First appearing in the pages of Amazing Spider-Man in the
late eighties, the character of Venom became a major villain in the Marvel
Universe. Since that first appearance, Venom has become a terrifying scourge,
often threatening the lives of Peter Parker and appearing in nearly every
medium the character of Spider-Man has appeared including film, television and
video games. But despite his villainous origins the character of Venom has
often been portrayed as a hero as well as a bad guy.
For those unfamiliar with the character, Venom is the result
of an alien symbiote bonding with a journalistic rival of Peter Parker’s, Eddie
Brock. The symbiote came to earth as a costume that Spider-Man acquired on an
alien planet. For years Peter wore the black costume until he realized it was
trying to take control of him. With help from The Fantastic Four, Peter is able
to deduce the symbiote has a weakness to fire and certain sound vibrations.
Using church bells, Peter was able to dislodge the symbiote from his body. Believing
it to be dead, Peter goes on with his life. Simultaneously, disgraced
photographer Eddie Brock, who was specifically embarrassed by a photo by Peter
Parker, is in the church contemplating suicide. Brock and the symbiote bond and
they both realize they have a hatred for Peter Parker. |
| Anti-Venom |
Despite his thirst for vengeance, Venom is not completely
evil. Several attempts have been made to give this character his own title and
in that title he is always striving to do the right thing. Venom’s only
qualifier to be a villain is his intense hatred of Spider-Man. A hatred that is
fueled far more by the alien symbiote than it is by Eddie Brock. Eddie Brock,
when removed of the symbiote’s influence actually considers Peter Parker to be a
friend and ally, long since forgiving him for attempting to ruin his
photography career. The two have teamed up many times to defeat their mutual
foes such as Carnage (a serial killer who bonds with one of the offspring of
Venom’s symbiote) and to defeat the Spider Queen (where Eddie Brock as new hero
Anti-Venom used his anti-symbiote to cure the spider infected citizens of
Manhattan which had since been dubbed Spider Island).
And even the symbiote cannot be blamed completely for the
actions of Venom as it usually only follows the inner whims of host. When Eddie
Brock was diagnosed with cancer he gave up the symbiote for auction in order to
pay for his treatment. The symbiote ended up in the hands of Mac Gargan, who
previously had been known as the villain The Scorpion. Mac Gargan used the
Venom symbiote to be an even worse super villain than he had been as The
Scorpion. He also portrayed a dark version of Spider-Man as a member of Norman
Osborn’s Dark Avengers. The two personalities blended into a perfect villain as
Mac would let the symbiote run wild as long as he could fuel his own hedonistic
desires.
The last proof that the Venom symbiote can be a force for
good is the current barer of the symbiote, Flash Thompson. Now Flash Thompson
had been for many years just an ancillary Spider-Man character. Starting out as
a bully who picked on the young and puny Peter Parker, Flash soon became
Spider-Man’s number one fan and a close friend of Peter’s (though he never
learned that his hero and his friend were one and the same). Using Spider-Man
as his inspiration, Flash joined the army, determined to be a hero as well.
Unfortunately Flash was injured in combat and lost both his legs. Although
crippled, Flash was still determined to give back to his country. And it was
then that Flash was approached by government agents to be the new host to the
Venom symbiote. After discovering a way to weaponize the symbiote and use it in
new and inventive ways, it was bonded to Flash Thompson and he became Agent
Venom. Not only is Venom now a hero but he was even accepted into the covert
ops group of the Avengers, vouched for by Captain America himself. |
| Venom T-Rex |
At the end of the day, Venom is more hero than villain. Yes
he is a hero with a dark side, but that doesn’t make him any different than
countless others. Currently, aside from his own title, Venom is featured in the
pages of Thunderbolts along such characters as The Punisher, Elektra and
Deadpool, all of whom have their dark pasts. But these characters have more
than atoned for their sins and fall on the side of the Angels. As explored in a
previous entries (see here and here) a dark past does not necessarily mean a
dark character. It is what a character does in the moment that decides their
status as hero or villain and Venom is continuously striving for redemption.
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