Eddie Brock

Venom (Eddie Brock)
File:VenomSBHImage.jpg
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Amazing Spider-Man #252 (alien symbiote) Amazing Spider-Man #299 (partial appearance as Venom) Amazing Spider-Man #300 (full appearance as Venom)
Created by	David Michelinie Todd McFarlane
In-story information
Alter ego	Edward Allan Charles "Eddie" Brock
Team affiliations	Daily Bugle Daily Globe
Abilities	Alien symbiote grants the host all of Spider-Man's powers as well other superhuman abilities; Superhuman strength, durability, reflexes and agility Wall-Crawling Organic Webbing Shape-shifting Accelerated Healing Factor Immunity to Spider-Man's "spider-sense"

Venom (Edward "Eddie" Allan Charles Brock), is a fictional character, a Marvel Comics supervillain and anti-hero created by David Michelinie and Todd McFarlane.

Despite his late introduction into the comic universe (the character was not brought about until the late 1980s, while most of Spider-Man's most prominent enemies were introduced in the 1960s and had since stuck around), he is generally Spider-Man's most popular foe, if not his worst. For much of the 1990s he was Spider-Man's most visible adversary, with the possible exception of Carnage, whom Venom and Spider-Man actually teamed up to battle in the epic "Maximum Carnage" storyline. Venom has an enthusiastic stand-alone fan-base, and this enthusiasm towards the character was cited by the filmmakers of Spider-Man 3 as one of the main reasons why they decided to include him in the film.

He first made a partial appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #299 (April 1988), and he made his first full appearance in Amazing Spider-Man #300.

Venom is the result of symbiosis between the extraterrestrial "Venom" symbiote and Eddie Brock, a human host. Before this merger, Eddie was a journalist who held a personal grudge against Spider-Man. Eddie Brock, as Venom, is one of Spider-Man's deadliest foes and is one of the most well-known villains in both the Marvel universe and Spider-Man's rogue gallery. He appears as a major antagonist in the film Spider-Man 3 and is portrayed by Topher Grace.

Fictional character biography

Early life

Born in San Francisco, Edward Allan Charles Brock was raised in a Roman 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 encouragements, due to the fact that Eddie's birth had caused the death of his late wife. After reading a newspaper article on the Watergate Scandal in college, Brock quit athletics and switched his major to journalism.

Upon graduating, he moved to New York City 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. She was apparently attracted by his wit and gentility, traits he had always hidden from his father.

Sensing an opportunity, Brock decided to investigate a series of murders perpetrated by a serial killer nicknamed the Sin-Eater, and surprisingly came across someone actually confessing to the murders. Brock interviewed the man and 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 was nothing more than a compulsive confessor. Fired from his job in disgrace, Brock's father practically disowned him and refused to see his son again. With no decent publishers willing to hire him, Eddie was forced to work for sleazy tabloid magazines. Unable to accept responsibility for his own incompetence, Brock blamed Spider-Man for ruining his career and resumed his passion for athletics through weight training to reduce stress. Though his body grew to near-Olympic standards, his rage remained. Tiring of her husband's incessant brooding, Anne divorced him. With both his professional and personal life shattered, 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.

Bonding with the symbiote

File:Firstvenom.jpg

Venom's first full appearance from Amazing Spider-Man #299.
Art by Todd McFarlane.

The symbiote bonded with Brock, imparting him with the knowledge of Spider-Man's secret identity. Brock and the symbiote named themselves "Venom" and tormented Spider-Man and his family. The symbiote was later revealed to be attracted to Spider-Man, and it attempted to leave Brock and reunite with Spider-Man.

The bond between the symbiote and Brock was too strong, however, and the separation resulted in mental trauma to both. Brock was remanded to the Vault, a prison for superpowered criminals, until he escaped by faking his death. Venom's murder of Vault guard Hugh Taylor would later lead to Hugh's father General Orwell Taylor funding the Jury; a team of former guardsmen armed with sonic and fire weapons able to destroy Venom's symbiote.

Initially, it was suspected that the symbiote bonded with Brock over their mutual hatred of Spider-Man; however, Brock was later diagnosed with a form of cancer (pheochromocytoma) that increased his production of adrenaline, on which the symbiote feeds. This increased adrenaline production was the primary reason for their bonding.

The bonding also saved Brock from his cancer, while the cancer saved Brock from having his life force drained by the symbiote, as happened with Peter Parker (and killed Brock in a storyline set in an alternate universe).

Progeny

Main article: Carnage (comics)

Venom was subdued and incarcerated when the plague-spreading super-villain, Styx, rendered the symbiote unconscious.The symbiote found and bonded with Brock, aiding in his escape. During the escape, the symbiote leaves behind a piece of itself, which bonds to Brock's cell-mate Cletus Kasady, creating Carnage. Venom later abducted Spider-Man, and took him to a remote island. Spider-Man faked his death to convince Venom that his vendetta was over, and Venom resigned himself to life on the island.Venom's "retirement" ended when Spider-Man, unable to defeat Carnage, returned to enlist Venom's aid. In the 1993 Spider-Man crossover storyline "Maximum Carnage", Venom teamed up with Spider-Man and a number of other heroes to defeat Carnage when he and a team of powerful supervillains overtook New York City. Venom was the focus of the villains but managed to survive much torture and assassination attempts. His willingness to kill the villains caused a deep rift with many of his allies, who only wished to subdue them.

Having made peace with Spider-Man after he rescued Brock's ex-wife, Venom moves back to Brock's hometown of San Francisco, where he acted as the protector of an underground society descended from survivors of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Venom continued his mission of protecting innocent people, though there were mistakes along the way. For example, Eddie believed he was killing a corrupt businessman but instead accidentally slayed a cleaning lady who was enjoying a break in her boss' chair. Venom also worked to protect the underground society from exploitation on the part of business concerns who cared nothing about killing. Also, during this time, he had a brief relationship with a woman named Beck. This lady and several other members of the society under his protection were taken hostage by alien-afflicted mercenaries known as 'Stalkers'. Venom teamed up with the mystical anti-hero known as Vengeance in a rescue attempt. Most of the hostages escaped before Venom and his ally had to personally fight for the life of Beck and another woman who had feelings for Eddie Brock.

His career as a lethal protector was cut short when the Spider-Man clone known as Ben Reilly hunted him down and separated Brock from the symbiote after an intense battle.

Five other spawns of Venom were created by the Life Foundation, to act as "super-cops" for its planned fallout shelter society. Due to his past experiences with Carnage, Venom assumed the rest of his progeny (the Life Foundation symbiotes Scream, Lasher, Riot, Phage, and Agony) would turn out the same way, and thus should be destroyed. However, the Life Foundation symbiotes were afraid of becoming like Carnage, and instead wanted Venom's help controlling their symbiotes so they could use them for good. Even though the Life Foundation symbiotes rescued him from imprisonment, Brock refused to help them and Scream goes insane and kills them (Venom: Separation Anxiety #4). When Scream later reformed, she aided Venom several times. The remains of the other four symbiotes merge to form Hybrid, who considers Venom a threat.

Planet of the Symbiotes

For a while, Eddie began to have doubts as to the nobility of his cause and temporarily abandoned his alien other. The telepathically projected grief of the symbiote attracted a scouting party of other members of its own species which began possessing people and forcing them to steal the material needed to create a portal to their homeworld. When the portal opened, the symbiotes invaded New York, taking over the bodies of both civilians and superheroes alike. Eddie rejoined with the Venom symbiote to assist Spider-Man and Ben Reilly in fighting the other symbiotes. Venom convinced the heroes to distract the symbiotes while he concentrated on creating a "psychic scream" that would render the invaders unconscious. To Spider-Man and Ben's horror, however, the attack actually resulted in the death of every alien symbiote on the planet.

Venom on Trial

Brock was captured in his sewer hideout and put on trial, with Matt Murdock acting in his defense, and his symbiote held in check with a chemical inhibitor. Carnage was called as a witness, but he overcame his own inhibitor and attacked. Venom, Spider-Man, and Daredevil teamed up and subdued Carnage. However, before the trial could continue, Venom was unexpectedly taken into custody by a secret government organization who offered him amnesty if he joined them as an agent. Though Venom at first relished his new found immunities, he left after being abandoned during a dangerous mission. This would lead to Eddie Brock being given selective amnesia from a head wound and later being separated from the symbiote, which was presumed killed by the government Overreach Committee.

The symbiote had in fact survived and tracked down the amnesiac Brock, turning him into Venom again. Venom then infiltrated Ravencroft prison, slaughtered the guards and temporarily absorbed the Carnage symbiote. He joined the Sinister Six, but turned on the other members after they mocked him, crippling Sandman and Electro before making peace with Spider-Man.

Like all prior agreements with Spider-Man, this peace was short-lived, as Venom's hatred for Spider-Man was renewed when Anne Weying, driven over the edge by fear of her husband, committed suicide after seeing Spider-Man in his black suit. Venom lost his chance for revenge when the powerful human/alien hybrid known as Senator Ward forcefully removed the symbiote from Brock once more.

The Carnage symbiote gave birth to the Toxin symbiote. Carnage attempted to kill the newborn Toxin, but Venom opposed him until he realized that Toxin's policeman host would not ally with him. Venom called a truce with Carnage in order to destroy Toxin, who was aided by Spider-Man. Spider-Man and Toxin drove off Carnage and Venom.

Clone of the symbiote

An alien race, secretly operating within the United States government, cloned the Venom symbiote. Venom absorbed the clone, gaining its knowledge, and decided to carry out the aliens' orders. Before he did, however, Brock learned that he has cancer and would die if he did not permanently bond with the symbiote. The Symbiote rejected Brock, not desiring to be bonded with a diseased body. Ultimately, Spider-Man tricked the symbiote into permanently merging with Brock.

Separation

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. 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, and that he used his newfound powers to kill innocent people, 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. The symbiote then became attached to Mac Gargan, better known as the Scorpion at the time, and is currently still with him as he is now a member of the Thunderbolts. Eddie was last seen recovering in a hospital. When Peter Parker unmasked himself publicly as Spider-Man, Eddie was among the many who watched the revelation. Eddie will have a hand in determining Aunt Mays' fate who is in the same hospital as him after being shot by a sniper hired by Wilson Fisk. It is described as an action that will "damn him forever or redeem him".

Personality

A major theme of Eddie Brock's villainy (or anti-heroism) is protecting the innocent. It arose from his initial anger with Spider-Man, when he felt that Peter Parker's 'scoop' on the Sin-Eater story destroyed something innocent deep inside Eddie. His usage of lethal force in his battle against crime is often compared with The Punisher. Though both view murder as an acceptable method of crime fighting, there are several important differences between the two. Unlike the Punisher, who does what he perceives as his duty with emotional detachment, Venom makes little effort of hiding the obvious glee he experiences in terrifying and butchering those he considers guilty. Also unlike the Punisher, whose sole goal in life is to track down and destroy criminals, Venom does not actively seek them. He is much more concerned about protecting the victims of crime rather than focusing solely on eliminating the perpetrators.

Eddie isn't always consistent with his methods, though some times he recognizes the inconsistency. He deeply regretted having to kill one of the guards when he escaped the Vault the first time, even giving the dead man a parting platonic kiss. Eddie doesn't always recognize his methods are flawed. He once 'rescued' a little girl from a clown he thought was threatening her. Eddies' fearsome appearance, with his huge tongue and long teeth, terrified the girl, rendering her mute for some time afterwards.

He does get it right sometimes. He has repeatedly shown himself to perform feats of heroic nobility, ranging from saving people falling from buildings to throwing himself in front of bullets. This has been used against him, as some of his opponents know he will let them escape in order to rescue an innocent civilian.

In fact, Venom's methods and his willingness to kill can be interpreted as a more efficient means of crime-fighting than his contemporary, Spider-Man. During the Maximum Carnage storyline, there are several occasions where Spider-Man's moral inhibitions cause him to physically prevent Venom from finishing a defeated or disadvantaged Carnage, usually leading Carnage's escape or recovery. Venom's opinion, that Carnage only "feels alive when he's taking lives" has been proven correct by the number of times Kasady has escaped from custody and went on to murder more innocents. Spider-Man's inability to kill may in fact be partially responsible for the atrocities villains such as Carnage commit when Venom is willing to finish them for good.

Before his religious re-awakening, Brock showed himself to be prone to extremely violent mood swings whenever separated from his other, showing none of the joviality displayed when fighting as Venom. In fact, he'd even brood over his crimes, expressing a great deal of guilt until once again being rejoined and once again becoming the lethal protector.

Even after their divorce, Eddie was totally devoted to his wife Anne, the first person to have ever treated him with the affection he never received from his father. Though he did once find himself in the position to start a new relationship, he never followed through with it, stating that he was "too dangerous" to romantically commit himself. However, he did try several times to rekindle his relationship with Anne, until her death, which left him devastated.

Because the symbiote and Eddie Brock are two separate entities that have bonded together, Venom often refers to itself as "We" rather than "I." Venom is an amalgam of Brock and the symbiote, creating a new being while keeping the previous two beings intact. Though they agree on many things (initial hatred for Spider-Man, protection of the innocent, etc.), they are not as in sync as Cletus Kasady and the Carnage symbiote, who refers to itself by saying, "I am Carnage," rather than "We are Venom."

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). However, the symbiote does not appear to have inherited its former host's "Spider Sense".

File:Undueballistictrauma.gif

The symbiote makes Venom virtually bulletproof.

The symbiote is capable of enhancing the strength of its host to varying degrees. Due to Eddie Brock's muscular physique and 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. According to Spider-Man: The Ultimate Guide by Tom Defalco, Eddie had conditioned himself to lift up to 700 lbs before being bonded to the symbiote. Although the symbiote gives Eddie Brock enhanced agility, his speed and reflexes are not as great as Spider-Mans'. 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 the Juggernaut.

Venom's body is highly resistant to physical injury, capable of withstanding assault from high-caliber bullets as well as attacks from super powered individuals. The suit also protects Brock from any type of extremely high voltage shocks. 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.

File:MVenom.jpg

Mutated Venom.

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.

The symbiote is capable of mimicking the appearance of any form of clothing, camouflaging with its surroundings, and even mimicking other people, therefore he can even make himself invisible.

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 slightly 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, surprisingly, defeated Venom by forcing the symbiote to continually fire off its webbing, after correctly deducing that it uses its own substance to create it. In addition to using the suit as webbing, the symbiote has also been used in the form of tendrils and tentacles to attack.

The symbiote is weak against sonics and fire.

Though it hasn't been fully explained, Venom is immune to Ghost Rider's penance stare.

In some incarnations, the symbiote (and, by extension, Venom) requires a certain chemical 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.

Eddie Brock's tenacity and the symbiote's disposition to brutality are both a gift and a curse in combat. Venom's fighting style does not incorporate agility or subtlety as much as Spider-Man's, often relying on frontal assaults that usually leave him and his opponents injured. Despite this and a seeming disregard for his personal safety, Venom has proven himself to be a very deadly fighter. He has been seen defeating enemies stronger and faster than himself, such as Carnage during the Maximum Carnage storyline (a fight during which Spider-Man's presence could be construed as more of a nuisance than aid).

Other versions

See also: Venom (comics)

Ultimate Venom

File:Ultimate venom.jpg

Ultimate Venom in his original appearance; Eddie Brock having bonded with 'The Suit'. Art by Mark Bagley.

File:EddieBrockJr.jpg

Eddie Brock, Jr before becoming 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 (and even momentarily becomes Venom), Peter warns Eddie of its danger and takes the sample to an industrial smoke stack where he destroys it. Eddie, after having his romantic intentions rejected by 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 being electrocuted by some power cables in contact with water on the street. Venom is set to reappear in the third volume of the Ultimates.

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. On one rare occasion Spider-Man was able to defeat Venom using his speed, and a well-placed uppercut. He cannot create organic webbing, instead using extruded tentacles to swing from building to building. Nor does he have the cloaking ability.

He could also grab any human around him and consume their life force, then spitting out the drained body (this was how to restore health as Venom in Ultimate Spider-Man). He was not weakened by sound but electricity was strong against him and the suit drains Brock so much he must consume life force to stay in check. 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 "Amazing" Venom, not only activates Peter Parker's spider-sense, but overloads it to the point that Peter is in such pain that he's paralyzed.

It is revealed that the dormant suit particles in Peter's blood want to join with Venom which is what causes the pain, but stops and doesn't happen again after Venom absorbs the particles from Peter and gains control over the suit. Unlike the Venom from "The Amazing Spider-Man," Ultimate Venom is not specifically vulnerable to sonics or fire, nor is he particularly concerned about killing innocent bystanders. In fact, the suit appears to be weak against electricity (Peter jumped onto a powerline to stop it from eating him when he was wearing it and Venom disappeared for 3 months after stepping on a livewire. Electro also mentions this when testing the suit for Trask Industries.) and the only way to prevent the suit from consuming Eddie is to allow the suit to "feed" on the random humans around Venom (however when Spider-Man took the suit, even though it tried to take over his mind and body, it can be safely assumed that due to Peter's father's D.N.A. in the suit (that has his own) it may have been more stable and didn't need to feed on outside sources).

Eddie Brock Jr. is one of the most heavily modified characters in the Ultimate Marvel universe, bearing little similarities to his classic Marvel counterpart. Compared to the original character, Eddie Brock Jr. is a young, scientifically minded and thinly built man. He does, however, retain the original's vindictiveness and obsessiveness. His vengeful vendetta and his belief that Parker has betrayed him and that he must pay because he is evil. During the "Double Trouble" story arc, a reporter named Eddie Brock was seen at a press conference held by Justin Hammer. Though his face was never shown, he was asking questions for the Daily Globe. He does not appear to be connected in any way with the Eddie Brock who becomes Venom - this may simply be an example of a character being inserted into the Ultimate Marvel universe before his backstory was fully fleshed out. The Spider-Man 3 film version of Eddie Brock seems to be based on an amalgam of "Ultimate" Eddie and the "Amazing" Eddie. His build, name, and romantic interests are all shared with Ultimate Eddie, while his occupation as a rival photographer along with his history and jealous motivations are drawn from the "Amazing" version, as well as his hairstyle.

He will next appear in Ultimates 3 in a yet to be revealed role.

Marvel Zombies

See also: 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. Eddie loses his "edge" thereafter, and Zombie Spider-Man kills him. 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".

In other media

Spider-Man: The Animated Series

File:Smvenom-10.png

Venom in Spider-Man: The Animated Series

Like the comics' version of Venom, the version in this 1990s 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 a Moon-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. In "Carnage", when Carnage tries to take Ashley with him through a portal, Venom pushes Carnage, and he loses grip on Ashley. Both the rock and Venom are sucked in, his last words being that he had always loved her. Both Brock and Venom were voiced by Hank Azaria.

Film

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. A Daily Bugle photographer named "Eddie" was mentioned in the first Spider-Man film, likely an allusion to Brock. The character would later appear in film as a central villain in Spider-Man 3, after Avi Arad convinced director and story developer Sam Raimi to include him, despite Raimi's dislike towards the character. Fans have also expressed their desire for Venom's "son", Carnage, to be in a future film.

Spider-Man 3

Main article: Spider-Man 3

File:Venomoviepic7.png

Venom lunges at Spider-Man

The symbiote is first seen in the shape of a meteorite that falls from space. While Peter Parker and Mary Jane visit in a park, a chunk of a meteorite containing a piece of the black symbiote breaks off in the midset of the meteor shower and crashes to Earth. The symbiote crawls out and heads toward Peter and Mary Jane as they ride away on a moped, and manages to connect itself to the moped as the two head back into the city. It gets into Peter's room, and one night, while Peter is having nightmares regarding his uncle's death at the hands of Flint Marko, the symbiote bonds to him and immediately starts changing his personality. Peter brings a sample of the symbiote to Dr. Connors who says he isn't sure what it is, but mentions that it has the characteristics of a symbiote and that, if it is one, it needs to bond with a host to survive. He warns Peter not to let it get on him because such creatures can be hard to unbind.

Edward "Eddie" Brock, Jr., appears in the third installment of the Spider-Man film series, though the only acknowledgment of the name "Venom" is in the end credits. Brock is portrayed as arrogant, smooth talking and underhanded. Brock shows up to take photos of Spider-Man and claims to be the "new guy." He brings his photos to the Daily Bugle, and his are bought instead of Peter Parker's. Brock sucks up to J. Jonah Jameson, brags about his abilities and asks for a staff job, which Peter rebuts with his longstanding efforts. Jameson offers the job to whoever can bring in a photograph of Spider-Man committing a crime. Parker assures Brock that he'll never get such a photo, because he is Spider-Man and knows that he would never do such a thing.

Not long after the incident in J. Jonah Jameson's office, Eddie Brock finds the black-suited Spider-Man at the scene of Sandman's bank robbery and starts taking photographs of Spidey and commenting on how he likes the new black suit. However, the black suit that Parker is wearing is actually the alien symbiote, and the symbiote makes its "hosts" more aggressive; Peter gets annoyed at Brock and lashes out at him in retaliation to him taking pictures by scooping his camera out of his hands and smashing it against a wall. Brock, who has no idea about the black alien costume, takes personal offense at Spider-Man's animosity towards him, and decides to get revenge against Spider-Man by altering an old picture of Parker to look like the wall crawler is robbing a bank, which would kill two birds with one stone for Brock by sullying Spider-Man's reputation, and earning him the office job he desires.

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Topher Grace as Eddie Brock/Venom

When Brock, soon afterwards, brings in the altered photograph, Peter Parker comes in during a Daily Bugle party that is being held in Brock's honor. Parker sees the photograph, and it is clear that he knows both that the picture is fake and what picture was altered to create the picture (because, presumably, he took the picture, a while ago, that Brock changed). Peter, wearing the black suit, unmercifully says "you're trash, Brock," and proceeds to expose and humiliate Brock in front of everyone else in the office, which, unsurprisingly, leads to Brock getting fired.

Later, Parker, on a break with Mary Jane Watson, and still under the symbiote's influence, goes out on a date with Brock's former girlfriend, Gwen Stacy. Brock sees them together on their way to a jazz club. Brock is crushed and goes to a church to pray for God to smite Parker. After a brief scuffle, which ended in Peter smacking Mary Jane and causing her to fall and hit the ground, Peter realized that he is letting the symbiote take him over, and goes to the church tower to think. While thinking, Parker realizes that he must remove the suit, in order to try to rebuild his life. He jumps down to the church floor and proceeds to try to take off the suit. He ends up hitting the church bell that is inside the tower. The toll of the bells helps Parker reject the symbiote, and it falls from the tower onto Brock, who is investigating the screams he hears. The symbiote covers him completely and bonds with him, creating the monster Venom.

Brock, now Venom, seeks out Sandman, who he knows hates Spider-Man. Venom convinces Sandman to join him in a plan to kill Spider-Man. Watson unwittingly gets into a cab driven by Brock, and is captured. Venom suspends her in the cab high above the city to lure Spider-Man. He subdues Spider-Man with his webbing and Sandman pounds on his body until Harry arrives to help him. Harry first throws a pumpkin bomb at Sandman's head, which explodes and then slams Venom with his Sky Stick, freeing Peter from his trap. With the two working together, Peter manages to temporarily knock away Venom while both Harry and Parker are able to best the giant Sandman and save Mary Jane at the same time.

While Sandman is temporarily subdued, Venom traps Parker with his webbing, and knocks Harry off his glider. As Harry falls, he knocks over several metal pipes. Parker notices that the sound of them falling seems to injure the symbiote, and recalls the effect of the church bells. Venom attempts to impale Parker with the glider, but Harry jumps in front of it, meeting the same fate of his father. Parker is able to free himself and hits the pipes together to hurt Venom. He then embeds them in the floor, still vibrating, surrounding Venom. The symbiote is trapped in the makeshift cage, and Parker is able to pull Brock away from it with his webbing. The symbiote transforms into a hostless Venom-like creature until Spider-Man weakens it again. Parker throws one of Harry's pumpkin bombs into the cage. However, Brock, having grown too attached to its power, tried to rebond with the symbiote just as the explosion ensues. The explosion immolates both Brock and the symbiote.

Characteristics

Venom speaks in singular form about himself in the film using "I" as he did in his first comic book appearances. In contrast, in the newer comic books he refers to himself as "we". A message he writes in webbing says "stop us if you can", but "us" may refer to him and Sandman.

As Venom, he is considerably less anti-heroic than his comic book counterpart, veering instead into outright villainy. For example, he shows no remorse over innocent bystanders, or any desire to protect them (a characteristic of his comic counterpart). As stated by him in the film's climax, he enjoys being a strictly villainous character.

Unlike in the comics and other portrayals, in this film Venom has black webbing instead of white webbing. Also, unlike Spider-Man's symbiote costume in the film, Venom's costume does have the enlarged spider symbol on his chest and it isn't as white as in the comics, but is a matte gray.

Also, his tongue, though long and reptilian, does not hang and swing from his mouth with a heavy flow of saliva. His fangs are not always visible either, the "mask" covering them like lips when his mouth is closed. Brock does, however, retain the fangs even when the "mask" is not covering his face.

He speaks with a slightly deeper, hoarse version of Brock's voice (when the symbiote covers his face) in comparison to other depictions of him with a monstrous hissing snake-like voice, his voice become even deeper with the "mask" on & doesn't have the echoed "double" voice with the "mask" on, though he does give inhuman hissing roars. Topher's voice is the only voice heard when Venom speaks.

Video games

• The Amazing Spider-Man (Game Boy)
• The Amazing Spider-Man vs. The Kingpin (Sega Master System, Game Gear, Sega Genesis, Sega CD)
• Spider-Man: The Animated Series (Sega Genesis)
• Spider-Man (Super Nintendo)
• Spider-Man and Venom: Maximum Carnage (Sega Genesis, SNES)
• Spider-Man & Venom: Separation Anxiety (Sega Genesis, SNES, PC)
• Spider-Man: Lethal Foes (Super Nintendo)
• Spider-Man (PC, PlayStation, 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)
• 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 (PlayStation 2, Wii, Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC) as a boss.
• In the game, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, Spider-Man has the symbiote as an unlockable costume (PlayStation 2,3, and Portable, PC, Xbox, Xbox 360, Game Boy Advance and Wii) and Venom himself now is a playable character in the Xbox 360 expansion pack as well as the upcoming "Gold Edition" set for release May 2007.

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