Updated November 5, 2019 6.7K votes 1.7K voters 130.8K views
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Vote up the most disturbing acts of symbiote brutality.
Venom has long been one of Spider-Man's greatest villains, but over time, the character has evolved into a beloved anti-hero within the Marvel Universe. This depiction is a far cry from the violent Venom comics of the 1990s, which featured a character bereft of mercy and brimming with rage. This list doesn't highlight the heroic things Venom has accomplished in recent years, but rather his worst actions - and he's got some doozies in his backstory.
If you're only familiar with the character, you might think of him as a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy or, at the very least, a hero matched up with Flash Thompson, Spider-Man's biggest fan.
Regardless of what Venom is up to in the comics these days, his history encompasses bloodshed, creepy sexual assaults, and many other storylines you wouldn't want to show your mother or kids. Looking back through more than 30 years of comics, these are some of the worst things Venom has done.
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845 VOTES
Venom Tried To Sexually Assault Eddie Brock's Girlfriend
Venom is known for his absolute insanity, but few readers knew to what extent until they read the three-part miniseries, Venom: The Madness (1993-1994). The story follows Eddie Brock as he attempts to come to terms with his symbiote while living with his girlfriend, Beck. Venom, the symbiote, begins the tale by insisting there is no true symbiosis; one element is always dominant, but the conflict between the two results in a third entity: insanity.
As Eddie's control over the symbiote slips, Venom starts to take over without his knowledge or consent. In one instance, the symbiote takes things a bit too far with Beck and attempts to assault her sexually. As Venom is about to attack Beck, the Juggernaut saves her by crashing in to take on the symbiote.
845 votes
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690 VOTES
Venom Animated A Corpse And Got It On... With Another Corpse
In What If? Spider-Man The Other, Venom abandons Scorpion, who he had paired with until the villain landed in prison. After leaving Scorpion in jail, Venom heads to the Brooklyn Bridge to find Peter Parker's body cocooned beneath. Instead of beginning a metamorphosis into an avatar for the Spider-Totem, Peter chooses death, and Venom takes advantage of this.
The symbiote begins a process of permanently bonding with Peter's corpse until, after several months, a new being emerges and heads to Mary Jane's apartment.
Mary Jane refuses to believe it is Peter and calls out Venom's name, but the animated corpse of Peter and the Venom symbiote have renamed themselves "Poison," planning to spawn a new symbiote for MJ so they can remain together forever.
When Mary Jane refuses, Poison leaves and heads for Forest Hills Cemetery to unearth the grave of Gwen Stacy, Peter's first true love. If Poison can't have MJ, he can reanimate the corpse of Gwen Stacy, which is what he does.
Anyone who bonds with the Venom symbiote will suddenly find human flesh on the menu. When Venom bonds with Mac Gargan, AKA the Scorpion, he succumbs to the symbiote's brutality. Back during Venom's introduction, the symbiote made several comments about eating human brains, but Brock was able to keep this disturbing trait at bay.
Gargan is not so fortunate, however, which is why his run as Venom is one of the grossest and most horrifying of them all. He continuously eats the brains (and bodies) of his victims, which is essentially cannibalism.
Venom seldom shies away from a fight, especially when the enemy is bigger than him. When it comes to the Ever-Lovin' Blue-Eyed Thing, Venom uses a tactic that few would employ against a giant rock monster: He kisses him. Well, sort of... When the two tussle in Venom #11, Venom shoots his tongue deep down the Thing's mouth in an attempt to choke him to death.
It would have worked if it weren't for the Human Torch who intervenes by burning off Venom's tongue. After the severed tongue falls from Venom's mouth, the Thing throws it up. Delightful.
The plot of What If? #114 uses the Secret Wars' 25th anniversary to explore a scenario in which the heroes had never escaped Battleworld. It turns out Venom took over Peter Parker's body during this time and fed off of him until he died. Nothing more than his skeleton remains, which becomes clear after a sonic weapon blasts Venom.
This story casually informs readers of what would happen to a person who fully embraces the symbiote. It isn't pretty.
Fans had more than a few problems with Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 3, and most of those issues involved Venom. Raimi was never a big fan of the character (which is evident in the movie). When he temporarily bonds with the symbiote, Peter starts to show some of his more uninhibited traits, which aren't pretty.
The weird and tortuous Shaft-like dance he does as he walks down the street doesn't work. The guy was dancing on the street, out of shops, and almost to the point of punching his girlfriend. It was one of the worst scenes in the movie and became a meme.
None of this would have happened had he simply fought Sandman and left Venom out of the story. Thus, the blame for this awful montage scene lands directly on Venom's shoulders... and Raimi's.
