You know, I-I used to be a... a reporter. I was... I was pretty successful as well, you know? My job... it required you to... you know, to follow people that did not want to be followed and to hide in plain sight. You have to know how to disappear. I was pretty good, but you? Whoever you are, you suck. 
- —Eddie Brock[src]
History
Early Life[]
Eddie Brock's mother died in childbirth when he was born, leading to him developing an antagonistic relationship with his father.[1] As a child, starved for affection and approval, Eddie would steal things from other children and then claim to have found them.[3]
Human form
As an adult, Eddie became an investigative reporter for the Daily Globe in New York before his habit of going off-script and making accusations without substantiating evidence led to him being fired and unable to find employment. Eddie's fiancée, Anne Weying, helped him find employment in San Francisco, where Eddie was hired by the MNBN broadcasting network and became the host of a vlogging show where he helped expose corporate corruption and unethical practices. Jack, Eddie's boss, asked him to interview Dr. Carlton Drake, the founder and CEO of the Life Foundation, regarding the Life Foundation's shuttle program. Eddie was reluctant due to his convictions that Drake was an evil person; and despite reluctantly promising Anne - whose law firm worked for the Life Foundation - that he would behave himself, he broke into her computer to access a confidential e-mail containing evidence of the Life Foundation's illegal experiments. During his interview with Drake, Eddie went off-script to confront him with the allegations, citing Anne's e-mail. Drake immediately terminated the interview, and Jack fired Eddie when he refused to divulge the source of his accusations. Anne - who was fired from her law-firm - furiously broke up with Eddie, berating him for selfishly breaking her trust and invading her privacy.[4]
Becoming Venom[]
Six months later, Eddie spent his days struggling to make ends meet, living in a cheap apartment and frequenting a convenience store owned by Mrs. Chen. One night, Eddie was approached by Dr. Dora Skirth - a disgruntled Life Foundation scientist - who informed him that his accusations had been correct. Eddie cynically brushed her off, but after running into Anne and her new boyfriend, Dr. Dan Lewis, he decided he had nothing left to lose and contacted Dr. Skirth. Sneaking Eddie into the Life Foundation's lab, Dr. Skirth explained that the Life Foundation had recovered amorphous extraterrestrials called symbiotes, which could bond to and augment a compatible host organism. While Dr. Skirth distracted a security guard, Eddie snuck into the lab and obtained photographic evidence of the Life Foundation's unethical experiments. Recognizing Maria - a homeless woman who sat outside Mrs. Chen's convenience store - as one of the test subjects, Eddie tried to free her but triggered an alarm. Maria pounced on him and attempted to strangle him, a black symbiote transferring from her body into his and killing her in the process. Eddie fled the facility, pursued by the Life Foundation's security team; displaying superhuman strength, speed, and durability.[4]
Attempting to contact Dr. Skirth, Eddie returned to his apartment disoriented, feverish, and ravenously hungry - consuming a bag of raw tater tots and a rancid chicken drumstick before vomiting. Hearing the symbiote's voice in his head and seeing his reflection change, Eddie panicked and hit his head, passing out into his bathtub. The next day Eddie sought out Anne to present the evidence that he'd been right to her, finding her and Dr. Lewis at a restaurant. His erratic behaviour influenced by the symbiote - snatching food from random plates, snarling at people, and devouring a live lobster after climbing into the tank - led to Dr. Lewis taking him to the hospital and attempting an MRI scan on him - causing him and the symbiote excruciating pain. Eddie returned to his apartment, the symbiote influencing him into angrily confronting his neighbor over the volume of the rock music he was playing. Calling Anne, Eddie attempted to apologize to her, explaining that he was feeling unwell and hearing a voice, but the symbiote interrupted their conversation. When Roland Treece and a team of PMCs sent by the Life Foundation arrived at Eddie's apartment to reclaim the symbiote, Eddie attempted to surrender peacefully; but the irate symbiote lashed out with tentacles and incapacitated them before declaring its intent to bite their heads off. Confused and frightened, Eddie fled his apartment as more PMCs arrived. Retreating into an alley to get his motorcycle, Eddie saw the symbiote appearing as his reflection in a car window, berating Eddie for calling it a parasite and pinning him to a wall with tendrils. When the Life Foundation deployed a fleet of weaponized drones, Eddie took his motorcycle, the symbiote using its tendrils to help him evade the PMCs. Just as he was coming to revel in the power the symbiote granted him, Eddie was rammed by Treece and knocked off his bike, breaking his legs. The symbiote emerged - healing Eddie's injuries - and transformed Eddie into a hulking oily-black monster with white eyespots and veins-like markings, claws, and a fanged mouth; devouring one of the PMCs before diving into the ocean and swimming to a lighthouse.[4]
Face to face with his symbiote
Returned to human form, Eddie was confronted by the symbiote, which introduced itself as Venom and told him that as far as it was concerned he was a vehicle for it to accomplish its mission - getting Carlton Drake's rocket - and that if he cooperated it would consider sparing him. Reluctantly complying, Eddie returned to his former place of employment to turn in the evidence against the Life Foundation, but was kicked out by Richard, a security guard he'd formerly been friends with. Transforming, Eddie and the Venom symbiote climbed to the top of the skyscraper, the latter noting that human civilization had its beautiful aspects and that it was almost sorry it would soon be destroyed. A passing plane forced the symbiote to retreat into his body and Eddie toppled from the peak of the skyscraper, but it transformed his arm and braked their fall with its claws. After the symbiote deposited him in his old boss's office, Eddie left the evidence on his desk, but took the elevator down - the symbiote mocking him for not jumping out the window. In the lobby, Eddie was confronted by a squad of SWAT police and transformed into Venom to fight them off, barely stopping the symbiote from eating one of them. Confronted by Anne, Eddie tried to explain what had happened to him and apologized to her for his selfish actions at the symbiote's prompting.[4]
Interrogated by Drake, now as Riot
Taken back to the hospital, Eddie learned from Dr. Lewis that the symbiote had been consuming his organs; and Anne used the MRI to forcibly remove it despite its promise to fix the damage. Feeling betrayed, Eddie berated the symbiote and stormed out of the hospital, but was captured by Treece and taken to the Life Foundation. Interrogated by Drake, Eddie refused to reveal the Venom symbiote's whereabouts despite Drake revealing that he had bonded to a silvery symbiote of his own. Taken by into the forest to be executed by Treece, Eddie noticed Anne had bonded to the Venom symbiote and distracted Treece while she dispatched the PMCs. After the Venomized Anne ate Treece's head, Eddie was shocked when she kissed him to return the symbiote to him. Eddie and Annie were informed by the Venom symbiote that Drake's silver symbiote was called Riot and was the leader of their invasion squad; the symbiote refusing to let Anne endanger herself in the final battle, despite Eddie vouching for her. Still bitter, Eddie asked the Venom symbiote why it was betraying its own kind, but their discussion was interrupted when Riot leapt from the Life Foundation's control tower and began running towards the rocket. The Venom symbiote informed Eddie that Riot was far more powerful than itself, but Venom nevertheless confronted Riot and refused to obey his order to get in the rocket. Despite being briefly separated from the symbiote, Eddie and Venom managing to hold their own for a while, until Riot forcibly assimilated them. Anne - who had made her way to the Life Foundation's control tower - intervened and blasted Riot with amplified feedback, separating Eddie and Drake from their symbiotes. Toppling to the landing platform, Eddie brawled with Drake and managed to knock him off when he started monologuing, but the Riot symbiote rebonded to Drake and impaled Eddie through the chest, leaving him for dead. The Venom symbiote rebonded to Eddie, and Eddie used Riot's blade to rupture the rocket's fuel tanks as it launched - killing Drake and the Riot symbiote in the ensuing explosion. Venom formed itself into a parachute to slow Eddie's fall, but was ignited and seemingly perished.[4]
Eddie kept the Venom symbiote's survival a secret from Anne; stipulating that it could stay bonded to him, but that it could only hurt bad people - such as devouring a thug running an extortion racket on Mrs. Chen's store. With his journalistic reputation restored, Eddie turned down the network's offer to rehire him and began a career as an independent investigative reporter; and received a request to interview the notorious serial killer Cletus Kasady, who promised him that when he escaped there would be carnage.[4]
Clash With Carnage[]
After three years of protecting San Francisco as a vigilante, Eddie and the Venom symbiote settled into a system of cohabitation - though Eddie was off-put by its carnivorous appetite and bloodlust. At the behest of the FBI and Detective Mulligan, Eddie continued interviewing Cletus - who saw Eddie as a kindred spirit - to uncover where his victims were hidden, writing an exposé on the serial killer portraying him as a remorseless sociopath. Eddie was invited to attend Cletus' execution, and Cletus angrily berated Eddie for having misrepresenting him in his exposé, accusing Eddie of having betrayed everyone he cared about. Enraged, the Venom symbiote attacked Cletus, who bit Eddie's hand to escape, noticing something strange about the taste of his blood. Eddie left upon being contacted by Anne - who informed him that she was engaged to Dr. Lewis. Eddie congratulated them, but the Venom symbiote was irritated by him giving out and lashed out at Dan using Eddie's body.
Notified by Detective Mulligan that Cletus had escaped, transformed into the monstrous Carnage by a symbiote of his own, Eddie had a falling out with the Venom symbiote over its unbridled aggression and the two parted ways after fighting to kick each other out of their apartment. Eddie was subsequently arrested by Detective Mulligan, who had come to suspect that Eddie was Venom due to the timing of Cletus' transformation following him biting Eddie. Contacting Anne ostensibly to serve as his lawyer, Eddie informed her of the situation and sent her to find the Venom symbiote; Anne later assailing the police station as She-Venom to free him. Eddie and the Venom symbiote reconciled and it rebonded to him, but were later contacted by Dr. Lewis - who informed them that Detective Mulligan and Anne had been captured by Cletus and his lover Frances Barrison. Venom crashed Cletus' makeshift marriage to Frances, but upon seeing Cletus transform into Carnage the Venom symbiote panicked and withdrew into Eddie's body, forcing him to bribe it by offering to let it eat anyone it wanted. While Carnage initially overpowered Venom in the ensuing battle, Eddie and the Venom symbiote noticed that Cletus' bond to the Carnage symbiote was inferior to their own - the Carnage symbiote's desire to kill Frances due to her sonic powers conflicting with Cletus' love for her. Venom provoked Frances into attacking with her sonic scream, separating both Eddie and Cletus from their symbiotes and collapsing the cathedral in the process. The Venom symbiote re-bonded to Eddie, saving him from being crushed by the debris, and Venom ate the Carnage symbiote before it could re-bond to him. As Venom picked the defencelessness and injured Cletus up, the serial killer asked to speak to Eddie - who partially retracted the Venom symbiote from his face. Admitting that he was a murderer with or without the Carnage symbiote, Cletus told Eddie that all he'd really wanted was for Eddie to be his friend. Eddie apologized to Cletus, but the Venom symbiote was unmoved and devoured Cletus' head before contemptuously tossing his body aside. As the police arrived to investigate the scene of the battle, Venom escaped with Anne and Dr. Lewis.
Going on the run from the authorities, Eddie and the Venom symbiote traveled to South America, deciding to travel the world protecting the innocent as a superhero. While resting at a hotel, the Venom symbiote explained to Eddie that the Symbiote Hive-Mind granted it billions of years' worth of knowledge from wherever symbiotes existed across the Multiverse. When offered a glimpse into the Hive-Mind, Eddie agreed despite the Venom symbiote warning that this could drive him insane, but suddenly they were transported somewhere else.
Brief Move to Earth-199999[]
Before the symbiote could do anything they were suddenly engulfed by a mysterious shockwave, finding themselves in a mostly-identical hotel room in an otherwise unfamiliar location. As Eddie and the symbiote expressed confusion as to what had happened, a broadcast by a news station called the Daily Bugle aired on the television, anchor J. Jonah Jameson denouncing Peter Parker - aka Spider-Man - as a supervillain for the murder of Mysterio. The symbiote engulfing Eddie, Venom declared his intent to eat Spider-Man and licked the screen. As the hotel room's occupant returned, the symbiote quickly retracted into Eddie's body, leaving him to answer the man's demands as to why an intruder was in his room.[1]
Eddie found his way to a bar, where he and Venom learned about the heroes of this new reality and the events surrounding Thanos and the Infinity War from the barman. Eddie drunkenly suggested he and Venom travel to New York and talk things out with Spider-Man, but they were abruptly returned to their home dimension as the spell which brought them to Earth-199999 was fixed; leaving behind a small fragment of the Venom symbiote.[5]Personality
Eddie possesses a strong sense of justice that compels him to punish those he sees as evil, rooted in his childhood desire to be seen as a hero. However, this compulsion lead to him committing morally questionably acts himself; and saw him being discredited as a reporter in New York, violating Anne Weying's privacy in order to obtain incriminating evidence against Carlton Drake, and ultimately cost him his job at the MNBN. Following her losing her job because of Eddie's violation of her privacy, Anne Weying described Brock as pathologically self-absorbed, stating his ego requires constant attention and that he is "stubborn as hell." Despite becoming jaded after losing his job, Eddie decides to help Dora Skirth expose Drake's crimes, leading to him bonding to the Venom symbiote.
Despite being disgusted and frightened by the Venom symbiote's bloodlust, Eddie quickly grows to revel in the power it gives him, and is offended and outraged when he discovers that it has been consuming him from the inside-out. Following their reunion, Eddie was initially still bitter towards it; and after the defeat of the Life Foundation, he makes sure to stipulate that the symbiote cannot eat whoever it wants, but can only target bad people.
While Eddie initially expresses hope that he and Anne could get back together, he comes to accept her relationship with Dr. Dan Lewis and apologizes for ruining her career as a lawyer.Attributes
Powers
Venom Symbiote: As a result of being a compatible host for the Venom symbiote, Eddie possesses the following abilities while bonded to it:
- Superhuman Strength
- Superhuman Speed
- Superhuman Durability
- Superhuman Stamina
- Superhuman Agility
- Superhuman Reflexes
- Regenerative Healing Factor
- Wallcrawling
- Size Alteration
- Shape Alteration
- Genetic Memory
- Hive Mind: The symbiote has access to the symbiotes hive mind, enabling it to communicate with the symbiotes on their homeworld and access information about the species' past and hence Eddie can too.
- Constituent-Matter Generation
- Constituent-Matter Manipulation: Venom is capable of extending its biomass into tentacles and forming shields, though it lacks the advanced shapeshifting powers of other symbiotes, such as Riot and Carnage.
Abilities
- Expert Reporter: Brock is an experienced reporter
Weaknesses
Paraphernalia
Weapons
Transportation
Notes
- Tom Hardy portrays Eddie Brock in Venom, Venom: Let There Be Carnage and Spider-Man: No Way Home, and will reprise the role in Venom: The Last Dance.
Trivia
- Hardy previously portrayed the DC Comics supervillain Bane in The Dark Knight Rises.
- Due to the symbiote not having been bonded to Spider-Man, Venom lacks the spider-powers, and the white spider emblems of his comic book counterpart; though the pronounced white veins on his chest, back, and arms are meant to be evocative of them.
- His design and powers seems to be based off Venom from the Ultimate Universe, whose appearance and powers are not derived off Spider-Man.
- Brock's drink of choice is Pabst Blue Ribbon beer.
See Also
- 4 appearance(s) of Edward Brock (Earth-688B)
- 2 mention(s) of Edward Brock (Earth-688B)
- 49 image(s) of Edward Brock (Earth-688B)
- 3 quotation(s) by or about Edward Brock (Earth-688B)
- 4 victim(s) killed by Edward Brock (Earth-688B)
Links and References
- Eddie Brock at the Heroes Wiki
- Edward Brock (Earth-688B) on the
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