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Eddie Brock has gone through same changes recently, one of which makes him similar to Green Lantern.
The Green Lantern most readers are familiar with was created in 1959, as a reboot of the dated golden age superhero of the same name. Debuting in DC Comics’ Showcase #22 (by John Broome and Gil Kane), he’s become one of the primary characters of the DC Universe, and has provided inspiration for plenty of other space-faring comic book characters ever since. Venom was created in Amazing Spider-Man #300 (by David Michelinie and Todd McFarlane) with the villain’s design being so iconic that he’s stuck around for the long haul. On the surface, these characters seem nothing alike. However, the status quo of Eddie Brock has shifted greatly in the past year, and he’s starting to resemble the DC classic character in a number of ways— with an upgraded power set that puts him leagues above Hal Jordan, Jon Stewart, or any power-ring wielder DC could ever conjure up.
For those not in the know, King in Black was the massive Venom crossover event masterfully planned out by Marvel rockstar-writer Donny Cates (with art by Ryan Stegman and JP Mayer) that wrapped up in April of this year, and it shook up the universe in a big way. Cates spent a great deal of his Venom run establishing the new character Knull, the cosmic god of the abyss, and King in Black finally saw his defeat by the forces of light. In the wake of this god’s death, Eddie Brock ascended to the throne, becoming the new god of all darkness, and in Venom legacy issue #200 (from Cates & Stegman), Eddie’s son Dylan becomes the new Venom.
The symbiote throne gives him direct control over not just one symbiote (also referred to by their species-name the Klyntar), but every single one in the universe. Operating as an intergalactic peacekeeping force, Eddie now works from hundreds of places at once. We get a small glimpse of how this works at the conclusion of the Cates run, but in issue #1 of the new Al Ewing run of Venom (with additional writing from Ram Venkatesan and pencils by Bryan Hitch), we get a much closer look at the new Klyntar brigade in action, and it looks awfully familiar.
Despite being united by a hivemind, the symbiotes fly as individuals in formation with each other, quite reminiscent of a squad of lanterns. Whenever they need to throw a punch or two, a Klyntar being needs only to think about Eddie Brock— and Brock’s consciousness will inhabit their body. This does take a heavy physical toll on his human body, however, aging him rapidly as he spreads more of his psyche across the cosmos. Symbiotes also have a nearly infinite amount of constructs at their disposal, much like a Green Lantern, although Klyntar constructs seem significantly gooier.
As near-omnipotent as a Lantern ring seems to be, they still rely on one fundamental energy source: light. While Knull was indeed annihilated by Marvel’s god of light, it didn’t eliminate darkness altogether. There will always be someone sitting on his throne, and there will always be infinitely more darkness than lightness. So between the Symbiotes’ shared consciousness and their much wider presence in the cosmos, it seems that Brock would clear house if there was ever some crossover between the Lanterns and the Klyntar.
However, Eddie’s new cosmic team is not even the most obvious Green Lantern parallel in the Marvel universe. The superhero Nova of the Nova Corps has existed in continuity since all the way back in 1976, and their resemblance to the GLC is no coincidence. Created by Marv Wolfman and John Buscema in The Man Called Nova #1, Richard Rider has an origin story that is nearly identical to Hal Jordan’s: he’s selected by a dying member of a ‘space police force’ to fill in his position. The Nova Corps would go on to become a mainstay of the Marvel Universe, and while never as popular as Green Lanterns, they’ve served the same practical niche in their respective continuity.
It seems highly unlikely that the Nova Corps’ function in the Marvel universe has just been replaced by symbiotes, especially with rumors of an MCU Nova movie in the works. However, if both of these space-faring organizations continue to patrol the same corners of the galaxy, one has to wonder if they’ll begin stepping on each other’s toes. The two units are ideologically quite different, while the Nova Corps is more democratic, Eddie’s one-man army has the potential to grow tyrannical if he allows his power to grow unchecked. Perhaps this could lead to long-term conflict in the cosmic corner of the Marvel universe, and it might be worth exploring in future stories for both Nova and Venom.
Venom’s ascension to godhood brings a unique twist to the decades-old ‘space peace corps’ trope kickstarted by silver-age Green Lantern, and everything seen so far from the brand-new Ewing/Venkatesan Venom run seems to take this concept in an existentially horrifying direction. It might not make the jump from comic pages to the big screen, especially if the MCU’s Nova adaptation has to compete with the upcoming HBO Green Lantern show, but this arc in the lethal protector’s legacy is already proving a powerful exploration of both the Marvel cosmos and the human psyche, one that will be very hard for future comic writers to forget.
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