10 Reasons Why Donny Cates’ Venom Was So Great

Any hero, or antihero, worth their salt better have a decent rogues gallery of baddies up their sleeve, yet this is a department in which Venom has historically been lacking. Of course, he’s fought many villains over the years, his clash with Juggernaut in Venom: The Madness being particularly memorable, but the only personal villain he’s battled enough times to be considered an archnemesis is Carnage, and he first appeared in a Spider-Man comic (Amazing Spider-man #359).

Not only is Carnage used extremely well as an antagonist in Absolute Carnage and Venom Island, which emphasised the personal connection between the slimy red sadist and his ‘father,’ Donny Cates also conceived original villains for his hero to face up to, namely Knull, Virus and Codex. While Venom clashed with plenty of original villains during his string of 1990s miniseries - Dr. Paine, anyone? - few were as memorable as these misfits.

Fans are hoping to see an onscreen rendition of Knull face off with Tom Hardy’s Venom one day, which is an indication of the huge popularity the character quickly found after his introduction. This oddly mirrors Venom’s own rise to fame; he was considered a ‘breakout villain,’ quickly joining the ranks of Green Goblin and Doc Ock, despite debuting years after them.