In Marvel Comics, Venom Was Never Supposed To Be A Villain

Venom is one of Marvel's most infamous villains, but if the extraterrestrial symbiote had been given the life it desired, it would never have turned evil!

Venom is one of Spider-most Man's powerful adversaries in comic history, and he has repeatedly threatened the Marvel Universe as a whole. So it may come as a surprise to hear that the symbiote is not intrinsically evil, and that if it had mated with better hosts, it would never have posed a threat to anyone.

Surprisingly, when the symbiote is allowed to return to its native state, it reveals itself to be beneficial – even noble! Despite various retcons and reimaginings of Venom's origins, it's widely assumed that the symbiote that would become known as Venom was created by a malevolent older deity named Knull. The symbiote's initial host was a dying newborn alien species that the symbiote saved by merging with it and turning it into a predator, according to Venom: Dark Origin #4.

The Venom Symbiote's First Host, Tel-Kar

The symbiote was then connected to Tel-Kar, a Kree soldier who utilized it as a spy, saboteur, and assassin after the symbiotes re-established themselves as the Klyntar. Even while Tel-Kar theorized that the alien wished to do good, the scared alien fled when Tel-Kar disconnected from the symbiote. Years later, in Venom: First Host, the symbiote proved Tel-Kar was true when he implored Eddie to help him during a battle between the Kree and a Skrull warrior.

Tel-Kar, on the other hand, revealed to be a cunning guy who stole the symbiote's progeny in order to force the symbiote to re-bond with him. Tel-Kar had been physically and mentally transformed to use the symbiote as a tool and even wipe its memories, effectively turning it into a slave, as readers discovered later. Tel-Kar wasn't nearly as evil as the next symbiote host, an alien who exploited the symbiote to commit genocide on his homeworld. The symbiote, which had merely sought to find a noble host to protect and aid, was converted into a violent being addicted to wrath in the process.

Before Spider-Man, the Venom Symbiote met Deadpool.

As if that wasn't awful enough, the symbiote was later imprisoned in the Beyonder's Battleworld, where it briefly mated with Deadpool before he removed it because he was afraid his insanity would impact it (it probably did, although the symbiote was already traumatized by its previous hosts). The symbiote was finally able to be with the heroic warrior and hero it had always desired to be with – Spider-Man. The symbiote, however, did not talk to Spider-Man and claimed to be an artificial outfit that could mimic clothing and make webbing, maybe out of fear of how it had been treated in the past. Spider-Man refused the suit's request to form a permanent relationship with him, prompting the suit to endure even more negative emotions.

Venom Returns To His Original Role As A Hero

The symbiote mated with an unexpected host – Eddie Brock – when it recovered from its injuries. Brock was an excellent and inept host. On the one hand, Brock was the first to accept the symbiote and treat it as a companion rather than a slave or tool. Brock, on the other hand, was filled with rage and hatred towards Spider-Man, which only added to the symbiote's own negativity. In this regard, their bond was unhealthy - albeit the symbiote and Brock would eventually work through their differences and build a healthier path by relying on each other for support.

Unfortunately, the symbiote's mental scars continued to make it unstable, even when it teamed up with more friendly and heroic hosts like Flash Thompson, who had to limit his exposure to prevent becoming corrupted. Despite this, unlike some of the symbiote's other abusive hosts, such as the Scorpion, who exploited its abilities, Flash wanted to aid his symbiote – and even managed to temporarily purge its bloodlust (and was similarly corrupted by the symbiote). In many ways, the history of the symbiote parallels that of an abuse victim who keeps repeating the same pattern of getting into bad relationships.

The symbiote can revert to its native state at specific periods in its life and provide a glimpse of the type of being it could have become (and wanted to be). The symbiote spoke to Spider-Man in Venom: Space Knight #12 and professed genuine guilt for what it had done to him, admitting that any rage Spider-Man felt toward it was justified.

It was never the venom symbiote's fault.

Venom first appeared as a villain in the other universe of the MC2 Universe, but because to a relationship he established with Normie Osborn, Norman Osborn's grandson, he subsequently began to reform. In Spider-Girl #100, Normie used the Venom symbiote to become a hero, and the symbiote later bonded with Peter Parker's daughter May (aka Spider-Girl) to heal her from life-threatening wounds. May was hesitant to join with the symbiote, but Normie told her that it had been returned to its former, friendly state.

Normie was correct, as the symbiote not only healed her but also morphed into a replica of her friendlier red-and-blue Spider-Girl suit, much to May's surprise. Later, during a confrontation with the Hobgoblin, the symbiote braved a sonic blast and gave its life to save both May and Spider-Man. Peter was perplexed, but May (who had come to regard the symbiote as a "woman") simply told him:

Despite his many faults, Venom consistently demonstrates that he is trying to overcome his horrific past and avoid becoming a villain. He may never be able to totally rid himself of his fury or hatred, but he never stops trying – and even finds to find reasons to demonstrate compassion or decency, like many trauma victims. While he may never be able to achieve his dream of becoming a hero, he is far from being a "bad" symbiote.