How does Eddie Brock compare in comics, animation and film? Will Venom stand out in this movie?
Richard George reveals details at IGN.
With Spider-Man 3’s opening a short three weeks away, we thought it might be important to revisit a villain that, believe it or not, has a very small following. We know he’s a niche character, but Venom is a pretty compelling character given the right circumstances (just so we don’t get hate mail, we’re joking on the niche comment). Over a year ago we did a brief biography on Eddie Brock. The reporter turned psychopath was rumored to be in the next Spider-Man film, so we ran through his various origins as well as what we expected from his movie debut.
Quite a bit has changed since then.
Venom has been confirmed as a villain in the film. We’ve seen footage, know the basic concept of his origin and his general character arc. With information just pouring through, and with our screening less than a week away, we wanted to recap this legendary character and pinpoint where Sam Raimi and his crew seem to be drawing inspiration for Topher Grace’s character.
The Symbiote
Partly due to his complicated Core Universe origin, and partly due to his rather simplistic initial characterization, Venom’s subsequent interpretations have altered him considerably. It was really no surprise that Spider-Man 3 took an entirely new route while still being inspired by what had preceded it. Eddie Brock remains a rival of Peter Parker’s, and he is still ruined by Spider-Man, but many details outside of that adversarial nature have changed.
The first change to Venom comes with the symbiote and its bond with Spider-Man. The suit / creature began its relationship with Peter Parker in a comic book event known as Secret War. Parker’s Spidey costume is torn in a fight, and he seeks out a machine that other heroes have used to make themselves fresh outfits. Unfortunately Spidey picks the wrong machine. What he believes to be a new set of threads is actually an alien life form that wishes to bond with its new host. It begins to control Peter when he’s sleeping, leaving him in a constant state of exhaustion.
Spider-Man 3 draws upon the animated series a bit in order to bring the symbiote to the Earth. While an intergalactic battle is a little out of the question, a rock from outer space is not. In the ‘90s Spider-Man cartoon, astronaut John Jameson (son of the Daily Bugle’s Editor in Chief, J. Jonah) secures a mineral, known as “Promethium X,” from the moon. The creature happens to be attached to that rock. Sam Raimi’s film similarly introduces the creature in the form of a meteorite that hits the Earth relatively early in the film. The symbiote discovers Peter shortly thereafter, and the black costume is “born”.
As we mentioned before, the original comic books featured a black costume controlling Peter Parker in his sleep. Since then, in the cartoons, Ultimate Universe and the film, the black costume augments emotions. Anger and irrationality dominate everything else and Spider-Man becomes more hostile and approaches killing his enemies. In all cases, the change in behavior combined with the realization that the costume is alive leads Spidey to seek aid in removing the alien. This leads us to…
Eddie Brock
Just like the symbiote, Eddie Brock has undergone several revisions as writers create different worlds for Spider-Man. The cartoon and original comic book mirror each other the most. Sam Raimi’s version draws upon elements within those worlds while using one particular element from Brian Bendis’s Ultimate Spider-Man series.
Topher Grace’s Eddie Brock is a broken mirror of Peter Parker. He means well, but has a dark past when compared to his rival Daily Bugle photographer. While Peter Parker had the love of Uncle Ben and Aunt May, Brock had no one. Details are sketchy here, but we do know that Eddie’s morals are completely skewed. This is one of the reasons the symbiote manifests itself as Venom rather than a simple costume. It feeds off of Brock’s hatred. Part of that anger is due to his past, but there are several problems caused by Peter himself.
In every instance of the character, Eddie Brock perceives that Peter Parker and/or Spider-Man have ruined his life. The Core Universe Brock loses his job at a rival newspaper when his story about the identity of the Sin-Eater (a crazed, shotgun toting murderer, who killed policewoman Jean DeWolfe, incidentally) is proved false. He is discredited, shamed and blames Spider-Man for his situation. The animated version of Brock follows a similar character arc, only he has to endure a series of professional humiliations before he encounters his alien partner.
The Ultimate version of Eddie Brock, and the symbiote, deviate quite a bit from the previously established iterations (Core Universe and animated). In this world, Eddie Brock is a childhood friend of Peter Parker. He’s only slightly older than Peter, being in college while his former friend is still in high school. Peter and Eddie’s fathers worked together on scientific experiments, one of which was a full-body suit that would theoretically cure cancer. Unfortunately the suit did not work as expected, causing emotional scarring, aggressiveness and ultimately psychosis. Peter encounters the suit first, but manages to drive it away. Brock, upon discovering that Peter is Spider-Man, is jealous enough to try the suit for himself. Because Brock grew up in a different set of circumstances, he gives in to the creature’s desires and becomes the monster known as Venom.
Clearly the film version of Venom draws upon several of the elements we just detailed. Topher Grace portrays a Brock who is very similar in age and stature when compared to Peter. Similar to the Ultimate Universe character, Brock might have become just like Peter were it not for his childhood. Like the animated and Core counterparts, this Brock is shamed by Peter Parker and his masked alter ego. We’re not sure of the exact details, but it appears that Eddie is humiliated professionally and personally. Gwen Stacy factors into this situation somehow, (a plot element present in the Ultimate Universe) we think she is more attracted to Peter’s personality than Eddie’s. Given that Parker and Brock are rival photographers vying for the same full time position at the Daily Bugle, the love triangle (which Peter is apparently susceptible to because of the symbiote) pushes Brock to his limits. We also expect some sort of scandal involving Brock’s work for J. Jonah Jameson. Spider-Man rejects the creature, driving it away by using the sonic energy of church bells. This is a tactic also used both in the Core and animated storylines. Brock, who happens to be following his hated enemy, is near enough that the symbiote attaches to him. Our hero must now face...
Venom
This is arguably the area we know the least about. We’ve only seen a handful of Venom sequences. We know that visually he doesn’t entirely represent any previous incarnations. The Core and animated characters were both much larger physically, and the Ultimate Venom was more amorphous. Spider-Man 3’s character lends itself much more to the concept of an “anti-Spider-Man. Raimi’s designs are much leaner than the comic book counterparts while retaining the signature look. Venom still has his large, white eyes, the fangs and, in some instances, the tongue. Raimi also looks to be playing up the stealth and more sinister/creepy aspects of the villain rather than the more comedic and brutish antics that some writers resort to.
We suspect this film won’t kill off any villains. The nature of the symbiote means that it would be a challenge for the film’s writers to reasonably and logically eliminate it. We’re now fairly certain that our Sandman prediction (involving the symbiote merging with Thomas Hayden Church’s character) won’t pan out. Sandman seems to dominate the early half of the film with Venom playing out towards the climax. We have other theories, supported by the spoileriffic trailers, but we’ll refrain from getting into them too much. If there are twists to Venom’s conflict with Spidey, we’ll see them in the form of a certain friend turned villain. How he factors into the equation we’ll let you speculate. We have our money on a very particular outcome however.