By [ad_1]
Two of Spider-Man’s most famous villains, Venom and Carnage, have had a long and complicated relationship over the decades, and this dynamic is further explored in 2021’s Venom: Let There Be Carnage. Actor Woody Harrelson was the perfect fit to take on the red-haired serial killer opposite star Tom Hardy.
With new attention being brought to these iconic characters, many new fans may want to learn some facts about the two. From unlikely bunkmates to super-powered rivals, there are many details about the symbiotic maniacs to keep in mind.
10 They Shared A Cell In Prison
After a few defeats at the hands of Spider-Man, Eddie Brock was finally separated from the Venom symbiote and sent to jail. While there, he found himself sharing a cell with an insane serial killer by the name of Cletus Kasady. The two didn’t exactly hit it off, but things were about to get a whole lot more intense.
The symbiote found its way back to Brock and bonded to him once again in his cell before escaping, but not before the alien managed to asexually reproduce and leave its spawn behind. The new symbiote immediately discovered a host in Kasady, and a marriage made in hell was born.
9 Carnage’s Appearance Forced Bitter Enemies To Unite
When Kasady escaped prison, he went on a deadly rampage and earned his new moniker of Carnage. He encountered Spider-Man and easily bested the wall-crawler in their first meeting, which left the hero with a very difficult decision to make. He would have to ask Venom for help.
Surprisingly, Venom agreed to associate with his arch-enemy against the greater threat, as the lethal protector fancied himself as a hero and wanted to end Carnage’s spree. Even together, they struggled to defeat the new monster but would eventually prove victorious. Alas, this was only the first of many battles.
8 They Formed Their Own Teams To Take Down The Other
The 1993 comics event Maximum Carnage was a huge crossover lasting 14 issues, and began with Kasady escaping from the Vault, a prison for superhumans, along with various other criminals to form a new “family.” This group included his new girlfriend, Shriek, whose abilities allowed her to cause nearby people to go into a mob mentality and riot in NYC.
The only way to combat this new and expanding group of villains and monsters was for the good guys to create their own team, so Spider-Man and Venom worked with a number of other heroes to try and stop the madness. The alliance was rocky, to say the least, but ultimately it proved a success.
7 Carnage Isn’t The Only Venom’s Child
The series Venom: The Lethal Protector saw Eddie move to San Francisco and help a society of homeless people living underground. He soon encountered the Life Foundation who captured him and forcibly extracted the last 5 spawns still remaining within the symbiote.
This led to the creation of Riot, Lasher, Phage, Scream, and Agony, who were intended to work as superpowered police for the company. Spider-Man would arrive on the scene to help win the day and seemingly destroy the symbiote, but as usual with comics, they wouldn’t remain quiet for long.
6 Both Symbiotes Have Bonded With A Spider-Man
Before finding Brock, the Venom symbiote famously bonded to Peter Parker, aka the Amazing Spider-Man. At first, that union seemed to suit Peter well, he had increased strength and speed, unlimited webbing, and the suit could form and vanish at will. That all changed when he discovered the true nature of the suit, and the rest is history.
Sometime later, the Carnage symbiote got loose after leaving Kasady behind in prison. While on a rampage with a temporary host, the villain ran into Ben Reilly, the clone of Peter who was operating as Spider-Man at the time. He was deemed a far better host and the alien forcibly took control over Ben until he eventually overcame it.
5 Venom Once Consumed The Carnage Symbiote
During one of Kasady’s many stays in prison, he was confronted by a janitor cleaning the hallway outside his cell. The janitor turned out to be none other than Venom in disguise, and he was there for a surprising reason. He didn’t seek to kill or even injure Kasady but instead wanted to take back what he saw as his.
Venom grabbed the weakened Carnage symbiote from within the cell and consumed it whole, gulping it down and burping as Kasady looked on in horror. Later, Venom would battle Spider-Man and as he savagely beat the hero, the red symbiote was visible in a vein-like pattern across his body. Sometime later, Kasady just so happened to find an exact duplicate of Carnage in the Negative Zone.
4 Both Men Suffered From A Very Human Illness
A retcon would reveal that Brock was suffering from cancer before bonding with the symbiote and that the illness was part of the reason the alien was attracted to him. It fed off the adrenaline that his cancer produced as well as his hatred for Spider-Man.
Oddly, Kasady was also revealed to be suffering a similar fate, with advanced stomach cancer causing him intense pain when separated from Carnage. In a storyline where the psychotic alien bonded to the Silver Surfer for a time, the intergalactic hero chose to return the symbiote to Kasady to save his life before encasing them in an armored prison. These developments have rarely been referenced since.
3 They Teamed Up To Try & Kill Carnage’s Offspring
Life finds a way, even for alien symbiotes. Just as Venom had done so before him, Carnage would eventually have to reproduce and neither it nor Kasady was thrilled about it. Venom felt that the new spawn could be an ally in the fight against evil (and Spider-Man) but also knew of inherent risk with the child being the 1000th in that line.
Carnage wanted only to kill the child, but the spawn found its way to a police officer named Patrick Mulligan and became Toxin. Patrick tried his best to resist the alien’s dark urges and become a hero, meaning both Venom and Carnage saw him as an immediate threat, resulting in a very rare alliance between the two. Even combined, Toxin wiped the floor with them without breaking a sweat.
2 Their Romantic Interests Have Also Experienced The Symbiote Life
Brock’s ex-wife, Anne Weying, was shot by the Sin-Eater, which resulted in the symbiote bonding with her to save her life. This created the deadly She-Venom, and the pairing resulted in a few deaths until Brock was able to call the alien back to him. A second turn as She-Venom and a deteriorating mental state eventually led to Anne’s tragic death.
Briefly, Kasady’s on-again, off-again other half Shriek was exposed to a new symbiote, a second child of Carnage no less. The union was very short-lived, however, with the child rejecting the villain and instead bonding with a scientist named Tanis Nieves who became the hero Scorn.
1 Both Have Tried The Hero Life, But Under Very Different Circumstances
Eddie Brock genuinely sees himself as the hero of his own story, and that extends to helping innocent people whenever possible. Over time, this willingness to do the right thing, and his mellowing toward a certain web-slinger, have allowed Venom to be accepted as more of a legitimate ally over a dangerous monster.
Kasady and the Carnage symbiote on the other hand, not so much. The only time Carnage entertained any notion of doing the right thing was when he and various others were caught up in “AXIS,” an event that inverted the moral compasses of all involved. This turned Carnage into a genuine hero… briefly, and to be honest, he still wasn’t all that great at it. Needless to say, he returned to his murdering ways before long.
About The Author
[ad_2]
