Venom is a fictional character appearing in Marvel Comics, commonly in association with Spider-Man. Venom made his first appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #300 (May 1988). Venom was originally conceived as a supervillain, but has since become more of an antihero. Venom is a Symbiote, a sentient alien, with a gooey, almost liquid-like form. As with real-world symbiotes, it requires a host, usually human, to bond with for its survival. After bonding, the Symbiote endows its enhanced powers upon the host. When the Venom Symbiote bonds with a human, that new dual-life form refers to itself as "Venom".
The Venom Symbiote's first known host was Spider-Man, who eventually separated himself from the creature when he discovered its true nature. The Symbiote went on to merge with other hosts, most notably Eddie Brock, its second and most infamous host, with whom it first became Venom and one of Spider-Man's archenemies.
Flash Thompson has also been a host of the Symbiote. Flash is hired by the government to be a special agent wearing the Venom Symbiote. Flash is only allowed to wear the suit for up to 48 hours, or risk a permanent bonding with the Symbiote. The Government is also equipped with a "kill switch" designed to take Flash out if he loses control.
Film[]
Eddie Brock / Venom appears as the primary antagonist in the 2007's Spider-Man 3, played by Topher Grace. In the film, the Symbiote, after being rejected by Peter Parker, joins with Brock after he is exposed by Parker to have used a fake photograph, which ruins him publicly. Venom seeks an alliance with Sandman to kill Spider-Man, but is thwarted in his plans and killed by one of the New Goblin's pumpkin bombs.
The Venom Symbiote has a cameo appearance at the end of the 2014's The Amazing Spider-Man 2 in the Oscorp building. It's in the hallway of future villains, including Vulture's wings and the mechanical arms of Doctor Octopus.
In July 2007, Sony executive Avi Arad revealed a spin-off of Sam Raimi'sSpider-Man trilogy focused on the Venom Symbiote was in the planning stages. In March 2012, Josh Trank was in talks to direct a new Venom film as a part of The Amazing Spider-Man film series. In December 2013, Sony officially announced two spin-offs of The Amazing Spider-Man film series, involving a Venom film, now known as Venom: Carnage, and Sinister Six, respectively. In September 2014, Kurtzman stated that they had been considering different incarnations of the character, including Eddie Brock, Ann Weying and Flash Thompson. In March 2016, following the introduction of Spider-Man to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it was announced that Sony was moving forward with a standalone film. The film was initially reported to have no connection to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, nor have any relation to Spider-Man, and that it would be set in its own continuity. A year later, Sony announced that Venom would be released on October 5, 2018 with Scott Rosenberg and Jeff Pinkner signed on as screenwriters. It was reported to be Rated R and be the first in a series of Spider-Man character-related spin-off films. In May 2017, Tom Hardy was announced to be cast as Eddie Brock / Venom, with Ruben Fleischerattached to direct. Venom, along with another standalone film Silver & Black are to be in their own entities, yet take place in the "same reality" as the MCU. Cletus Kasady / Carnage will be the film's primary antagonist.
