Venom Week: Just Who Is ‘All-New Venom’? (Anton’s Guesses)

Welcome to the table,

What’s up Venom-Heads! Venom-fans… Venom Diesels… you guys… reading this thing about Venom. Hi.

Anyways, allegedly the final Tom Hardy Venom Sony movie, Venom: The Last Dance, will soon be unleashed upon the world like a sentient brain-eating black slime unleashed upon an unsuspecting astronaut. While the cinematic version might be calling it quits, the comic book version is going super strong. So strong in fact that this December, a whole new Venom duo is coming to the pages of Marvel Comics near you… if you are the kind of person who is near Marvel comics on the regular.

Thanks to some Doctor Who style time jumping shenanigans, a fight has broken out between Eddie Brock and his son Dylan over the symbiote, and because no one wants to deal with that kind of nonsense, the symbiote is looking for a new host to latch onto so it does not have to sit in family therapy or deal with that always awkward Thanksgiving dinner.

While the fine folks over at Marvel are keeping quiet about just who will wear the grumpy goo this go around, your old pal Anton has heard our good friend Scott Redmond (think of Scott as the Amazingly Spectacular Spider-Man) has some theories. While those theories are probably really great I (think of me as Peter B. Parker) am going to share some theories of my own because we are a site that reports on comics and little plastic dragons and this is the kind of thing we get to do on the day-to-day.

First up…

Stilt-Man!

Now wait a second, I thought the Punisher killed him? Well maybe! But this is comic books baby! Anyone can come back and I think I have an idea of just how they could do it.

You see after being humiliated over and over again, our boy, Wilbur “Stilt-Man” Day found himself at his lowest point… six feet under after being killed by the Punisher during the Civil War saga. However, what may have happened is that unknown to everyone else, a little blob of the Venom symbiote, seeking a vulnerable and desperate host that it could control if things went sideways with any of the millions of things it found itself caught up in, bonded with Wilbur just before his death. With its regenerative abilities, that little good-goo could have kept Wilbur’s body from completely crossing over to the other side. Either the symbiote’s healing factor could have revived him in the moments after death, or it could have wrapped his vital bits in a state of stasis, repairing the damage once he was buried and then keeping him as a sort of sleeper agent until the time came for him to burst forth and avoid the family feud he was caught up in.

The Venom symbiote could then fuse with the Stilt-Man stilt suit, transforming his stilts into living extensions and amplifying his strength, durability, and agility beyond anything old Wilbur had ever seen before! Once resurrected with enhanced powers and an edgy new edge, Venom Stilt-Man could then head back to the criminal underworld with his need to find redemption and the symbiote murder fancy to go hunt down and stop criminals in their tracks.

Likelihood of happening: I mean… how many times has someone come back in comics?

Could they make a Funko POP! out of it: 100% this hits Hot Topic Shelves

What would his code name be: After the always probable reset, he could go by Daddy Long Legs! How great is that!

Arcade

“He’s a goofball in a suit that is way into video games, so how is that going to work Anton?” You may ask. Well, let me tell you, dear reader! So Arcade, the notorious creator of devilish deathtraps and torture games could finally reach a level of boredom not seen since I tried to play the newest Warhammer 40k video game, and just be over the whole… death thing. When you beat all your favorite games you sometimes just need to take a break, go outside, and touch some grass. So with that in mind, Arcade could grow tired of all the murders and need to build bigger and better death traps and go on vacation to some low-tech location to reconnect with nature.

While there, he gets attacked by the Sasquatch, not Walter Langkowski from Alpha Flight, but an actual Sasquatch, and gets pummeled into the dirt. As he is shivering in the cold on a remote mountaintop, the Venom symbiote wriggles about after Eddie and Dylan have their father-son fight happens upon the brutalized Arcade and bonds with his broken body. As the Venom symbiote merged with his body, Arcade experienced a transformation that not only enhanced his physical abilities but also shifts his perspective to one of “maybe it’s a lot harder to keep things alive, maybe saving people is a bigger challenge than destroying them.”

So maybe in this case it’s the first time Arcade has felt empowered by the human spirit itself. He does not need gadgets or traps, he does not need saw blades or death drills, he just needs his new goo friend and his inner strength. The game is no longer crush the little guy, but save as many as he can. Using his keen intellect Arcade adopts the mantel of a hero, cynical and grumpy as always, but still serving the greater good. He starts to hunt down those who would harm the little guy, setting complex webs to trap them in using his newly found powers as a noble nighttime crime fighter.

Likelihood of happening: It’s totally unexpected and anything is possible.

Could they make a Funko POP! out of it: 100% this gets a Target exclusive and a LEGO set.

What would his code name be: After the status quo returns my dude becomes the Trap Door Spider!

Luke Cage

The honorable Mayor of New York?! Yep! Hear me out! So after fighting against Wilson Fisk’s corrupt regime, dealing with the Viglianti Act, and just generally having to be in the public eye and on his “best behavior” Luke is out for a run one night and the Venom symbiote confronts him. Here is Luke Cage, well-known and respected public figure, but he can’t actually be a hero in the streets. The everyman hero he has always been, the guy who protects the little guy.  I could see Luke initially saying no, but thinking it over and having something irritate him and he comes in ready to rumble but he’s “in charge.”

I think this has a lot of play because you get Luke already having relationships with most of the city, and then as the power corrupts him someone sonic blasts him or there is a fire, people think Luke has been Venom all along, and he loses his Mayor status and has to deal with this whole fall out leading to “Venom Un Caged!” how great of a title is that? Like, as far-fetched as I was trying to keep all these theories I’m really warming to the idea this could be a thing.

[Editor’s Note: Luke Cage is actually one of several suspects that All-New Venom writer Al Ewing has pointed to. Anton didn’t know this when he wrote this entry, but he may have nailed it.]

Likelihood of happening: I give it 50% chance.

Could they make a Funko POP! out of it: I would buy one if they did.

What would his code name be: Venom, Un Caged! … the fact I could only come up with Venom is worrying me. If I’m correct, I’m sorry Scotty.

 

Blade

So Blade has recently become possessed by Varnae the first vampire lord. This makes him an expert in sharing his mind and body with another entity. I could easily see Blade wanting to be even more of a hero rather than an anti-hero thanks to his time at the Buddhist temple in Thailand, Blade comes back to the city and while patrolling finds himself coming across the Venom symbiote. Being tired and worn from his experience with Varnae and all those pesky vampires he unleashed Blade and the symbiote bond and becomes a terrifying team.

The symbiote would bulk up Blade’s already formidable skills, and make him an even more unstoppable force against both supernatural threats and everyday villains. The bond between them is unlike any other symbiote partnership because Blade’s mental fortitude, honed and hardened due to the whole situation with Varnae, would allow him to keep the symbiote in check. On the other side of the coin the Venom symbiote would enhance Blade’s abilities making him even more powerful than the vampires he hunts.

My biggest reason for this is a Venom logo with fangs feels like a fantastic addition to the Marvel universe and I mean, it’s Blade!

Likelihood of happening: As cool as it would be, Blade already having to deal with another voice in his head could easily go into the “never again” territory so this probably wont happen.

Could they make a Funko POP! out of it: they make one of everything, so yes.

What would his code name be: Spider Blade! sounds like something I came up with in elementary school…. you guys I am super worried it’s Luke Cage now.

Mephisto

Strap in! So this is how it could go. In a surprising true believer twist, Mephisto becomes the new Venom after being betrayed by forces within Hell. He is stripped of much of his power and stranded on Earth. Where, you ask? Hells Kitchen!

While in Hell’s Kitchen Mephisto encounters the Venom symbiote, which has also been out and about avoiding violent Father/Son time. The symbiote sensing the power within Mephisto and his potential for greatness bonds with him. Mephisto sees this as a stepping stone to getting his top dog spot in hell back. The symbiote, having developed a sense of morality over the years begins to influence Mephisto’s perspective of humanity, while Mephisto’s knowledge of the occult, being the actual freaking lord of hell, gives the symbiote new magic abilities. Together, they form a new version of Venom, one that protects innocents from supernatural threats while battling forces from Hell and the space beyond spaces!

Mephisto would start off totally self-serving, but slowly he begins to see humanity differently. The symbiote’s memories of previous hosts, combined with its growing bond with Mephisto lead him down a path of rising angel and eventually into the realm of the good guys.

This is fun because you could have people like Doctor Strange and Spider-Man initially distrust him, but as the Devil Goo duo continues to save lives and fight for justice, heroes begin to recognize his role as a force for good. Over time, Mephisto’s cynical view of the mortal world softens, showing that even the most malevolent beings can change through gradual, reluctant growth. Then something horrible happens like he gets sent to hell and the fire separates him Mephisto and the symbiote and now you have a really powerful entity who just wants his weird slime friend back and will wreck all creation to see that it’s okay.

Likelihood of happening: I would pay so much for this comic. I would pay money to write this comic honestly.

Could they make a Funko POP! out of it: Are you kidding me? There would be variants!

What would his code name be: Lord Venom.

So there. you go. Some totally logical and grounded guesses on who the next Venom is going to be. I for one am looking forward to finding out who Scotty picks and eventually learning with all you fine folks who it actually is. For now Marvel Comics is keeping quiet on who will star in Ewing and Carlos Gomez‘s All-New Venom series.

Until next time, it’s got to be Stilt-Man right? Or maybe Luke Cage pretending to be Stilt-man?