One of Spider-Man’s most well-loved villains has developed a hit franchise of his own, and with two movies under his belt, the direction of the series has been hotly anticipated among fans. TheVenomfilms have not been direct adaptations of Marvel comics lore, but they have taken inspiration, and should continue to do so with some choice selections.
2018’sVenomwas a bit of a mixed bag, but it clearly set the stage for an iconic villain to become a movie-level superhero. The sequel pitted him against a much nastier foe to grant the brain-eating symbiote even more weight as a protagonist. As the second film’s post-credits scene introduced Spider-Man’s connection to the story, the future of the franchise could take many interesting directions.
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Venom’s comic book origin comes from a very unexpected place, a synthesis of many partially formed concepts which created the character.A costume redesign ideapitched by a fan letter led to Spider-Man’s iconic black suit, introduced in 1984. An idea to give a superhero a living suit, thus rectifying the classic superhero joke that their costume is ruined each encounter and always fixed by the next issue, gave rise to the suit as an alien. Then the concept of a villain who could nullify Spidey’s most advantageous power, his Spider Sense, became a villain who had absorbed his genetic material through genetic bonding. These concepts merged with Eddie Brock, a disgraced tabloid journalist with a grudge against Spider-Man,to create Venomback in 1988. The symbiote that becomes Venom first bonds to Spider-Man, taking his powers and forming an emotional connection. Like the bond between Brock and the symbiote, Venom was a villain comprised of numerous ideas formed into one.
Venom has had over three decadesto evolve as a character, and in that time, has played a variety of interesting roles. He is a near-perfect Spider-Man villain, a dark mirror of the character with a complex hatred that drives him. His first story sees him fight Spider-Man, almost win, then after the tables are turned, he is incarcerated in the supervillain jail known as The Vault. This is the general tenor of the first wave of Venom stories, but things began to change before too long. Venom’s design, backstory, and actions made the character immensely popular from his earliest appearance. With that in mind, like many stories, the narrative shifts to give prominence to the audience’s favorite characters.
The first story to portray Venom as an anti-hero wasVenom: Lethal Protectorin 1993. This six-issue storyline is the first exploration into the background of Eddie Brock, fleshing out the character as the narrative focuses on him for the first time.Lethal Protectoris a story about Venom, having forged a shaky truce with Spider-Man, serving as the guardian of a society of homeless people who live beneath San Francisco. Venom is hunted down by a sinister organization, with aid from vengeful family members of the villain’s former victims, and used to createa host of other symbiotes. Venom must reluctantly team up with his former nemesis to defeat monsters created from his own body. The story leads intoSeparation Anxiety,wherein Spider-Man and Venom team up again to defeat Carnage. These stories frame Venom as a violent, but occasionally good-natured being, capable of as much kindness as cruelty. These storylines would be great inspiration for the films, everyone has seen Spider-Man fight Venom, but the unlikely pairing between the two is great fun. Venom is already a complex anti-hero in his film storyline, this new wrinkle would be a move forward, whilemaking him the bad guywould be a step back.
The Venom symbiote hasbonded with a ton of charactersthroughout the Marvel universe at various times. Eddie Brock is the original and most popular host, but at times, his connection to the symbiote takes on different dimensions. Eddie spends a great deal of his comic storyline dealing with Venom much like a drug addiction. It consumes him, their relationship is often much less healthy than it is on-screen. At one point, Eddie adapted specifically against Venom, becoming Anti-Venom. Anti-Venom is a more heroic figure than Venom, but its significance in the films could be very different. This could be the moment in the pair’s relationship when they separate, both thinking they’re happier apart, like the sad second act in a romantic comedy.
Another fantastic direction for theVenomfilm franchise to take could be tied in heavily with the second film’s end credit scene.That scene, among other things, reveals that Venom seems to have a preternatural connection to a hive mind which transmits information across realities. This detail suggests the existence of infinite alternate Venoms throughout alternate dimensions, who could be marshaled as an army if the situation called for it. 2017’sVenomversestoryline sees a hostile alien force bare down on earth, threatening the end of life as we know it. In response, Doctor Strange opens anEndgame-esque array of portals, summoning variants of Venom from universes in which the symbiote bonded with other Marvel fixtures. This could, at once, be Venom’s answer toLoki, in which his variants forman army to face a greater foe and the escalation of the narrative from street to worldwide level stakes.
