When I first saw Spider-Man in his iconic black suit, I had no idea his new costume was an alien symbiote. Growing up accustomed to his traditional disguise, it made the Webslinger look cooler and, in the pages of his Marvel comic books, behave more aggressively.
The vibrations of a tower bell would later shake the symbiote from Spidey’s outfit, sending it off to bond with bully Eddie Brock. Their merger would form the terrorizing Venom, a monstrous antagonist that would become one of Spider-Man’s greatest foes and an all-time great villain.
Venom made his first appearance in 1988’s The Amazing Spider-Man #300. Created by Todd McFarlane, the character has become an icon in his own right.
IGN ranked Venom #22 on their 100 Greatest Comic Villains of All Time list. Empire Magazine positioned him 33 on their 50 Greatest Comic Book Characters.
In 1994 Venom leapt from comic book pages on to television screens, brought to life on FOX Television’s classic Spider-Man: The Animated Series (’94 – ’98).
He made his big screen debut in Sony Pictures’ 2007 Sam Raimi-directed Spider-Man 3 portrayed by actor Topher Grace. His second movie theater appearance came 11 years later in Sony’s 2018 film Venom starring Tom Hardy as both Eddie Brock and the symbiote monster. Hardy returned to the role for its October 2021 sequel Venom: Let There Be Carnage.
A continued thorn in Spider-Man’s sticky side, he and fellow webslinger Miles Morales will attempt to thwart Venom’s reign of terror together in Playstation 5 video game Spider-Man 2. The trailer for the game is a reminder of how imposing and intimidating Venom can be.
From comic books to small and large screens, to whatever gaming consoles are on the market in the future, I expect Venom to hunt and hurt our Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man forever and look cool doing it. |THIS.
[By Mr. Joe Walker]
