I post this panel literally all the time, but I continue to be so into the characterization shift Marvel’s been giving Eddie for the past 2 years. I think part of it is just attributable to shifting narrative preferences in character writing, of course, but viewing it as a continuous narrative makes me so emotional.
Complete lack of reflection and an inability to accept blame used to be hallmarks of Eddie’s character. When his life is ruined, it’s Spider-Man’s fault. He believes that in all sincerety. Spider-Man ruined him thus Spider-Man is dangerous and it is for the best of all to eliminate him. Hell, he tries to protect Peter’s own parents from Peter and he means it sincerely – that is how far he pushes this narrative and how genuine he is about this delusion. Eddie Brock means well but he is literally not capable of the reflection necessary to translate this into action that is perceived as ‘good’ by others.
That’s the tragedy of his character. It is often presented in a funny-sad way by the comics. This page is a good example, but there are many more.
Then over time, Eddie begins seeing his actions as bad and begins to wonder if the symbiote is at fault. It is not, the symbiote only does what Eddie wants and learns what is ‘right’ from what Eddie considers to be so. The two are stuck in a loop where they enable each other to kill – and neither is ill-intentioned. Here, still, Eddie does not accept responsibility. He first gently negotiates this with the symbiote, then violently rejects it and distances himself from it fully (those are all the weird 2000s comics) – but Eddie Brock isn’t at fault.
Only recent comics have this era of seperation end on reflection. Eddie is alone in his head and the longer he’s there, the more he talks to people, the more distance he has from the symbiote trying to please him and echoing his deluded judgements back at him… Eddie realizes that he is responsible. Ever since the Sin-Eater incident, Eddie’s been stuck in a spiral of depression and obsession and he’s never been able to break out. Now, finally, he’s able to accept something this simple: his actions are his own.
And he takes the symbiote back, now knowing that the symbiote isn’t to blame, now knowing that they’re partners who need to negotiate their actions together. He can realize with more clarity and distinction than ever before that he loves the symbiote but that he also wants them to be better. Both of them, together.
“I don’t know what I have to live for. I don’t know if I’m a good man. Or if I can ever be one. But I know one thing. I know it with every blow I take, with every bone I break. With every drop of blood that fills my mouth. With every breath in my lungs. I’m not ready to give into the darkness. I’m not ready to die.”
We get to an Eddie who can say THIS and mean it. We’ve met this man as unreflected and rampantly suicidal. And we’re with him now, when he is realizing that he has to grow as a person, when he is doubting that he can, but when he is facing those challenges all the same without flinching.
And as much as I sometimes miss early comic characterization, I am so proud of Eddie Brock for getting to this point. @ Marvel MAKE HIM HAPPY COWARDS
creating venom without spider-man has created the greatest dynamic between eddie and venom that has ever existed. they aren’t bonding over being hating peter parker, they’re bonding over the fact that they’re both complete losers. they’re two losers that love to eat junk food out of the trash and they can combine together to form an eight foot tall space monster.
Another interesting difference between movie!Venom and comic!Venom Symbiote, is that, though they are both fiercely possessive of Eddie, it comes from a very different place.
Movie Venom seems to kind of see Eddie as belonging to him. “You are mine” and all that. It comes from a desire to posses him.
Comic Venom Symbiote…it’s all fear. It’s a terror that, should Eddie become close with anyone besides itself, they’ll tear the two of them apart. And the difference lies in their origin. In the movieverse, Eddie is more or less Venom’s first real human host. In the comics, the symbiote bonds first with Spider-Man. It was convinced everything was going well and that it and Spider-Man would be together forever.
Then Spider-Man visited Reed Richards. Reed Richards told Spider-Man his new suit was alive. Told him he needed to get rid of it. Suddenly Spider-Man panics and forcibly removes and imprisons the symbiote, which completely blindsides it. It thought everything was perfect. Until someone else convinced Spider-Man that it was untrustworthy.
Something similar happens again in “Planet of the Symbiotes”. Eddie starts expressing a desire to talk about his experiences being bonded with the symbiote with someone else and the symbiote becomes distressed and tries to dissuade him. Eventually Spider-Man does talk to Eddie and plants a seed of doubt that the symbiote is controlling him. Just as with Spider-Man, Eddie rejects the suit out of fear, despite, again, the symbiote never actually having done anything but what it saw as being what its host wanted. Again another person convinced its host it was untrustworthy.
From then, after Eddie and the symbiote bond again, we see the symbiote becomes INCREDIBLY possessive of Eddie. It doesn’t want him to talk to other people. It tries to convince him it’s the only thing he ever needs. Because it’s so afraid. Afraid of being rejected again. Of having its host be turned against it by someone else.
Which makes the growth it makes in accepting and enjoying the idea of family and both it and Eddie forming connections with other humans so beautiful to me.
I’m seeing a lot of post-movie interest in Symbrock, and I feel the need to spread the good word about these two and the love they have for each other. Not creepy dub-con things … love. Don’t believe me? Read on.
Venom: The Hunger
It’s not a conventional relationship to be sure, but these two have it so bad for each other…
The heart. The heart at the end of The Hunger absolutely slays me.
Venom (2016)
The writers lay it on THICK in this series. If you want to try to pretend it’s not a love story … well …
Yeah, you can’t. Furthermore, as soon as Eddie Brock shows up, he starts laying it on thick.
The Symbiote is not mincing words either, even while it is struggling to understand love and how to keep it with Eddie.
If you want more proof of their feelings, @guardiandae did another, non-overlapping post of Eddie & the Symbiote’s relationship in the comics. Good stuff, go look.
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