Spoiler Alert: Be warned, there are SPOILERS for Venom: Let There Be Carnage sprinkled throughout this story. Stop now if you don’t want anything ruined.
Of all the great villains Spider-Man has fought over the years, few, if any, are as closely connected to the iconic Marvel superhero than Venom. Dating back to the introduction of the symbiote in Marvel Comics in the 1980s, the supervillain was created when the alien organism bonded with Peter Parker’s rival Eddie Brock. The character has quite a history with the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, one that has seen the two characters cross paths multiple occasions and even teaming up against common enemies on various occasions.
After the shocking turn of events that wrapped up Venom: Let There Be Carnage, it looks like we’ll be seeing Tom Hardy’s Venom and Tom Holland’s Spider-Man share the screen in some capacity in the not-so-distant future. That being said, right now seems like the ideal time to stop for a moment and take a look back at the shared comic book history between these characters over the years. But before we do that, let’s talk about that final scene in the sequel…
What Happened In The Venom: Let There Be Carnage End Credits Scene
After defeating Cletus Kasady (Woody Harrelson) in Venom: Let There Be Carnage and seemingly going on the run from the law like Batman in The Dark Knight, Eddie Brock and the Oscar Madison (Venom) to his Felix Ungar are seen in the end credits scene hiding out in a rundown hotel somewhere in Mexico. After a humorous, yet enlightening conversation that ends with the reveal that Venom has access to “eighty billion years of hive knowledge across universes,” the symbiote offers to show his host a taste of that power and knowledge. But before he can do so, there’s a flash of technicolor light and a lot of shaking before the two are transported to a much nicer hotel in a seemingly different universe.
At this point, we hear J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmons) giving the same speech from the Spider-Man: Far From Home end credits sequence where he revealed that Peter Parker is the Web-Slinger. We close out with Venom licking Parker’s face on the screen just before the hotel room's official occupant notice's Eddie's presence and the scene fades to black. Could the licking be a callback to the characters’ shared history?
Eddie Brock Was No Fan Of Peter Parker Even Before He Became Venom
We are still in the very early stages of Sony's Spider-Man Universe version of the whole Venom and Spider-Man dynamic, and the two haven’t even met yet. Nevertheless, the two have quite a long history in the comics, even before the symbiote took to Eddie Brock as a host.
Like Peter Parker, Eddie Brock was at one time a reporter for the Daily Bugle (a fact briefly mentioned in 2018’s Venom), but his time working for one of the most well-known newspapers in the Marvel Comics Universe came to a rather abrupt and messy end because of a mistake he looking into the Sin-Eater serial killer case. After Brock exposed the wrong man, Peter Parker published an article correcting the mistake, which led to the one-day supervillain being discredited and fired on the spot. That being said, it is easy to see why Brock would hold a grudge against his former colleague, a hatred that was only made stronger when Venom attached itself to the vengeful former reporter. But how did that happen? Funny you should ask.
The Venom Symbiote Attached Itself To Eddie Brock After Spider-Man Rejected Its Powers
Before attaching itself to Eddie Brock and becoming the hulking mass of a crazed villain, Venom first used Peter Parker as a host when Spider-Man mistook the alien organism for a device that was supposed to repair tattered costumes. And while the symbiote technically repaired Spider-Man’s costume, it did so by essentially taking over Parker’s suit and life by giving him all sorts of extra powers, but also some severe side effects. So much so that Peter eventually found a way to bring an end to the relationship.
The slighted symbiote found Eddie Brock, who was still fuming at the whole 'Peter Parker causing him to lose his job' situation, and the pair quickly formed a bond built on anger and hatred of their common enemy. Thanks to the symbiote having had formed a bond with Spider-Man, Venom had dark and distorted versions of the Web-Slinger’s powers, making Brock’s supervillain essentially a nightmare version of the friendly Marvel hero.
Venom And Spider-Man Once Made A Truce And Took On Carnage
Even though Venom is one of the Spider-Man’s most fearsome adversaries, the pair teamed up in the Marvel Comics Universe when they put aside their differences and turned their attention to psychotic serial killer-turned-bloodthirsty-symbiote Carnage. At this point, we should remember that Carnage spawned Venom, who spawned from Spider-Man, making the whole situation just as complicated as the family drama surrounding Patrick Mulligan/Toxin.
One of the most fleshed-out and well-known examples of Spider-Man and Venom letting bygones be bygones (at least temporarily) to fight Cletus Kasady is the 1993 14-issue crossover event known as Maximum Carnange, which saw the crazed villain break out of the secretive Ravencroft Institute For The Criminally Insane alongside Shriek and cause all sorts of problems for Peter Parker and Eddie Brock, as well as the all of New York City. A video game titled Spider-Man and Venom: Maximum Carnage was released on Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo the following year, but who knows if that storyline will make the jump to the big screen.
The Movie Versions Of Venom And Spider-Man Previously Crossed Paths In 2007’s Spider-Man 3
Prior to the Venom: Let There Be Carnage end credits scene, the only other time Spider-Man and Venom had appeared together in a live-action movie was 2007’s Spider-Man 3. The final chapter of director Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy was a bloated mess of a blockbuster with so many villains that it felt like no one really got time to show off (well, besides Tobey Maguire’s Emo Peter Parker). One of the characters to fall victim to the movie being overbooked was Eddie Brock (Topher Grace) and his descent into madness, leading him to the not-so-loving arms of Venom.
Similar to the comic book origin of Eddie Brock’s Venom, this version of the character is a rival of Peter Parker’s at the Daily Bugle who gets fired after faking photos of Spider-Man allegedly committing crimes. Also just like the comics, Brock bonds with the Venom symbiote after Parker removes from the alien organism from his body, creating the iconic supervillain, but with less-than-stellar results. Introduced late in the movie, Venom has one fight with Spider-Man before being outsmarted and defeated in the final showdown at a church.
Hopefully the eventual meeting of Tom Holland's Spider-Man and Tom Hardy's Venom is a little more like their comic book history and less similar to the dreaded portrayal of the characters and their relationship in Spider-Man 3. While we wait to find out more about the characters moving forward, now’s the perfect time to take a look at all the upcoming Marvel Movies coming out the next couple of years.
