Venom Week: Ranking Venom’s Comic Hosts
by Tony Thornley
Eddie Brock is not the only character who’s been the host of the Venom symbiote. He may not even be the best host. So how do we rank the symbiote’s hosts in Marvel’s prime universe? Check it out from worst to best below!
(NOTE: We’re not ranking every host the Venom symbiote’s had, but the major ones.)
7. Angelo Fortunato
The spoiled son of a mob boss, Angelo became Venom after the symbiote was separated from Eddie. He was Venom for a single story, then the symbiote dropped him mid-swing. He’s really just a footnote in the history of the character, setting up a long term story with one of the best hosts of the symbiotes.
6. Lee Price
Another crime boss, Lee Price was significantly more successful at his attempt to be Venom. Ultimately, his time was short lived as well. He really was just there to set up Eddie Brock’s return as Venom, and giving Eddie a new recurring rogue in Price, who later bonded with the Mania symbiote. He’s definitely better than Angelo, but not by much.
5. Dylan Brock
Look, I’m not saying Dylan is a bad character. Honestly, his introduction in the 2016 volume of Venom made Eddie Brock more interesting than he had been in at least twenty years. However, his time as a host of the Venom symbiote has felt PAINFULLY temporary. He’s a good character, but he really needs to stand on his own to stand out and reach his full potential as a character. Hopefully that will be the end result of Venom War.
4. Eddie Brock
A certain type of Venom fan is going to call for my head for this. Simply put though, Eddie isn’t a BAD character or a bad Venom. But he’s kind of not the best. He’s almost always been the symbiote’s second choice. When Peter pushed it away, he sulked away to Eddie, creating Venom. He’s been separated from the symbiote multiple times since- at the end of his first ongoing series (technically a series of miniseries, but they were continuously in publication), in Marvel Knights Spider-Man, at a couple points during Donny Cates’ run- and so on.
3. Peter Parker
More than any other host, the symbiote is far and away the most obsessed with Peter Parker. And really, when the symbiote gets along with Peter, they’re actually pretty great. The alien costume makes the already Amazing Spider-Man even more Amazing-er. The issue is that the symbiote often pushes Peter too far, but when it works, it’s magic.
2. Mac Gargan
When it comes to villainous Venoms, Mac Gargan, formerly known as Scorpion, comes in second to none. He’s like the classic version of the character, without even an ounce of morals. Though he did act as an anti-hero, it was never really by choice. As Venom, he was brutal, violent, and sometimes deadly. Even when he was technically on the side of angels as a Thunderbolt, he still tore several unregistered vigilantes to pieces. And in his time as one of Norman Osborn’s Dark Avengers, he helped try to take over the world.
1. Flash Thompson
There’s a reason why Marvel keeps coming back to the Agent Venom concept even with Eddie Brock wearing the symbiote now. After decades of Flash Thompson basically just being set dressing in the Spider-Man Universe, he was given a heroic identity and purpose. Sure, he had to suffer before he got there- becoming an amputee during military service- but bonded to the symbiote, Flash became an instantly iconic hero, with a dark side that’s perfect for black ops heroics.
