42 Years Later, Marvel Reinvents Venom Lore With One Tragic Twist

To say that Venom lore has changed since the black alien symbiote debuted in Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars (1984) #8 would be a gross understatement. Indeed, the symbiote has come a long way from discreetly being Spider-Man’s new black costume, which was explicitly inspired by Spider-Woman’s, white spider symbol and all. Now, during Marvel Comics’ Queen in Black crossover event, it’s still quite surreal to see Mary Jane Watson willingly bonded with the same symbiote that petrified her 38 years ago.

It can be rather dizzying trying to comprehend symbiote lore, but all readers may need to know regarding Venom, specifically, is that Queen in Black is concluding MJ’s All-New Venom era, and a new Venom relaunch will return to the status quo of Eddie Brock as Venom. In the meantime, the symbiote isn’t looking forward to having to work with a brilliant Marvel character who tortured it and poisoned its original host against it more than four decades ago.

Venom And Reed Richards Have Bad Blood

In The Amazing Spider-Man #258, Peter learns the ‘sinister secret’ of his black-and-white costume actually being a “sentient being” when he has it analyzed by Reed Richards at the Baxter Building. Sci-fi horror swiftly segues into comedy, though, when Reed’s sonic blaster successfully separates the symbiote from Peter, who’s then left in his underwear and given an old Fantastic Four costume and a paper bag to wear, becoming The Amazing Spider-Man’s Bombastic Bag-Man.

The last page of the issue foreshadows the imprisoned symbiote plotting its revenge, with the “entity” soon escaping and disguising itself as the red-and-blue Spider-Man costume in Peter’s apartment. Peter was freed this time by the tolling of church bells, and the “shadow” would eventually bond with a suicidal Eddie to become Venom.

Venom’s POV Rewrites Symbiote Lore As We Know It

As per the preview pages for Venom #261, releasing this Wednesday, it’s incredible to see such an iconic moment from Spider-Man’s rich Marvel Comics history told from a new perspective, as it completely recontextualizes it. Here, readers finally learn what it was like for the symbiote to be struck with sonic waves, enwreathed in fire, and trapped in a container, all while experiencing its beloved host actively rooting for its demise.

Venom’s traumatic recounting of this event will apparently fan the flames of its resentment toward Reed, a “monster” that the symbiote—who, independent of any host, now officially goes by the name “Venom”—must begrudgingly team up with. The solicitation for Venom #261 reads as follows:

VENOM’S OLDEST ENEMY RETURNS! Long ago, a friend of Reed Richards had a problem — an alien costume that didn’t want to come off. Reed Richards blasted it off with a sonic weapon and imprisoned it for study. It seemed like a good idea at the time… but now he’s got to work with that alien to save the world — and Venom holds one heck of a grudge!

Venom #261 is scheduled to be released on September 2, 2026.