Meet the Symbiotes of 'Venom War'

Eddie Brock and his son, Dylan, both played a big role in defeating the evil symbiote god Knull, but the Brocks have not seen eye to eye lately. While Dylan bonded with the Venom symbiote on Earth, Eddie embraced his new role as the King in Black, the time-traveling leader of the symbiotes. Throughout their respective adventures, Eddie and Dylan saw horrifying visions of the future that contradicted each other.  

In these visions, Dylan saw Eddie merge with Venom and evolve into a Knull-like tyrant, while Eddie saw Dylan and Venom's bond leading to a world encased by the symbiote. Now, in VENOM WAR, Eddie and Dylan have gone to war against each other to stop those dark visions from coming true. Let's break down the major players in VENOM WAR and whose side they fall on as the conflict kicks off in VENOM WAR (2024) #1 by Al Ewing, Iban Coello, Frank D'Armata, and VC's Ariana Maher.  

EDDIE BROCK

Eddie Brock has been through a lot since he first bonded to the Venom symbiote in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (1963) #299 by David Micheline and Todd McFarlane. When he killed Knull, Eddie replaced him as the King in Black, which gave him the ability to travel through time and space and control symbiotes.

Near the end of time, Eddie encountered Meridius, a malicious future version of himself, and several of his other symbiote personas from across time. When Carnage taunted Eddie with a vision of Earth becoming the symbiote-encased Venomworld, Eddie vowed to stop that future by finding Dylan and separating him from the Venom symbiote.

Eddie traveled to the modern day with his likeminded symbiote personas: the violent Bedlam, the submissive Tyro, and the cynical Wilde. As they crashed into a superhuman wrestling event, Eddie's team openly challenged Dylan on a live broadcast.

DYLAN BROCK

While Eddie dealt with the machinations of Meridius, Dylan Brock and the Venom symbiote stayed on Earth and faced the Absent Throne, an influential organization commanded by Meridius. After assembling a small team to try to help Eddie, Dylan encountered Carnage, who showed him how the Venom symbiote had harmed its previous hosts.

In VENOM (2021) #31 by Torunn Grønbekk and Ken Lashley, Carnage killed Eddie. As he died, Dylan's spirit encountered the Eventuality, a powerful version of his father from the end of the universe, and he received a vision of Eddie becoming a Knull-like King in Black if he bonded to Venom again.

Upon being revived in the present day, Dylan found that the Venom symbiote had fled in shame. Dylan vowed to stop the future he saw by keeping his father and Venom separated, and he confronted Eddie for effectively abandoning him. 

SPIDER-MAN AND VENOM

Ashamed by how much suffering it had caused, the Venom symbiote dragged itself to Peter Parker's closet in VENOM (2021) #35 by Al Ewing and CAFU. Since Spider-Man was the only host who was never truly corrupted by its power, the symbiote deeply respected him for his compassion and commitment to saving lives.

When Peter discovered the symbiote, Venom explained how it failed its other hosts. With a lesson about power and responsibility, Peter told the symbiote it had agency and that it possessed the capacity to do good. While keeping their minds separate, Spider-Man and Venom partially bonded, and they swung in to stop the Brocks from fighting at the wrestling match.  

MERIDIUS

After thousands of years, a future Eddie Brock grew disconnected from his humanity and evolved into Meridius at the sight of the symbiote-covered Venomworld. Once Kang the Conqueror taught him how to influence the timeline, Meridius manipulated Eddie and Dylan in several ways to ensure his existence and the creation of Venomworld.

To avoid becoming the Eventuality, Meridius bonded with the zombified body of Lee Price, a former Venom host, to create zombiotes, a new breed of zombie symbiotes, in VENOM (2021) #34 by Al Ewing and Juan Ferreyra. Meridius also started developing anti-symbiote weapons, which he shared with the Alchemax corporation and the symbiote-obsessed Life Foundation, to stop Carnage from interfering with his plans.

OLD MAN VENOM

As Dylan Brock prepared to find and fight his father, he encountered Old Man Venom, an older version of himself from another future timeline in a FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2024 ULTIMATE UNIVERSE/SPIDER-MAN (2024) #1 story by Al Ewing and Iban Coello. Hardened by a lifetime in battle and carrying heavy symbiote artillery, this grizzled older Dylan Brock traveled to the past to prepare his younger self for VENOM WAR.

Old Man Venom told Dylan he needed to influence three key points to avoid his dark future, and he warned Dylan about another symbiote threat. Before he finished talking, though, he traveled further back in time to Spider-Man's early days in order to put his plans into motion.

CARNAGE

The Carnage symbiote and the serial killer Cletus Kasady formed a lethal union and played a crucial role in setting up Knull's attack across the universe in KING IN BLACK (2020). Now, Carnage aims to become a god.

The symbiote created a clone of its late host to accomplish that dark mission in CARNAGE (2023) #1 by Torunn Grønbekk and Pere Pérez. However, Carnage's plans have been altered by Alchemax's K-Program, which is dedicated to creating weapons that can kill symbiotes. As Meridius watches him from afar, Carnage seeks to find out how those weapons can help him on his bloody mission.

RED GOBLIN

As the grandson of Norman Osborn and the son of Harry Osborn and Liz Allan, Normie Osborn was never destined to live a normal life. When Norman briefly bonded to Carnage, he forced Normie to bond with a part of his symbiote, leading the boy to become the villainous Goblin Childe. Eventually, he separated from that symbiote and befriended Dylan Brock.

When Dylan gave him the symbiote Rascal in FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2022: SPIDER-MAN/VENOM (2022) #1 by Ram V, Al Ewing, and Stefano Raffael, Normie became the heroic Red Goblin. While Normie has struggled occasionally with his young symbiote, he stands as one of Dylan's closest friends and allies.

TOXIN

After briefly bonding to Eddie Brock, the Toxin symbiote—a child of the Carnage symbiote—found a friend and a new mission when it bonded to Bren Waters, a teen whose dad worked as an Alchemax security guard. Toxin teamed up with Dylan Brock while fighting a mysterious group called Noname, which aimed to expose Alchemax's wrongdoings by targeting its employee's families.

Toxin agreed to help Dylan find his father in VENOM (2021) #23 by Torunn Grønbekk, Ken Lashley, and Ramon Bachs. After finding Dylan an empty warehouse to crash in, Toxin told Dylan that Eddie was back on Earth.

BLACK WIDOW

After serving as an Avenger and an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., Black Widow stepped into the world of symbiotes when she bonded with a young symbiote called Silver in VENOM (2021) #23 by Torunn Grønbekk and Julius Ohta. While investigating the Noname group, Natasha Romanov joined with the symbiote and teamed up with Dylan Brock and Venom to take down the mysterious organization.

Black Widow put the symbiote through a rigorous training process. As a result, it can absorb memories and turn into a swarm of spiders. Now, Black Widow and Silver are working together to investigate the mysteries behind Alchemax's anti-symbiote weapons.

AGENT ANTI-VENOM

While Eugene "Flash" Thompson may have started as Peter Parker's high school bully, he proved himself to be a true hero when he merged with the Venom symbiote to become Agent Venom. Although he eventually separated from the Venom symbiote, Flash found new life with the Anti-Venom symbiote, which has some healing properties in addition to its regular symbiote powers.

As Agent Anti-Venom, Flash pursued Carnage after the symbiote revived Cletus Kasady. However, a particularly brutal battle with Carnage wounded Flash's symbiote in CARNAGE (2023) #8 by Torunn Grønbekk and Pere Pérez. Now, Agent Anti-Venom's hunt for Carnage has him looking into Alchemax's anti-symbiote weapons.

SLEEPER

More than any of the Venom symbiote's offspring, the Sleeper symbiote carries on its father's legacy as a lethal protector. Raised in captivity at Alchemax, Sleeper developed the ability to generate chemicals. Throughout Carnage and Knull's attacks in ABSOLUTE CARNAGE (2019) and KING IN BLACK (2020), it watched over Dylan Brock and tried to protect him.

Frequently taking the form of a cat, the Sleeper symbiote has been Dylan's most consistent companion throughout his tumultuous relationship with his father. Sleeper considers Dylan his brother and has regularly expressed concern over his well-being.

FLEXO THE RUBBER MAN

Although his true nature was not revealed for decades, Flexo the Rubber Man was one of the first symbiotes on Earth. Appearing to be a flexible robot under the control of two scientist brothers, Flexo operated as a World War II-era hero starting in MYSTIC COMICS (1940) #1 by Will Harr and Jack Binder.

After Eddie Brock and Doctor Doom began fighting through time, they tumbled into Flexo's path. Doom subsequently turned Flexo into his sleeper agent and told the symbiote to attack Eddie by targeting Dylan. Since reawakening in the modern day, Flexo has stood by Dylan's side, but his true loyalties remain unclear.

Dive into the battlefront and pick up VENOM WAR (2024) #1 today!

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