Warning: contains spoilers for Venom #14!Over the past few years, Venom has come a long way as a character and one heartbreaking twist proves it. In Venom #14, Eddie Brock is pulled back to Earth, to do the bidding of Madyelene Pryor, the Goblin Queen. Using her new servant Chasm, Pryor strips away the last decade of Venom’s life, pushing a huge “reset” button and erasing years of character development and showing just how far Venom has progressed.
The issue, written by Al Ewing, illustrated by Bryan Hitch, inked by Andrew Currie, colored by Alex Sinclair and lettered by Clayton Cowles, is a Dark Web tie-in. Madyelene Pryor has enlisted the help of Ben Reilly, who, thanks to experimentation by the Beyond Corporation, now calls himself Chasm. These two seek vengeance against the X-Men and Spider-Man. Unable to attack Krakoan territory, Pryor brings Eddie Brock, who had previously been traveling through space and time, back to Earth; Pryor intends to use Venom to breach the X-Men’s treehouse in New York. Venom demands to know what is going on, but Chasm quickly attacks him, eating his memories–including those of his beloved son Dylan. After Chasm is finished, Venom has no memories of Dylan, the King in Black or literally anything that happened to him over the past decade. Stripped of the qualities that have defined him recently, Venom returns to being a hate and vengeance-driven monster who likes to eat brains. After being dispatched by Synch, Venom becomes confused and even angrier, turning Venom into a powerful and horrifying red symbiote.
Over the last decade, Venom has undergone a radical change, shifting from a vengeance-driven monster to a hero who turned down a spot on the Avengers. During writer Donny Cates and artist Ryan Stegman’s epic run on the character, they redefined him for a new era, introducing not only his long-lost son Dylan, but also Knull, the terrifying King in Black. As the dark god of the symbiotes, Knull launched an all-out invasion of Earth, which Venom helped repel. After Knull’s defeat, Eddie Brock ascended to the role of King in Black, with his son Dylan bonding to Eddie’s Venom symbiote. As the new King in Black, Eddie left Earth, attempting to steer the symbiotes in a better direction, yet he ended up meeting future Kings in Black, including Meridius.
Venom Has Come a Long Way
But now Eddie is back on Earth with no memories of these epic developments; he has been reduced to a brain-eating, slobbering mess–a far cry from the Venom fans have come to know and love in recent years. Venom was created to give Spider-Man a truly terrifying foe, one who could be viewed as his dark opposite; their first conflicts are the stuff of Marvel legends. Yet, creators came to understand Venom had potential as a hero, and throughout the 90s and 2000s, Venom took baby steps in this direction. Under Cates and Stegman’s direction, Venom flourished, realizing his potential; a good part of this is thanks to the introduction of his son Dylan, which gave Eddie a truly higher purpose to fight for.
The Real Venom Will Return
And now, with Dark Web raging, all of this development has been for naught. Seeing Venom reduced once again to a brain-eating, rage-filled monster is jarring. The issue makes it clear that what Chasm did can be undone, meaning Venom will get his memories back; he will remember Dylan once again and remember what he is fighting for. With one heart-breaking development, Marvel has shown how far Venom has come as a hero.
Venom #14 is on sale now from Marvel Comics!