Venom

Real Name
Peter Parker (First Host);
Edward Charles Brock (Second Host);
MacDonald "Mac" Gargan (Third Host)

Occupation
Vigilante; former journalist for the Daily Globe, and government operative (Brock); U.S. government agent; former professional criminal, assassin, private detective (Gargan)

Citizenship
U.S.A. with a criminal record (Brock); U.S.A. with a criminal record (Gargan)

Place of Birth
New York City, New York (Brock); Yonkers, New York (Gargan)

Known Relatives
Carl Brock (father), Jamie Brock (mother), Anne Weying (She-Venom, ex-wife, deceased) (Brock); None (Gargan)

Group Affiliation
None; formerly Sinister Six (Brock); Avengers; formerly Thunderbolts, Masters of Evil, "Spider-Man Revenge League"; Sinister Twelve; formerly partners with Mister Hyde and Delilah (Gargan)

Education
College educated (journalism major) (Brock); High school graduate (Gargan)

Height
6'3"(Brock); 6'3"(Gargan)

Weight
260 lbs. (due to atrophy and removal of Venom symbiote) (Brock); 220 lbs. / 245 lbs. (with symbiote) (Gargan)

Eyes
Blue (Brock); Brown (Gargan)

Hair
Reddish blond (Brock); Brown (shaves head) (Gargan)

Powers
Eddie Brock: Previously, the alien costume, which had grafted itself to the nervous system of Eddie Brock, somehow absorbed the powers of Spider-Man during its brief symbiotic relationship with him. These powers were transferred to Brock, so long as he wore the costume. At his peak, Brock had conditioned himself to lift (press) almost 700 lbs before he came into contact with the costume. Now, in his cancer-ridden body, he possesses minimal strength. Once he merged with the costume, in his prime he was able to lift (press) almost 11 tons. The alien costume also replicated Spider-Man's ability to cling to walls by controlling the flux of inter-atomic attraction between molecular boundary layers.

As Venom, Brock could also shoot strands of the alien's substance in the form of webbing at high pressure up to a distance of 70 feet. The alien's substance seems to be composed of tough, flexible fibers of organic polymers, which regenerate swiftly after shedding. The strands have extraordinary adhesive properties, which diminish rapidly once they abandon their living source. After about three hours, with no source to nourish them, the strands dry up like dead skin and dissolve into a powder. The strands possess a tensile strength of 125 pounds per square millimeter of cross section. Venom also possessed an extrasensory ability similar to Spider-Man's spider-sense. This response is not as complicated as Spider-Man's inherent sense since the alien costume can detect danger from every direction and conduct Brock in plenty of time. It is not as efficient as Spider-Man's spider-sense because it takes longer to communicate the danger, and Brock's reflexes are not as fast as Spider-Man’s, even though they are enhanced by the alien costume.

When distributed at a typical thickness over Brock's body, the symbiote was capable of absorbing bullets from small-arms weapons firing conventional ammunition. The symbiote is however particularly vulnerable to both sonic and heat-based attacks.

Also the symbiote has the power to blend in with the background.

Mac Gargan: the symbiote further enhances Gargan's superhuman attributes including his agility and strength (enabling him to lift 60 tons optimally), and granting him the ability to cling to almost any surface, block Spider-Man's spider-sense, and enable him to blend in with the background. The symbiote can also produce organic webs which he can use for web-slinging from building to building or capturing opponents.

Abilities
Brock is a journalist with skills in weight lifting / body building (Brock); has the intellectual skills of an average detective, though he is mentally unstable (Gargan).

Other Info
The symbiote has had three main hosts: Spider-Man (fourth picture posted), Eddie Brock (most famous host, and first picture posted), and Scorpion (current host, and fifth picture posted). The symbiote has attached to many other Marvel characters throughout its life, such as Wolverine, Punisher, and Captain America, to just name a few. (To learn about these characters, click on their highlighted names above.)

The symbiotes were a conquering alien race who had no feelings unto themselves. They fed off the emotions of those they conquered and forced them to do spectacular feats in order to feel the adrenaline rush. Eventually, the beings would be sucked dry and left for dead. One symbiote was placed in a prison and condemned to death by disintegration when it was discovered that he focused more on bonding and communicating then on dominating.

On a crazy mission in space, Spider-Man accidentally grabbed the symbiote by mistake and the symbiote instantly crawled over his body, covering Spider-Man from head to toe. Spider-Man was amazed with his new suit. For example, it could mimic any type of clothing whatsoever, making Spider-Man’s need for spare clothing obsolete. It also contained a "dimensional aperture" where he could place his camera, spare change, and other items without adding to the bulk of the costume. The costume was also equipped with its own web-shooter and seemingly contained an unlimited supply of webbing.

The alien costume could not tolerate being separated from its host for long periods of time. At night, when Spider-Man's alter ego, Peter Parker, slept, the symbiote would engulf him and send him web-slinging or battling evil during the night. Later, Spider-Man accepted Reed Richards' offer to study the costume. Richards learned that the costume was actually a living alien symbiote, a parasite trying to graft itself permanently to Spider-Man both mentally and physically. Richards was able to separate the alien costume from its host by shooting it with a "sonic blaster." He then contained the being in a special environmental cell, but the alien was able to escape and it made its way back to Peter Parker's closet where it waited, disguised as a spare red-and-blue costume. (To learn about Reed Richards, Mr. Fantastic, click on his name.)

Spider-Man, unknowingly, put on the alien costume. He brought it to the tower at Our Lady of Saints Church gambling the intense sound of the church's bells would destroy it. Spider-Man lost the gamble, and he succumbed to the bells before the costume did. However, the empathic parasite had preyed upon the emotions of Spider-Man long enough to learn how to feel, and in feeling, to act. Sacrificing itself, the alien costume saved Spider-Man. The symbiote crawled away to die. However, the symbiote slithered saw a man by the name of Eddie Brock kneeling in prayer at the church's altar.

Brock had been a successful columnist for the newly revived Daily Globe until he began writing a series of articles about the "Sin-Eater murders". A bogus offender had confessed to Brock about committing the murders. While protecting the "murderer's" identity under the First Amendment, Brock wrote a series of stories in the Globe detailing his dialogue with the supposed killer, until mounting pressure from the authorities forced him to write an exclusive revealing the murderer's name. Although that edition of the paper sold out immediately, Spider-Man soon revealed the true identity of the Sin-Eater to be Detective Stan Carter, making Brock a laughingstock among his fellow journalists. He was fired from the Daily Globe and Brock's wife left him. His future appeared to be over and Brock blamed his losses on Spider-Man. Soon after, Brock began an intense physical workout program hoping to reduce the stress his life had become. However, such physical exertions only increased his violent obsession with Spider-Man. Although his body had been honed to near-perfection, Brock's mind was reduced to an all-consuming vessel of hatred. It was this fierce emotion that attracted the alien parasite to Eddie Brock. (To learn about the newspaper or character above, just click on their names.)

The symbiote joined mentally and physically with Brock, whose emotions overwhelmed the already confused alien. The dominant thought on both their minds was that of Spider-Man. However, Brock's sheer hatred for Spider-Man twisted the symbiote’s feelings to a similar extent. In effect, Brock's emotions drove the symbiote insane, just as their bonding may have driven Brock over the edge. Brock soon discovered that the costume gave him all the powers of Spider-Man, and more. It also added bulk to his already large frame and increased his strength to superhuman levels. Calling himself "Venom," Brock directed the costume to sprout a hideous grin and plotted his revenge. Through the costume, Venom learned a great deal about Spider-Man, including his secret identity.

The alien costume could cancel out Spider-Man's spider-sense presumably by projecting conflicting frequencies upon Spider-Man's brain waves. Venom finally made a bold move when he confronted Parker's wife, Mary Jane, at their old Chelsea apartment. Spider-Man challenged Venom at Our Lady of Saints Church. Spider-Man was able to weaken the alien to the point where it could not regenerate enough of its mass to become a renewed threat. Spider-Man was able to bring Venom to the Fantastic Four who imprisoned him in a sonic containment cell. The Fantastic Four then shipped Venom to the government super-prison in the Colorado Rockies called the Vault. (To learn about Mary Jane or the Vault, just click on their highlighted names.)

Venom was able to escapte the prision and it returned to fight Spider-Man again. This time Spider-Man used psychological warfare on Venom, by taunting the alien symbiote to return to him. The alien, torn by its love-hate relationship for Spider-Man, tried to leave Eddie Brock and re-establish its link with its original owner. But the trauma of trying to detach itself from Brock's nervous system was too much to bear. The alien costume and Eddie Brock were both knocked unconscious and they both were returned to the Vault prison. Since then, Venom has gone through many changes. After years of combating, Venom reached an understanding with Spider-Man. After a truce with Spider-Man and relocating to San Francisco, Venom was recruited by the government to be a special operations counter-terrorist agent, but he had to attach a bomb in his chest to assure complete and utter obedience. After a few missions, Venom became tired of the situation and had the symbiote perform surgery on him and it extracted the bomb from his chest.

After a long time, Venom resurfaced with cancer and the symbiote was the only thing keeping him alive. Brock did not want the alien costume anymore so he decided to sell his symbiote off in an auction, swearing off his life of vigilantism. The winner of the auction was the gang lord Don Fortunato. After that, Brock was discovered after making an attempt to kill himself, and was hospitalized. (To learn more about Eddie Brock and the Venom during this time, click on the following link, http://marvel.com/universe/Venom.)

After his purchase, Don Fortunato gave the symbiote to his son, Angelo, in hopes that Angelo would finally make a name for himself. The symbiote quickly left the weak Angelo, and made a proposition to Mac Gargan (aka Scorpion), another criminal who shared its hatred for Spider-Man. Gargan accepted and became the new Venom.

Later, Spider-Man was in a battle with the Green Goblin and the Green Goblin tried to go and kill Peter Parker's wife, Mary Jane. Spider-Man followed him, only to be stopped by this new Venom. The two foes continued to battle high above on New York's rooftops. After catching Gargan off balance Spider-Man dropped a condemned building on Venom, ending the battle. Venom was then arrested, but later was able to escape prison.

As Venom, Mac Gargan is able to mimic the shape of his old costume's tail. Also, to learn more about Venom with Mac Gargan as his host, or about Mac Gargan when he went by Scorpion, click on the following link, http://marvel.com/universe/Venom_(Mac_Gargan).

To me it seems that symbiote was good at first. It was said that when it took over Spider-Man during the nights, that it would battle evil. Venom didn't become evil until it was confused and bonded with Eddie Brock who turned it evil. I thought that was pretty interesting. I think the movie Spider-Man 3 did a pretty good job a keeping to the basic storyline. A few details here and there were different, but the basic story was the same. I still wish that they would have focused more on just Venom in Spider-Man 3. You don't really get to see Venom in action until the like last 30 minutes of the movie.