Eddie Brock
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==Biography== | ==Biography== | ||
===Origin=== | ===Origin=== | ||
− | '''Edward Charles Allan Brock''' | + | '''Edward Charles Allan Brock''' was born to Carl Brock and Jamie Brock, who died in childbirth - leading to his father blaming Eddie for his wife's death and becoming cold and abusive towards him. Constantly seeking his father's approval, Eddie excelled academically but his achievements were met with half-hearted encouragement. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #375) |
His mother died due to complications that led to Edward's birth. (Venom: Dark Origin v1 #1) As a child, his uncle was noted to had suffered from cancer and he saw him waste away before dying with this horrifying Eddie at the time. (Venom v4 #10) When he was young, he along with his friends snuck out where he took his car and had a lot of drinks. Eddie then attempted to get back home quickly before his father noticed and in his haste his car hit and killed the next door neighbours son who died from the injuries. Eddie was deeply affected by the death and intended to plead guilty but his father Carl Brock used his connections to prevent any conviction against his son. He beat his son to convince him to plead innocent where he used his money and connections to ensure Eddie was never convicted despite him feeling guilt for his actions. (Venom v4 #10) The death deeply affected Eddie with the resulting court case bankrupting the family who were left with nothing and Eddie’s father hating him. (Venom v4 #9) | His mother died due to complications that led to Edward's birth. (Venom: Dark Origin v1 #1) As a child, his uncle was noted to had suffered from cancer and he saw him waste away before dying with this horrifying Eddie at the time. (Venom v4 #10) When he was young, he along with his friends snuck out where he took his car and had a lot of drinks. Eddie then attempted to get back home quickly before his father noticed and in his haste his car hit and killed the next door neighbours son who died from the injuries. Eddie was deeply affected by the death and intended to plead guilty but his father Carl Brock used his connections to prevent any conviction against his son. He beat his son to convince him to plead innocent where he used his money and connections to ensure Eddie was never convicted despite him feeling guilt for his actions. (Venom v4 #10) The death deeply affected Eddie with the resulting court case bankrupting the family who were left with nothing and Eddie’s father hating him. (Venom v4 #9) | ||
− | After high school, he applied to the journalism program at [[Empire State University]]. | + | After high school, he applied to the journalism program at [[Empire State University]]. After gaining entrance to ESU's journalism program by fabricating an internship, and he romanced law student [[Anne Weying]]. Brock though had forged his references in order to enter the university where one of the students attempted to help him find his new residence only for the pair to be attacked by thugs with Eddie only saved by [[Spider-Man]]. (Venom: Dark Origin v1 #1) |
===Venom=== | ===Venom=== | ||
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===Toxin=== | ===Toxin=== | ||
+ | Despite having helped to save New York, Eddie was left homeless and poor. Not being bonded to a symbiote anymore, Eddie obtained an arsenal of anti-symbiote weapons and intended to hunt down Carnage, Venom, Toxin, and the other symbiotes to prevent an event called the Spawning; starting with Hybrid and Scream. (Venom v2 #16) Eddie believed that all Symbiotes were a plague on the world and looked to ending this scourge. Thus, he began hunting down Symbiotes along with their hosts with Hybrid being the first to fall to him. Afterwards, he lured Scream into a trap in the sewers where he killed her as well. (Venom v2 #15) Captured by the Crimemaster, he was forcibly bonded to the Toxin Symbiote against his will and was made a member of the [[Savage Six]]. (Venom v2 #17) | ||
− | + | After Flash left Philadelphia to join the Thunderbolts and Guardians of the Galaxy, Toxin filled the void and began taking down Philadelphia's drug gangs, coming to accept and enjoy his bond with the Toxin symbiote. He was hunted down and captured by the FBI, but rather than kill him the FBI offered Eddie an opportunity to become an agent of the new Anti-Symbiote Task Force. Eddie accepted, but his handler Claire Dixon saw him as nothing but a monster, had him constantly dosed with symbiote suppressant drugs, and to Eddie's frustration only unleashed the Toxin symbiote as an absolute last resort. Brock later was recruited to be part of the task force that hunted for Carnage and whose field team was headed by [[John Jameson (Marvel)|John Jameson]]. (Carnage v2 #1) | |
− | + | For months, he continued working for the FBI and was deployed to assist in the capture of the Venom Symbiote that had been taken over by a new host named [[Lee Price]]. Together with Spider-Man, they managed to capture the Symbiote that was taken into containment where it was to be sent off-world. However, Brock broke the Symbiote from containment with it bonding to him turning him into Venom once again. (Venom v3 #6) | |
− | + | However, Eddie was not completely at-ease with being bonded to the Venom symbiote again, as its renewed bloodlust and outbursts of rage interfered with his desire to go straight and not relapse into being the Lethal Protector, at one point hospitalizing a priest Eddie was visiting for guidance. (Venom v1 #150) | |
− | |||
Exposure to the serum severely weakened his bond to the Symbiote allowing Flash to separate Venom from Brock. Eddie attempted to try to get Venom back only for Spider-Man to web him to the ground and leave him there. Dr. Steve's later used a solvent to free Eddie from the webbing with Brock looking to re-bond with the Symbiote. However, he then felt that the Anti-Venom abilities of Flash had stripped Brock of his connection to the Symbiote. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #792) | Exposure to the serum severely weakened his bond to the Symbiote allowing Flash to separate Venom from Brock. Eddie attempted to try to get Venom back only for Spider-Man to web him to the ground and leave him there. Dr. Steve's later used a solvent to free Eddie from the webbing with Brock looking to re-bond with the Symbiote. However, he then felt that the Anti-Venom abilities of Flash had stripped Brock of his connection to the Symbiote. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #792) | ||
+ | |||
+ | Following Norman Osborn bonding to the Carnage symbiote and becoming the Red Goblin, Eddie was blackmailed by J. Jonah Jameson into protecting Mary Jane, resulting in her initially attacking him with an anti-symbiote defense system. Venom was able to thwart the Red Goblin's attempt on Mary Jane's life with Spider-Man's help, and Eddie agreed to help even the odds against Osborn by loaning the Venom symbiote to his long-time rival, telling Spider-Man to take care of it. Spider-Man later declared to Flash Thompson that he forgave Venom moments before he passed away, and the symbiote separated from him and made its way back to Eddie. After reuniting with the symbiote, Eddie attended Flash Thompson's funeral. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #800) | ||
+ | |||
+ | ===King in Black=== | ||
+ | Later on, Eddie lost his job at the Fact Sheet and became a freelance reporter. He additionally began suffering from recurring nightmares about an ancient draconic symbiote, accompanied by renewed outbursts of bloodlust from the Venom symbiote - at one point undergoing a dark transformation and declaring that its god was coming in an eldritch language after mutilating the new Jack O'Lantern. Venom was subdued by Rex Strickland, who recruited Eddie to rescue a team of symbiote-augmented supersoldiers created during the Vietnam War. When Venom liberated the Sym-Soldiers, he discovered they were being controlled by the same malevolent force affecting the Venom symbiote, and unwittingly unleashed the symbiote-dragon from his nightmares. (Venom v4 #1) After a short skirmish, Venom teamed up with Spider-Man (Miles Morales) to fight the symbiote dragon, subduing it with one of Miles' Venom Blasts. However, a humanoid entity manifested itself from the symbiote-dragon, introducing himself as Knull - an abyssal god who had created the symbiotes billions of years ago. (Venom v4 #3) | ||
The shock from Miles Morales allowed the Venom Symbiote to remain connected to Brock along with giving him new abilities such as the power of flight but it retained a dim connection with Knull. Together, they confronted Strickland when they came to realise that he was actually a fragment of Knull's primordial Grendel Symbiote. Rex revealed that his host had actually died long ago but he had taken his identity as he came to love the light and sought to stop Knull. He joined with Venom in order to provide the Symbiote greater power so that they could stop the god-host before he could be freed. (Venom v4 #5) | The shock from Miles Morales allowed the Venom Symbiote to remain connected to Brock along with giving him new abilities such as the power of flight but it retained a dim connection with Knull. Together, they confronted Strickland when they came to realise that he was actually a fragment of Knull's primordial Grendel Symbiote. Rex revealed that his host had actually died long ago but he had taken his identity as he came to love the light and sought to stop Knull. He joined with Venom in order to provide the Symbiote greater power so that they could stop the god-host before he could be freed. (Venom v4 #5) | ||
+ | |||
+ | Eddie's body was found by soldiers working for the Maker while obtaining a surviving sample of the Grendel symbiote. The Venom symbiote - reduced to a seemingly mindless feral state - took over Eddie and eluded capture for three weeks, eventually resurfacing on Carl Brock's doorstep. Carl allowed the Maker's soldiers to capture Eddie, and for the following two weeks, Eddie was repeatedly interrogated, suffering from partial amnesia due to the seemingly braindead symbiote instinctively erasing traumatic memories. (Venom v4 #7) | ||
Whilst keeping a low profile, he learnt that Kasady had framed him for the murder of Lee Price making Eddie a wanted man. In desperation, he decided to seek out Spider-Man's help and together they learnt that Carnage was looking to collect the codices from former hosts of Symbiotes. Thus, they decided to work together to stop him and went to find a means of extracting the codex from Norman Osborn. Whilst at Ravencroft, the facility came under attack rom Carnage who was infecting the prisoners and created an army of followers. (Absolute Carnage v1 #1) | Whilst keeping a low profile, he learnt that Kasady had framed him for the murder of Lee Price making Eddie a wanted man. In desperation, he decided to seek out Spider-Man's help and together they learnt that Carnage was looking to collect the codices from former hosts of Symbiotes. Thus, they decided to work together to stop him and went to find a means of extracting the codex from Norman Osborn. Whilst at Ravencroft, the facility came under attack rom Carnage who was infecting the prisoners and created an army of followers. (Absolute Carnage v1 #1) | ||
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With the power of the Enigma Force, Venom with the power of the god of light in the form of Captain Universe had the strength to challenge Knull. He came to gain the hammer [[Mjolnir (Marvel)|Mjolnir]] and the Silver Surfer's board that had been reshaped to be a sword. These allowed Brock to overpower the King in Black and destroyed his body that was plunged into the sun to destroy it. This resulted in Venom becoming the new King in Black and the core of the hive mind for the Symbiote race. Venom's power also allowed Brock to remove the Symbiote fragments within Dylan thus freeing him finally from Knull's influence. With that done, the Enigma Force left him and Brock began a new era as he was hailed a hero that saved the planet. (King in Black v1 #5) In gratitude, Tony Stark came to give him an apartment where Eddie relocated the Symbiote Spire allowing him to command the Symbiotes across the cosmos. As the new King in Black, he came to rule the Symbiotes which he used as a force for good in the universe. This included protecting peaceful races from conquerors, rebuilding worlds devastated by Knull and repairing damage to the fabric of the universe. However, he came to sense a coming threat that was posed by the Maker and warned various superheroes of the danger posed by that alternate version of Reed Richards who intended to invade this universe. (Venom v4 #35) | With the power of the Enigma Force, Venom with the power of the god of light in the form of Captain Universe had the strength to challenge Knull. He came to gain the hammer [[Mjolnir (Marvel)|Mjolnir]] and the Silver Surfer's board that had been reshaped to be a sword. These allowed Brock to overpower the King in Black and destroyed his body that was plunged into the sun to destroy it. This resulted in Venom becoming the new King in Black and the core of the hive mind for the Symbiote race. Venom's power also allowed Brock to remove the Symbiote fragments within Dylan thus freeing him finally from Knull's influence. With that done, the Enigma Force left him and Brock began a new era as he was hailed a hero that saved the planet. (King in Black v1 #5) In gratitude, Tony Stark came to give him an apartment where Eddie relocated the Symbiote Spire allowing him to command the Symbiotes across the cosmos. As the new King in Black, he came to rule the Symbiotes which he used as a force for good in the universe. This included protecting peaceful races from conquerors, rebuilding worlds devastated by Knull and repairing damage to the fabric of the universe. However, he came to sense a coming threat that was posed by the Maker and warned various superheroes of the danger posed by that alternate version of Reed Richards who intended to invade this universe. (Venom v4 #35) | ||
+ | ===Absent Throne=== | ||
For weeks afterwards, Eddie found himself connected to the hive-mind where he managed the Symbiotes across the cosmos. It was during this time, he began to receive cryptic messages from the future stating that his tenure as the King in Black wold be short and that his son along with the Venom Symbiote were in danger. By projecting his consciousness to the future, he came to see that Dylan was being targeted by an organization called the '''Absent Throne'''. However, before he could relay this information he was seemingly killed by a missile shot at him leaving nothing behind but his bones. Though killed, his codex allowed him to be pulled into the far future where he reformed a body for himself from the form of a Symbiote where he was greeted by an entity called '''Meridus'''. (Venom v5 #1) | For weeks afterwards, Eddie found himself connected to the hive-mind where he managed the Symbiotes across the cosmos. It was during this time, he began to receive cryptic messages from the future stating that his tenure as the King in Black wold be short and that his son along with the Venom Symbiote were in danger. By projecting his consciousness to the future, he came to see that Dylan was being targeted by an organization called the '''Absent Throne'''. However, before he could relay this information he was seemingly killed by a missile shot at him leaving nothing behind but his bones. Though killed, his codex allowed him to be pulled into the far future where he reformed a body for himself from the form of a Symbiote where he was greeted by an entity called '''Meridus'''. (Venom v5 #1) | ||
==Overview== | ==Overview== | ||
===Personality and attributes=== | ===Personality and attributes=== | ||
− | Upon bonding with the Symbiote, he came to take the name of '''Venom'''. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #300) After being cured of cancer, his body manifested a new Symbiote-like substance leading to Eddie becoming '''Anti-Venom'''. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #569) He was bonded forcibly with the Toxin Symbiote leading to him becoming the new '''Toxin'''. (Venom v2 #17) After defeating Knull, Brock and Venom came to be the new god of the Symbiote race where they inherited the title of the '''King in Black'''. (King in Black v1 #5) | + | His tenacity led to him being called '''the Comeback King'''. (Venom v4 #31) Upon bonding with the Symbiote, he came to take the name of '''Venom'''. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #300) After being cured of cancer, his body manifested a new Symbiote-like substance leading to Eddie becoming '''Anti-Venom'''. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #569) He was bonded forcibly with the Toxin Symbiote leading to him becoming the new '''Toxin'''. (Venom v2 #17) After defeating Knull, Brock and Venom came to be the new god of the Symbiote race where they inherited the title of the '''King in Black'''. (King in Black v1 #5) |
− | He identified as being a Catholic and saw suicide as being a mortal sin. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #300) | + | He identified as being a Catholic and saw suicide as being a mortal sin. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #300) His Catholic upbringing significantly influenced his actions, in particular as Anti-Venom, and for a time he came to see himself as having been chosen by God to cleanse Earth of the symbiotes. (Venom v2 #7) |
Eddie used to hold a deep hatred of Spider-Man and saw himself as the Wall-Crawler's victim with him being ruined by Peter Parker. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #300) | Eddie used to hold a deep hatred of Spider-Man and saw himself as the Wall-Crawler's victim with him being ruined by Peter Parker. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #300) | ||
Brock had said that people came to see him as a monster but he was determined to be better and become a good guy. (Amazing Spider-Man Presents: Anti-Venom - New Ways To Live v1 #1) | Brock had said that people came to see him as a monster but he was determined to be better and become a good guy. (Amazing Spider-Man Presents: Anti-Venom - New Ways To Live v1 #1) | ||
+ | |||
+ | For a time, Eddie believed that all Symbiotes were a plague on the world and looked to ending this scourge. (Venom v2 #15) | ||
He believed that his entire life was the result of his father who was a old man. Eddie blamed his father for not being able to hold a relationship, a job and resulted in him having a temper. His father told Edward that his residence was not his sons home as he believed his child had brought nothing but pain, misery and shame to the family. Despite hating his father, he still said he was his son and could not stand being denied being family after losing his mother, Mary and Anne. Cancer was said to run deep within his family as his uncle and sister both died from it. (Venom v4 #9) | He believed that his entire life was the result of his father who was a old man. Eddie blamed his father for not being able to hold a relationship, a job and resulted in him having a temper. His father told Edward that his residence was not his sons home as he believed his child had brought nothing but pain, misery and shame to the family. Despite hating his father, he still said he was his son and could not stand being denied being family after losing his mother, Mary and Anne. Cancer was said to run deep within his family as his uncle and sister both died from it. (Venom v4 #9) | ||
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By accident, he came to bond with the Venom Symbiote and served as its host. This led to him gaining all of Spider-Man's powers in addition to his own muscle strength. He could also generate organic webbing that was composed from the Symbiote's own substance. Over time, it was capable of regenerating and thus produce new webbing as a result. However, excessive using of webbing could drain the Symbiotes reserves and thus weaken Venom from the strain. In addition, he gained an immunity to Spider-Man's Spider-Sense which could not detect him. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #300) | By accident, he came to bond with the Venom Symbiote and served as its host. This led to him gaining all of Spider-Man's powers in addition to his own muscle strength. He could also generate organic webbing that was composed from the Symbiote's own substance. Over time, it was capable of regenerating and thus produce new webbing as a result. However, excessive using of webbing could drain the Symbiotes reserves and thus weaken Venom from the strain. In addition, he gained an immunity to Spider-Man's Spider-Sense which could not detect him. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #300) | ||
+ | |||
+ | The bond between the Symbiote and Brock was strong enough that using sonics against the Symbiote could also stun and kill Brock. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #300) | ||
A mutation of the Symbiote remnants in him caused Brock to manifest a new organism similar to a Symbiote. Anti-Venom had the ability of purging foreign matter in organic cells and literally burnt them out through contact. Thus, his touch was poisonous to Symbiotes who burnt upon being touched by him. He was also able to do this to other individuals such attempting to remove the radiation within Spider-Man that gave the hero his superpowers. In addition, Anti-Venom shared many of the similar traits of a Symbiote as it was able to shapeshift and manifest according to its hosts will. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #570) | A mutation of the Symbiote remnants in him caused Brock to manifest a new organism similar to a Symbiote. Anti-Venom had the ability of purging foreign matter in organic cells and literally burnt them out through contact. Thus, his touch was poisonous to Symbiotes who burnt upon being touched by him. He was also able to do this to other individuals such attempting to remove the radiation within Spider-Man that gave the hero his superpowers. In addition, Anti-Venom shared many of the similar traits of a Symbiote as it was able to shapeshift and manifest according to its hosts will. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #570) | ||
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*In Spider-Man Unlimited, Eddie Brock as Venom appeared as an antagonist in the 1999 animated television series where he was voiced by actor Brian Drummond. | *In Spider-Man Unlimited, Eddie Brock as Venom appeared as an antagonist in the 1999 animated television series where he was voiced by actor Brian Drummond. | ||
*In The Spectacular Spider-Man, Eddie Brock featured in the 2008 animated series where he was voiced by Benjamin Diskin. This version appeared as a young blonde hair teenager that was the best childhood friend of Peter Parker. He got a job as a research assistant to Dr. Curt Conners. | *In The Spectacular Spider-Man, Eddie Brock featured in the 2008 animated series where he was voiced by Benjamin Diskin. This version appeared as a young blonde hair teenager that was the best childhood friend of Peter Parker. He got a job as a research assistant to Dr. Curt Conners. | ||
− | *In Spider-Man, Eddie Brock appeared in the 2017 animated television series second season starting in the episode "How I Thwipped My Summer Vacation" where he was voiced by actor Sean Schemmel. | + | *In Spider-Man, Eddie Brock appeared in the 2017 animated television series second season starting in the episode "How I Thwipped My Summer Vacation" where he was voiced by actor Sean Schemmel. He worked under J. Jonah Jameson at the Daily Bugle and slowly grows envious of Peter Parker. In the episode "Dead Man's Party", Brock is assigned to take pictures of the V-252 symbiote before merging with it. His jealousy of Parker revises the organism's memories of its previous bond with Spider-Man. Dubbing himself Venom, Brock battles Spider-Man, only to be driven back by air horns. In the episode "Venom Returns", Brock takes Parker's friends and acquaintances hostage and exposes his secret identity, but Miles Morales dons a spare Spider-Man costume to refute the claim. Spider-Man defeats Venom using a sonic device to destabilize the symbiote, which also leaves Eddie in a coma. In the episode "Superior", the symbiote abandons the comatose Eddie after it mutates to the point where it no longer needs a host. |
===Films=== | ===Films=== |
Revision as of 09:07, 3 January 2023
Eddie Brock is a male comic character who features in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Origin
Edward Charles Allan Brock was born to Carl Brock and Jamie Brock, who died in childbirth - leading to his father blaming Eddie for his wife's death and becoming cold and abusive towards him. Constantly seeking his father's approval, Eddie excelled academically but his achievements were met with half-hearted encouragement. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #375)
His mother died due to complications that led to Edward's birth. (Venom: Dark Origin v1 #1) As a child, his uncle was noted to had suffered from cancer and he saw him waste away before dying with this horrifying Eddie at the time. (Venom v4 #10) When he was young, he along with his friends snuck out where he took his car and had a lot of drinks. Eddie then attempted to get back home quickly before his father noticed and in his haste his car hit and killed the next door neighbours son who died from the injuries. Eddie was deeply affected by the death and intended to plead guilty but his father Carl Brock used his connections to prevent any conviction against his son. He beat his son to convince him to plead innocent where he used his money and connections to ensure Eddie was never convicted despite him feeling guilt for his actions. (Venom v4 #10) The death deeply affected Eddie with the resulting court case bankrupting the family who were left with nothing and Eddie’s father hating him. (Venom v4 #9)
After high school, he applied to the journalism program at Empire State University. After gaining entrance to ESU's journalism program by fabricating an internship, and he romanced law student Anne Weying. Brock though had forged his references in order to enter the university where one of the students attempted to help him find his new residence only for the pair to be attacked by thugs with Eddie only saved by Spider-Man. (Venom: Dark Origin v1 #1)
Venom
Several months ago, he came to investigate the Sin-Eater murders where after looking through the articles he came to be contacted by Emil Gregg who claimed to be the serial killer. Contacting the man, Brock promised to protect his identity under the First Amendment in exchange for a front-page exclusive interview. However, pressure mounting from the police and his counsel forced him to reveal the Sin-Eater's identity in order to stop any further murders. The paper sold out but then immediately news came out that Spider-Man had captured the Sin-Eater whose true identity was actually policeman Stan Carter. The revelation resulted in Brock and the Daily Globe being made into laughing stocks who were ridiculed by their fellow journalists. Eddie was then relegated to writing about celebrity exposes and other drivel that he claimed to had rotted his soul where he blamed everything on Spider-Man who he saw as ruining his life. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #300)
Relocating to the Bronx, he spent his meagre money on body-building equipment after hearing that exercise reduced stress. However, noting sated his hatred for Spider-Man and contemplated suicide but as a Catholic he began seek forgiveness at the Our Lady of Saints Church. Unknown to him, a Symbiote that was formerly Spider-Man's Suit was lingering there where it ambushed and came to bond to Eddie Brock. The two shared a mutual hatred in Spider-Man with the Symbiote sharing everything it knew about the Wall-Crawler from its time when they were bonded together. As Venom, Brock thus gained both power and knowledge about Spider-Man that he could use o get his revenge. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #300)
He came to tire of sharing a prison cell with a serial killer like Kasady but then the Venom Symbiote broke into the prison. Bonding to him again, he broke free from his cell and escaped to become Venom once again. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #345)
Lethal Protector
Brock was placed at a transfer site pending transport to a federal prison where the guards kept him in a sonic cage. However, they came to torture his Symbiote whilst within containment but Venom managed to extrude a piece of itself that shut down the sonics. Killing the guard he tormented him, Eddie rendered the other one unconscious before he managed to break the site and escaped the scene. He then looked to resume his vendetta against Spider-Man after seeing an article in the newspaper about Peter Parker being reunited with his parents. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #373)
Relocating back to San Francisco, he began to operate as a crime fighter where he ruthlessly began killing criminals whilst protecting the innocent. (Venom: Lethal Protector v1 #1)
Cancer
Unknown to Eddie, the Symbiote began to modify his memories and biochemistry to make him believe he had cancer and that it was the only thing keeping him alive. Part of this included falsifying memories of him having a sister named Mary Brock and an uncle named Dan Brock who had died of cancer. (Venom v4 #11)
Ultimately, Brock decided to sell the Symbiote to Don Fortunato for hundred million dollars where he intended to bond Venom to his son Angelo Fortunato. Eddie agreed and planned to donate the money to charity as he spent his last days free from the Venom Symbiote. (Marvel Knights: Spider-Man v2 #7)
Anti-Venom
He then returned to the F.E.A.S.T. shelter to thank Martin Li for his help as Eddie was fully cured of the cancer. Whilst there, the site came under attack from the new Venom Mac Gargan who had accompanied the Thunderbolts in the city to hunt for Spider-Man. However, Gargan had become overwhelmed by the murderous instincts of the Symbiote that caused him to hunt down its former host namely Brock. Under the pretence of hunting Spider-Man, Venom targeted Eddie where parts of the Symbiote attempted to bond with him despite Eddie wanting to free from it. This combined with the unique cure to Brock caused a mutation leading to the formation of a white Symbiote-like substance that encased Eddie that burnt Venom on contact as Eddie became Anti-Venom. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #569) In this new form, he battled Gargan within the shelter but this only lead to even more damage with the fight interrupted by Spider-Man. Eventually, Spider-Man managed to convince Brock to work together to take down Venom whereupon Eddie used his Anti-Venom's abilities to purge the host of the Symbiote. However, Brock came to be obsessed with removing all traces of the Symbiote where he sensed some within Spider-Man and attempted to remove it leading to him turning against the Wall-Crawler. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #570)
In this time, he sought to stop the operations of the crime lord Mister Negative where he encountered his henchmen that were running from the Wraith. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #663)
He came to be recruited into Wonder Man's Revengers that looked to forcibly disband the Avengers who were seen as a menace to the world that did more harm than good. As such, he participated in the attack on Avengers Mansion and later on Avengers Tower. Brock alongside his team mates were defeated by the combined Avengers, New Avengers and Secret Avengers leading to arrest. Eddie stated that he found his Revenger team mates to have had crazy agendas but he did agree with the overall view that the Avengers were not a solution to problems in the world. (New Avengers Annual v2 #1)
Around this time, New York became afflicted with a disease that gave the people powers similar to Spider-Man. This caused havoc in the city with a quarantine being announced to contain its spread. Anti-Venom began targeting anyone with spider powers and used his abilities to cure them of it thus returning them to normal as he believed the disease was a curse rather than a gift. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #668) In time, the epidemic mutated into a third stage transforming people into spider-monsters with those in these stages looking to Anti-Venom to cure them. Agent Venom was deployed upon hearing of this to capture Anti-Venom and deliver him to Horizon Labs so that a cure could be made from him. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #670) The alien antibodies were harvested from the suit with every cell being used to develop a cure for the entirety of New York with the result being that Brock was to lose all his abilities. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #671)
Toxin
Despite having helped to save New York, Eddie was left homeless and poor. Not being bonded to a symbiote anymore, Eddie obtained an arsenal of anti-symbiote weapons and intended to hunt down Carnage, Venom, Toxin, and the other symbiotes to prevent an event called the Spawning; starting with Hybrid and Scream. (Venom v2 #16) Eddie believed that all Symbiotes were a plague on the world and looked to ending this scourge. Thus, he began hunting down Symbiotes along with their hosts with Hybrid being the first to fall to him. Afterwards, he lured Scream into a trap in the sewers where he killed her as well. (Venom v2 #15) Captured by the Crimemaster, he was forcibly bonded to the Toxin Symbiote against his will and was made a member of the Savage Six. (Venom v2 #17)
After Flash left Philadelphia to join the Thunderbolts and Guardians of the Galaxy, Toxin filled the void and began taking down Philadelphia's drug gangs, coming to accept and enjoy his bond with the Toxin symbiote. He was hunted down and captured by the FBI, but rather than kill him the FBI offered Eddie an opportunity to become an agent of the new Anti-Symbiote Task Force. Eddie accepted, but his handler Claire Dixon saw him as nothing but a monster, had him constantly dosed with symbiote suppressant drugs, and to Eddie's frustration only unleashed the Toxin symbiote as an absolute last resort. Brock later was recruited to be part of the task force that hunted for Carnage and whose field team was headed by John Jameson. (Carnage v2 #1)
For months, he continued working for the FBI and was deployed to assist in the capture of the Venom Symbiote that had been taken over by a new host named Lee Price. Together with Spider-Man, they managed to capture the Symbiote that was taken into containment where it was to be sent off-world. However, Brock broke the Symbiote from containment with it bonding to him turning him into Venom once again. (Venom v3 #6)
However, Eddie was not completely at-ease with being bonded to the Venom symbiote again, as its renewed bloodlust and outbursts of rage interfered with his desire to go straight and not relapse into being the Lethal Protector, at one point hospitalizing a priest Eddie was visiting for guidance. (Venom v1 #150)
Exposure to the serum severely weakened his bond to the Symbiote allowing Flash to separate Venom from Brock. Eddie attempted to try to get Venom back only for Spider-Man to web him to the ground and leave him there. Dr. Steve's later used a solvent to free Eddie from the webbing with Brock looking to re-bond with the Symbiote. However, he then felt that the Anti-Venom abilities of Flash had stripped Brock of his connection to the Symbiote. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #792)
Following Norman Osborn bonding to the Carnage symbiote and becoming the Red Goblin, Eddie was blackmailed by J. Jonah Jameson into protecting Mary Jane, resulting in her initially attacking him with an anti-symbiote defense system. Venom was able to thwart the Red Goblin's attempt on Mary Jane's life with Spider-Man's help, and Eddie agreed to help even the odds against Osborn by loaning the Venom symbiote to his long-time rival, telling Spider-Man to take care of it. Spider-Man later declared to Flash Thompson that he forgave Venom moments before he passed away, and the symbiote separated from him and made its way back to Eddie. After reuniting with the symbiote, Eddie attended Flash Thompson's funeral. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #800)
King in Black
Later on, Eddie lost his job at the Fact Sheet and became a freelance reporter. He additionally began suffering from recurring nightmares about an ancient draconic symbiote, accompanied by renewed outbursts of bloodlust from the Venom symbiote - at one point undergoing a dark transformation and declaring that its god was coming in an eldritch language after mutilating the new Jack O'Lantern. Venom was subdued by Rex Strickland, who recruited Eddie to rescue a team of symbiote-augmented supersoldiers created during the Vietnam War. When Venom liberated the Sym-Soldiers, he discovered they were being controlled by the same malevolent force affecting the Venom symbiote, and unwittingly unleashed the symbiote-dragon from his nightmares. (Venom v4 #1) After a short skirmish, Venom teamed up with Spider-Man (Miles Morales) to fight the symbiote dragon, subduing it with one of Miles' Venom Blasts. However, a humanoid entity manifested itself from the symbiote-dragon, introducing himself as Knull - an abyssal god who had created the symbiotes billions of years ago. (Venom v4 #3)
The shock from Miles Morales allowed the Venom Symbiote to remain connected to Brock along with giving him new abilities such as the power of flight but it retained a dim connection with Knull. Together, they confronted Strickland when they came to realise that he was actually a fragment of Knull's primordial Grendel Symbiote. Rex revealed that his host had actually died long ago but he had taken his identity as he came to love the light and sought to stop Knull. He joined with Venom in order to provide the Symbiote greater power so that they could stop the god-host before he could be freed. (Venom v4 #5)
Eddie's body was found by soldiers working for the Maker while obtaining a surviving sample of the Grendel symbiote. The Venom symbiote - reduced to a seemingly mindless feral state - took over Eddie and eluded capture for three weeks, eventually resurfacing on Carl Brock's doorstep. Carl allowed the Maker's soldiers to capture Eddie, and for the following two weeks, Eddie was repeatedly interrogated, suffering from partial amnesia due to the seemingly braindead symbiote instinctively erasing traumatic memories. (Venom v4 #7)
Whilst keeping a low profile, he learnt that Kasady had framed him for the murder of Lee Price making Eddie a wanted man. In desperation, he decided to seek out Spider-Man's help and together they learnt that Carnage was looking to collect the codices from former hosts of Symbiotes. Thus, they decided to work together to stop him and went to find a means of extracting the codex from Norman Osborn. Whilst at Ravencroft, the facility came under attack rom Carnage who was infecting the prisoners and created an army of followers. (Absolute Carnage v1 #1)
With the new power, he went into the sky to stop Carnage from going to the Planet of the Symbiotes to free Knull. It was then that Cletus decided to target Dylan in order to place Eddie in a no-win situation. He could either see his son be killed or Brock could kill Kasady thus absorbing his Symbiote which would complete the codices that would free the god of the Symbiotes. Ultimately, Eddie decided to save his son and killed Cletus whereupon he absorbed the Carnage Symbiote into his body. This act ended the threat of Carnage's army but only Brock was aware of the fact that deep in space that Knull was free. Instead, Eddie looked to try to manage events now that Dylan was aware that he was his father. (Absolute Carnage v1 #5) In the aftermath, Liz Allan allowed the Brock's to stay at her home whilst they found their feet. Eddie looked to get a new job where he was invited to Avengers Mountian and offered a place on the Avengers. However, his mind that formerly only contained the Venom Symbiote's voice was now beginning to be populated by the Carnage Symbiote. It was looking for him to lose control and kill people around him with this leading to Brock not accepting a place on the Avengers. He instead claimed that he and Dylan needed to adjust after the recent crisis. During the night, Brock was affected by dark dreams and scars on his back that said 'God was Coming' with him being worried about losing control of himself to the Carnage Symbiote that was part of his body now. This led to Eddie deciding to quarantine himself in order to protect others from himself. He asked Captain America for resources to be transported to Isla de Heusos (Island of Bones) where he would survive until he could have a better control over the Symbiote. During the flight, Carnage took control causing the plane to crash where it absorbed the Venom Symbiote leaving Eddie powerless as the two began to hunt one another. (Venom v4 #21) Without his Symbiote, Eddie was forced to go on the run as Carnage began subverting the local animals to hunt Brock down. However, Brock came upon a plan to go to an old radio tower with Carnage in pursuit with the tower drawing a lightning strike that separated the two Symbiotes. Brock though was badly wounded and lost consciousness with him waking up again as Captain America and the Avengers rescued him. The heroes then fired a warhead on the island to eliminate the Symbiote infestation despite Eddie's plea to save Venom. (Venom v4 #23)
With the power of the Enigma Force, Venom with the power of the god of light in the form of Captain Universe had the strength to challenge Knull. He came to gain the hammer Mjolnir and the Silver Surfer's board that had been reshaped to be a sword. These allowed Brock to overpower the King in Black and destroyed his body that was plunged into the sun to destroy it. This resulted in Venom becoming the new King in Black and the core of the hive mind for the Symbiote race. Venom's power also allowed Brock to remove the Symbiote fragments within Dylan thus freeing him finally from Knull's influence. With that done, the Enigma Force left him and Brock began a new era as he was hailed a hero that saved the planet. (King in Black v1 #5) In gratitude, Tony Stark came to give him an apartment where Eddie relocated the Symbiote Spire allowing him to command the Symbiotes across the cosmos. As the new King in Black, he came to rule the Symbiotes which he used as a force for good in the universe. This included protecting peaceful races from conquerors, rebuilding worlds devastated by Knull and repairing damage to the fabric of the universe. However, he came to sense a coming threat that was posed by the Maker and warned various superheroes of the danger posed by that alternate version of Reed Richards who intended to invade this universe. (Venom v4 #35)
Absent Throne
For weeks afterwards, Eddie found himself connected to the hive-mind where he managed the Symbiotes across the cosmos. It was during this time, he began to receive cryptic messages from the future stating that his tenure as the King in Black wold be short and that his son along with the Venom Symbiote were in danger. By projecting his consciousness to the future, he came to see that Dylan was being targeted by an organization called the Absent Throne. However, before he could relay this information he was seemingly killed by a missile shot at him leaving nothing behind but his bones. Though killed, his codex allowed him to be pulled into the far future where he reformed a body for himself from the form of a Symbiote where he was greeted by an entity called Meridus. (Venom v5 #1)
Overview
Personality and attributes
His tenacity led to him being called the Comeback King. (Venom v4 #31) Upon bonding with the Symbiote, he came to take the name of Venom. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #300) After being cured of cancer, his body manifested a new Symbiote-like substance leading to Eddie becoming Anti-Venom. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #569) He was bonded forcibly with the Toxin Symbiote leading to him becoming the new Toxin. (Venom v2 #17) After defeating Knull, Brock and Venom came to be the new god of the Symbiote race where they inherited the title of the King in Black. (King in Black v1 #5)
He identified as being a Catholic and saw suicide as being a mortal sin. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #300) His Catholic upbringing significantly influenced his actions, in particular as Anti-Venom, and for a time he came to see himself as having been chosen by God to cleanse Earth of the symbiotes. (Venom v2 #7)
Eddie used to hold a deep hatred of Spider-Man and saw himself as the Wall-Crawler's victim with him being ruined by Peter Parker. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #300)
Brock had said that people came to see him as a monster but he was determined to be better and become a good guy. (Amazing Spider-Man Presents: Anti-Venom - New Ways To Live v1 #1)
For a time, Eddie believed that all Symbiotes were a plague on the world and looked to ending this scourge. (Venom v2 #15)
He believed that his entire life was the result of his father who was a old man. Eddie blamed his father for not being able to hold a relationship, a job and resulted in him having a temper. His father told Edward that his residence was not his sons home as he believed his child had brought nothing but pain, misery and shame to the family. Despite hating his father, he still said he was his son and could not stand being denied being family after losing his mother, Mary and Anne. Cancer was said to run deep within his family as his uncle and sister both died from it. (Venom v4 #9)
Sometimes, he and the Venom Symbiote would get excited together. (Venom: The Madness v1 #1)
She eventually came to be a practicing lawyer under her own name. In that time, the pair came to be married where she took the name Anne Brock. However, the scandal that affected Eddie's career caused their marriage to fall apart leading to her taking a divorce and going by her family name one again. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #375)
During his reconnection with Anne Weying, she came to be pregnant with Eddie's son who she named Dylan Brock. However, she could not care for her son and instead left him with his paternal grandfather where she asked him to pretend that the boy was his own child rather than reveal the truth. Thus, Eddie was unaware that he had a son and his child was raised by his faher. (Venom v4 #12) As such, he came to mistakenly believe that he had a kid half-brother in Dylan Brock. (Venom v4 #10)
As Venom, he once came to be romantically involved with Beck Underwood who had a desire to save him. (Venom: The Madness v1 #1)
Eddie's drive to protect the innocent stemmed from his childhood where he accidentally killed a child in a car accident. He felt enormous guilt for his actions and intended to plead guilty but his father forced him to plea innocent. By adulthood, Eddie was determined to protect other people from individuals like himself who were guilty of crimes. (Venom v4 #10)
One account claimed that his greatest fear was being alone. (Venom v4 #23)
Powers and abilities
Originally, Eddie Brock was an ordinary human being with no special powers though by adulthood he came to be a good reporter. After his career was ruined, he used his money to purchase body building equipment where he developed strong muscles as a result. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #300)
By accident, he came to bond with the Venom Symbiote and served as its host. This led to him gaining all of Spider-Man's powers in addition to his own muscle strength. He could also generate organic webbing that was composed from the Symbiote's own substance. Over time, it was capable of regenerating and thus produce new webbing as a result. However, excessive using of webbing could drain the Symbiotes reserves and thus weaken Venom from the strain. In addition, he gained an immunity to Spider-Man's Spider-Sense which could not detect him. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #300)
The bond between the Symbiote and Brock was strong enough that using sonics against the Symbiote could also stun and kill Brock. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #300)
A mutation of the Symbiote remnants in him caused Brock to manifest a new organism similar to a Symbiote. Anti-Venom had the ability of purging foreign matter in organic cells and literally burnt them out through contact. Thus, his touch was poisonous to Symbiotes who burnt upon being touched by him. He was also able to do this to other individuals such attempting to remove the radiation within Spider-Man that gave the hero his superpowers. In addition, Anti-Venom shared many of the similar traits of a Symbiote as it was able to shapeshift and manifest according to its hosts will. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #570)
Through a connection to the god-host and primordial Symbiote, Venom gained a number of new strengths and allow it to accomplish much more by connecting to the hive mind. This provided new abilities such as the power to manifest wings to enable the host to fly or to alter chemicals in the body to calm the host. However, this restored the connection to Knull who was able to track the Symbiote and Eddie so long as they were connected to one another. (Venom v4 #5)
As the King in Black, Brock came to be the ruler of the entire Symbiote race all of who came to serve him. In this state, he gained many of the abilities that were held by Knull whereby he could remotely pilot a Symbiote over great distances. He could see through a billion eyes and touch the souls of trillions of Symbiotes with the one exception being Venom who he could not track or see through. Control over the hive though was not an easy feat for a human body as it caused Eddie to age greatly over a short period of time and placed an enormous strain on him. (Venom v4 #35)
At one point, Brock came to find peace on the Isla de Heusos (Island of Bones) after he believed he had killed Spider-Man. (Venom v4 #21)
Notes
- Eddie Brock was created by David Michelinie and Todd McFarlane where he made his first appearance in Web of Spider-Man v1 #18 (September, 1986).
- The character debuted as Venom in Amazing Spider-Man v1 #299 (April, 1988).
- He later appeared as Anti-Venom in Amazing Spider-Man v1 #569 (October, 2008).
- Brock then became the character Toxin in Venom v2 #17 (July, 2012).
Alternate Versions
In other media
Television
- In Spider-Man, Eddie Brock appeared in the 1994 animated television series where he was voiced by actor Hank Azaria. He was shown as being a photographer at the Daily Bugle and a rival to Peter Parker. He attempted to get pictures of the Lizard only to lose on the assignment and after a failed unveiling of Spider-Man he was fired from the Daily Bugle. During a job interview, Brock's prospective employers work place was attacked by a Spider-Slayer causing his boss to fire him with Brock blaming Spider-Man for his misfortune.
- In Spider-Man Unlimited, Eddie Brock as Venom appeared as an antagonist in the 1999 animated television series where he was voiced by actor Brian Drummond.
- In The Spectacular Spider-Man, Eddie Brock featured in the 2008 animated series where he was voiced by Benjamin Diskin. This version appeared as a young blonde hair teenager that was the best childhood friend of Peter Parker. He got a job as a research assistant to Dr. Curt Conners.
- In Spider-Man, Eddie Brock appeared in the 2017 animated television series second season starting in the episode "How I Thwipped My Summer Vacation" where he was voiced by actor Sean Schemmel. He worked under J. Jonah Jameson at the Daily Bugle and slowly grows envious of Peter Parker. In the episode "Dead Man's Party", Brock is assigned to take pictures of the V-252 symbiote before merging with it. His jealousy of Parker revises the organism's memories of its previous bond with Spider-Man. Dubbing himself Venom, Brock battles Spider-Man, only to be driven back by air horns. In the episode "Venom Returns", Brock takes Parker's friends and acquaintances hostage and exposes his secret identity, but Miles Morales dons a spare Spider-Man costume to refute the claim. Spider-Man defeats Venom using a sonic device to destabilize the symbiote, which also leaves Eddie in a coma. In the episode "Superior", the symbiote abandons the comatose Eddie after it mutates to the point where it no longer needs a host.
Films
- In Spider-Man 3, Eddie Brock appeared as an antagonist in the live-action film where he was portrayed by actor Topher Grace.
- In Venom, Eddie Brock featured in the live-action film where he was portrayed by actor Tom Hardy.
- In Spider-Man: No Way Home, Eddie Brock appeared in a cameo in the epilogue of the live-action film set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe where he was once more portrayed by actor Tom Hardy.
Video games
- In Spider-Man and Venom: Maximum Carnage, Venom appeared as a protagonist and playable character in the 1994 video game adaptation of the comic storyline.
- In Venom/Spider-Man: Separation Anxiety, Venom appeared as a protagonist and playable character in the 1995 video game adaptation of the comic storyline.
- In Spider-Man: Web of Shadows, Eddie Brock as Venom appeared as an antagonist in the 2008 video game where he was voiced by actor Keith Szarabajka.
- In Spider-Man: Edge of Time, Eddie Brock as Anti-Venom appeared in the 2011 video game where he was voiced by actor Steven Blum.
- In Marvel: Avengers Alliance, Eddie Brock as Anti-Venom appeared as a character in the Facebook video game.
- In Marvel Heroes, Eddie Brock appeared as Venom where he was a playable character in the MMORPG video game and had different skins that included him as Anti-Venom and as Toxin.
- In Marvel: Contest of Champions, Eddie Brock as Venom appeared as a playable character in the mobile video game video game.
- In Marvel: Future Fight, Eddie Brock as Venom appeared as a playable character in the setting of the mobile video game.
Novels
Appearances
- Web of Spider-Man v1: (1986)
- Amazing Spider-Man v1:
- Venom: Lethal Protector v1:
- Venom v1:
- Venom: The Madness v1:
- Marvel Knights: Spider-Man v2:
- Carnage v2:
- Venom v2:
- Amazing Spider-Man Presents: Anti-Venom - New Ways To Live v1:
- New Avengers Annual v2:
- Venom v3:
- Venom v4:
- Absolute Carnage v1:
- King in Black v1: (2021)
- Venom v5: (2021)
External Links
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