mainstream Venom symbiote, which does not activate Peter's spider-sense, the Ultimate Venom symbiote instead overloads it, to the point where Peter is in such physical and mental pain that he sometimes cannot move. This seems to have stopped once Venom absorbed the cells of the first sample from his blood, as both parts of the Suit had been trying to reunite.
  • Regenerative Healing Factor: Venom was shown to survive multiple gunshots, blasts generated by the Shocker, and being electrocuted upon stepping on the loss wire. It was able to heal injuries faster than a human as well as reforming parts of the hosts body.
  • Symbiote Assimilation: During its encounter with Carnage, Venom consumed its biomass in order to gain a new form.

Version of The Maker

After the Maker fixed and enhanced the symbiote, the symbiote possessed its own artificial intelligence and was also able to generate weapons, such as wrist-mounted auto-cannons.[15]

Abilities

Venom overloads Peter's spider-sense.

Weaknesses

Venom is not specifically vulnerable to sonics or fire, but given that Peter was able to dispose of the first Venom sample (and later Carnage, which was created using a sample of the Venom suit) in an industrial smokestack, some weakness to fire must be assumed. Brock seems to have had a much greater negative reaction to the suit than Peter did, probably due to the genetic similarity between Peter and his father, who was the suit's intended user. After Spider-Man fought with the Shocker again and gets hit with a sonic blast, he dismisses it as relaxing, indicating the suit has no weakness to sound. Judging by the things that can injure or kill Venom, such as electric-shocks from downed power lines, Venom is vulnerable to things that compromise the entire suit all at once, so that there is nothing left to regenerate from.

Also of note is that when Peter wore the Suit, it was a small sample stretched over his entire body, making it thinner, and thus more likely to vaporize in extreme electricity; however, Eddie took a whole jarful of the suit, making a mix that could quite possibly withstand the same amount of voltage Peter suffered.

The Venom Suit is constantly ravenous and consumes incompatible hosts from the inside out, forcing them to devour other living beings to satiate it to prevent Venom from eating its own host it's possessing.

Trivia

  • This form of Venom is also seen in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, as an alternate costume for Venom.
  • Both this Venom and his Earth-616 counterpart have consumed people on multiple occasions.
  • This version of Venom doesn't have the white spider symbol on its chest and back, despite being bonded to its Earth's Peter Parker in the past. This is likely due to Eddie and Conrad bonding to separate samples from the one that bonded to Peter, which was destroyed.
  • This version of Venom is designed and created as a monster as opposed to its 616 counterpart.
  • Currently there appear to be two samples of the symbiote that are still active, the one currently bonded to Eddie Brock after assimilating Little Ben and the other sample is in the position of The Maker who experimented with it and was altered. Its also possible Marcus's own sample is alive, giving its unknown status; numerous others may also exist considering SHIELD's attempt to weaponize the original sample.

See Also

Links and References

References

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