8 Smartest Decisions In Marvel Villain History

6. The Symbiote Rediscovers Its Good Side - Venom

Venom Guardians of the Galaxy Captain Marvel Rocket
Marvel Comics

Whenever it comes to Venom a delineation must be made. There's the symbiote, an alien also known as a Klyntar whose actual name is Venom, and their hosts; Eddie Brock, Flash Thompson, and so on. In this case, a crash course in the symbiote's history is also called for.

For most of the character's existence Venom has been considered evil, and also one of Spider-Man's greatest villains. But while it's true that the symbiote started out as a corrupting force in the comics, one originally written as the source behind a given host's nasty leanings, newer retcons have confirmed that the opposite is basically true.

The clue's in the name. Symbiotes have a symbiotic relationship with their host, and both beings feed into each other. Venom was only evil because it was spurned by Peter Parker and later tapped into Eddie Brock's own hate for the symbiote's former host. So, when it finally realised its true nature during Rick Remender's series when bonded to Flash - and encouraged him to go seek out the truth behind its origins - the results were fairly mind-blowing.

Further retcons by Brian Bendis, Donny Cates, Ryan Stegman and others have turned Venom into a noble anti-hero with good intentions. The smartest decision of all, though, was having the symbiote getting back in touch with its origins, and making everyone reappraise what Venom really stood for in the process.

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WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.