Meet Dylan Brock, the Semi-Symbiote Son of Venom

The Marvel Universe can be a hard place to grow up—especially for kids like Dylan Brock, the son of Eddie Brock. Even though he didn't know his dad for the first half of his life, Dylan endured the horror and chaos of Eddie's adventures as Venom before he reached high school. 

Despite Eddie's best efforts to protect his son from symbiote threats like Carnage and Knull, Dylan eventually bonded with the Venom symbiote and followed in his father's web-slinging footsteps. Since embracing Venom, Dylan has gotten stuck in a tangled web of death and violence as his father tries to steer the symbiotes toward a more peaceful future. 

Now, let's take a closer look at Dylan Brock and how he survived several symbiote sagas to become Venom. We'll also break down how Dylan's first solo encounter with Carnage echoed throughout time and space in "Symbiosis Necrosis" starting with CARNAGE (2023) #5 by Torunn Grønbekk, Pere Pérez, Erick Arciniega, and VC's Joe Sabino.

WHO IS DYLAN BROCK?

Due to the unique circumstances of his birth, Dylan Brock has always had a close relationship with symbiotes, even though he was seemingly human when he debuted in VENOM (2018) #7 by Donny Cates and Iban Coello. When Anne Weying, Dylan's mom, was seriously injured, Eddie Brock made the symbiote bond with her to save her life in VENOM: SINNER TAKES ALL (1995) #2 by Larry Hama and Greg Luzniak. Although the symbiote returned to Eddie, a small piece of the symbiote called a codex remained in Anne and merged with Dylan in utero.

As a result, Dylan became a human-symbiote hybrid. As a kind of living codex, Dylan has numerous abilities, including the power to control symbiotes and kickstart a symbiote's evolution by cutting off its connection to the Symbiote Hive, which psychically links the aliens together. 

After his mother died, Dylan was primarily raised by Carl Brock, Eddie's cruel father. Unaware of his true parentage, Dylan met Eddie when he appeared on Carl's doorstep looking for help. Under the belief they were siblings, Dylan asked Eddie to use Venom to kill Carl for his abusive behavior. 

Around this time, Eddie learned the Venom symbiote had manipulated his memories and realized Dylan was his son. When Carl was about to attack Dylan, the guilt-ridden Venom symbiote left Eddie to save Dylan. Although Eddie continued to hide their true relationship, he and Dylan went on the run together.

ABSOLUTE CARNAGE

Just as Eddie and Dylan started to bond, they faced an attack by the bloodthirsty Carnage, who was trying to consume symbiote codexes in order to unleash the dark symbiote god Knull in ABSOLUTE CARNAGE (2019) #1 by Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman. For his protection, Dylan was hidden away with Normie Osborn, a former host of Carnage and the son of Harry Osborn. 

With help from the symbiote Sleeper, Dylan discovered his abilities as he faced the Hybrid symbiote and the Maker, the evil Reed Richards of the Ultimate Universe. Dylan fended off a Carnage-possessed Norman Osborn, only to be captured by Carnage, who had absorbed several symbiotes to become Dark Carnage. 

After bonding with several other codexes to become Venom again, Eddie killed Dark Carnage, telling him to stay away from his son in ABSOLUTE CARNAGE (2019) #5 by Cates, Stegman, and Mark Bagley. With a tearful exchange of apologies and tears, Dylan accepted Eddie as his father.    

When Eddie traveled to an isolated island to separate the Venom and Carnage symbiotes, Dylan used his emerging abilities to help his dad from afar in the "Venom Island" arc starting in VENOM (2018) #21 by Cates and Bagley. As the Carnage symbiote took over Eddie, Dylan used his control over symbiotes to turn Venom into a dinosaur and ultimately forced Carnage to leave Eddie's body.

KING IN BLACK

Before Knull reached Earth, Eddie and Dylan spent a year together in an alternate reality during "Venom Beyond," which started in VENOM (2018) #26 by Donny Cates and Iban Coello. While trying to study Dylan's powers, the Brocks were sucked into an alternate reality where Dylan had fallen under the sway of Knull and grown into the world-conquering Codex. With that world's version of Anne Weying, Dylan and Eddie defeated Codex and restored his humanity. The Brocks stayed in that relatively peaceful world for one year with Anne before returning to the Marvel Universe.  

After carving a path of destruction through space, Knull and his symbiote army invaded Earth in KING IN BLACK (2020) #1 by Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman. While numerous heroes were turned into Knull's servants, Dylan hid away in a safe house, and Eddie was seemingly killed when Knull threw him off the Empire State Building. 

With his powers and some help from Thor and Jean Grey, Dylan broke Knull's control over most of the "Knullified" heroes. After Eddie's codex journeyed through the symbiote Hive Mind, he was resurrected by the Enigma Force, which gave him the infinite power of Captain Universe. Once he defeated Knull's physical form, Eddie stopped the god from possessing Dylan by removing his son's powers and hiding them within the Venom symbiote.

BECOMING VENOM

As Eddie adjusted to his new life as the all-powerful, time-traveling King in Black, Dylan followed in his father's footsteps and bonded with the Venom symbiote. While trying to stop a mugging by Jack O'Lantern, Dylan was shot in the chest, so the Venom symbiote bonded with him to save his life in VENOM (2018) #35 by Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman. With Eddie's approval, Dylan and the symbiote began operating as the new Venom. 

Eddie started spending more time off-world as the King in Black, leaving Dylan and Venom alone on Earth, where they saw Eddie's human body destroyed in VENOM (2021) #1 by Al Ewing, Ram V, and Bryan Hitch. As Eddie grappled with a powerful future version of himself called Meridus, Dylan went on the run from the Life Foundation and its backer, a group called the Absent Throne, with the Venom and Sleeper symbiotes. 

While staying at a biker bar in California, Dylan encountered Bedlam, a vicious future version of his father that bonded to a savage symbiote. After an injury, Venom saved Dylan, who was forced to confront his true origins within the symbiote's mind. Dylan embraced his power and bonded with Venom again, leading him to manifest a Necrosword and briefly take on the form of Codex in VENOM (2021) #12 by V and Hitch.

VENOM VS. EDDIE BROCK

Despite the Brocks' dedication to each other, Dylan faced his father again in the form of Bedlam. After Eddie ended up in Limbo, Chasm—a vengeful clone of Peter Parker named Ben Reilly—erased his memories, which devolved Eddie into a savage Venom and then into Bedlam. 

Dylan gave Normie the Rascal symbiote to transform him into the Red Goblin, and the two young symbiote-wielding heroes teamed up with Ms. Marvel to face Bedlam in VENOM (2021) #15 by Ram V and Bryan Hitch. After Bedlam was teleported elsewhere, Dylan vowed to continue his mission to free symbiotes from the Hive and assemble a team that could save his dad.

Once Eddie saw his final form as a cosmic being known as the Eventuality, he returned to life as a human symbiote and absorbed Bedlam. Meanwhile, after a fight with the Gold Goblin (Norman Osborn), Dylan encountered Flexo the Rubber Man and freed the World War II-era symbiote from the Hive Mind. 

Dylan also teamed up with Toxin and its young host, Bren Waters, to investigate several attacks on employees of Alchemax, a company that conducted torturous experiments on symbiotes. With help from Black Widow and her Widow symbiote, Dylan and his symbiote allies took on Noname, a group using murderous methods to expose Alchemax's wrongdoings.

SYMBIOSIS NECROSIS

While the Brocks dealt with their respective issues, the Carnage symbiote resurfaced and bonded to a clone of serial killer Cletus Kasady. In his quest for godhood, Carnage sought out his old rivals, and he learned Eddie passed the Venom symbiote on to Dylan in CARNAGE (2023) #4 by Torunn Grønbekk and Pere Pérez. Carnage managed to track Eddie into the Garden of Time in the far future, where he emerged from the body of Meridus in VENOM (2021) #30 by Al Ewing, Cafu, and Rafael Pimentel.  

Back in the present day, Dylan faced Carnage alone for the first time as "Symbiosis Necrosis" kicked off in VENOM (2021) #31 by Grønbekk and Ken Lashley and CARNAGE (2023) #5 by Grønbekk and Pérez. By taunting Dylan, Carnage lured the young hero into a battle and forced him to confront the Venom symbiote's violent history. With Dylan reeling from those revelations, Carnage ripped the Venom symbiote off of him and killed him. 

Then, the Carnage symbiote left Cletus and used Dylan's body as a portal into Meridus in the far future. Although Dylan's physical body seems to have perished, his spirit traveled into the Eventuality. Now, Eddie Brock must face Carnage in his dangerous new form at the end of time, while Dylan depends on his father's final form for a new chance at life.

See Dylan tangle with Carnage in CARNAGE #5, now on sale!

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