10 Reasons Why Donny Cates’ Venom Was So Great

Transitioning a character from villain to superhero is not an easy task, and something that Venom has never quite achieved before. His antihero turn was primarily a demand from marvel due to his popularity, and some writers, including Venom co-creator David Michelinie, were sceptical of the move.

During his string of miniseries in the ‘90s, Venom may have been a protector of innocents, but he never seemed to reconcile with his past, or even want to. In Venom: Lethal Protector, he is confronted by a team of soldiers with advanced technology known as the Jury, led by a man named General Orwell Taylor. They are bent on killing Venom as vengeance for his killing of Taylor’s son, Hugh, during a prison break.

This could have been an opportunity to explore the painful reality of facing a dark past when one is trying to better themselves, but it doesn’t really go anywhere. Cates depicts Eddie as a man who is so haunted by his past that he doesn’t even know how to see himself. His struggle towards redemption is made all the more believable and satisfying by the fact that Eddie is doing it for others, not because he wants the satisfaction of having done good.