Although the symbiote that created Venom has bonded with more than one character in the Marvel comics, TV shows, and movies, there's no doubt that Eddie Brock is the most famous host. Due to the recent and successful Venom movie, this Spider-Man antihero is back on everyone's radar. In fact, an incredible amount of people have seen the film, regardless of whether or not they actually liked it or not. Consequently, it's the perfect time to talk about some of the more unique and insane qualities of Eddie Brock's anatomy.
Of course, Brock is usually depicted as a physically imposing journalist. He doesn't naturally have unique talents that set him that far apart from other humans. As soon as the extraterrestrial symbiote bonded with his body, Brock garnered a set of strange qualities that are fairly specific to him. The symbiote that bonded with Brock was somewhat different from the rest of its species as it actually wanted to commit to its host versus just taking all of its adrenaline. This gave Brock some differing characters than the others who have hosted various symbiotes.
Eddie Brock has appeared in various incarnations and mediums. He first appeared in Web of Spider-Man #18 but didn't appear as Venom until a full two years later. Although he's been voiced by many voice actors, he's been portrayed on-screen by both Topher Grace and Tom Hardy. Regardless of the embodiment, Brock is always a unique character.
Here are the 20 Craziest Things About Eddie Brock's Body.
He's Bonded With More Than One Symbiote
The Venom symbiote is easily the most famous gooey extraterrestrial that has bonded with Eddie Brock, but it isn't the only one. At one stage, the Crime-Master forcibly bonded the Toxin symbiote to Eddie Brock after its original host had passed away.
Eddie then became Toxin and attempted to bring down the new version of Venom, Flash Thompson, who both of them strongly disliked.
Brock has become various characters due to both different symbiotes and the same ones having distinct reactions to his body. For example, after a remnant of the Venom symbiote combined with Brock's white blood cells, he became the very unique Anti-Venom. This version of the character had different powers than Venom and also had a non-sentient suit.
He Has Unlimited Biofluid Webbing
One of the most iconic powers that Venom grants Eddie Brock is his unlimited gooey biofluid webbing. Because the Venom symbiote first bonded with Spider-Man, many of Spider-Man's traits were absorbed by the symbiote and then transferred over to its next host. This means that Brock can shoot his biofluid webbing out of any part of his body in order to swing from tall buildings. Instead of the webbing being constructed by Spider-Man, it's produced organically from the symbiote's own mass.
Brock can also use his biofluid webbing as various weapons, as well as shields. They can also extend his mass in various shapes. Of course, Sony's Venom movie differs slightly from this original canon, both versions have given the character Spider-Man-like webbing.
He Can Replicate Any Fabric
The first time we saw the symbiote's ability to mimic street clothes was in the comic books. This occurred after the symbiote bonded with Spider-Man and formed a new outfit for him to wear. As soon as Peter Parker needed to walk outside, the symbiote's form shifted. This hid his Spider-Man identity and made Parker appear as if he were wearing normal clothing. The same has happened for Eddie Brock ever since the symbiote bonded with him. This is one of the many talents that the symbiote has given him.
Brock can basically change his clothing at will-- at least, if Venom allows him to do so.
Having an unlimited wardrobe at his beck-and-call has proven to be very useful, especially when he needs to avoid being caught.
In Spider-Man 3, Eddie Brock Was More Like Peter Parker
In an interview about Spider-Man 3, Topher Grace discussed how his version of Eddie Brock differed from the one in the comics. Traditionally, Eddie Brock has been portrayed as a larger, muscular man. Although he was initially smaller, the moment that Eddie found out that he had cancer, he built his body up to an intimidating size. But this wasn't the angle Grace and director Sam Raimi wanted to take the character.
They wanted his character to be more like the one in The Talented Mr. Ripley. This version of Brock would be a version of Peter Parker. Eddie was similar to Parker in almost every single way, except for how he conducted himself and how he dressed. The greater similarities ended up revealing the greater contrasts between the characters.
He Can Re-Grow Limbs
Symbiotes are similar to the mythical beast, the Hydra, due to the fact that they can constantly regrow their mass, even when part of it has been separated from their body.
Since the biofluid that makes up the Symbiote can mimic skins and fabrics, it can technically regrow limbs on bodies such as Brock's.
This trick can come in handy if Brock ever needed a new arm or leg. The Venom Symbiote did this with one of its other hosts as well. When it bonded with Flash Thompson, it actually regrew his legs. Thompson had lost both of his legs while serving as a soldier. Giving Thompson new legs let the Venom Symbiote become far more efficient than it would have been without them.
His Teeth Are Poisonous
If Venom's unlimited, shape-shifting biofluid webbing wasn't enough to make him a formidable opponent, his fangs certainly would. Not only are these massive teeth a dangerous thing to come across, but they're also poisonous. After all, "Venom" isn't just a name. Did anybody actually believe that those chompers were just for show?
If an adversary found themselves too close to Eddie Brock while he was Venom, they'd be risking a giant chunk being bitten from their bodies. Venom's teeth would also inject a toxin into that adversary's system at the same time. Their demise would be particularly painful in a number of ways.
Brock's Life Is Tied To Venom
Although the Venom Symbiote has given Eddie Brock some amazing powers, it also comes with a cost. First and foremost, Brock's life is tied to Venom's. If Venom passes away while bonded to Brock, the journalist will go with it. It's a good thing for Brock that Venom is highly resistant to harm and has few weaknesses. However, he has to keep Venom happy and healthy as he too could suffer the consequences. Eddie Brock's life is tied to Venom's in another way as well, due to the fact that Venom saved Brock from his demise.
Before Venom found Brock, he had been diagnosed with cancer.
Brock had to face his own mortality at that moment, but was saved from it when the Venom Symbiote came into his life.
He Faked His Own Demise
When Venom initially bonded with Eddie Brock in the comics, he was a downright supervillain. His dislike of Peter Parker and Spider-Man put him into direct conflict with the web-slinger on multiple occasions. Eventually, he was captured and sent to The Vault, a maximum security prison designed for superhumans.
Brock attempted to escape The Vault multiple times. However, it proved just too difficult for him. Each time he was sent back and punished for his attempts. Eventually, Brock successfully faked taking his own life. He was able to do so with the help of the superhuman abilities that the Symbiote gave him. He was then sent to the morgue, where he escaped.
His Natural Abilities Were Strengthed By The Symbiote
In the longest running and most famous interpretation of Eddie Brock, the character is portrayed by a particularly large and muscular man. Although this may not be the most realistic figure for a journalist and gossip-columnist, it is the one seen in the comics and most animated television shows. The origins of Brock's physique tie to being diagnosed with cancer. After he found it, he trained his body to become a thing of power.
Eddie Brock was a formidable force before he bonded with the Venom Symbiote.
His natural strength was then heightened beyond belief. The Symbiote gave him enhanced speed, agility, and superhuman strength. However, all of these traits were somewhat present, to begin with, which was one of the things that the Symbiote was attracted to.
He's Immune To The Spidey-Sense
The Venom Symbiote gained a lot of powerful abilities before he bonded with Eddie Brock because it first attached itself to Spider-Man. While physically connected to the Friendly Neighborhood web-slinger, it absorbed a lot of his most amazing traits. Among these traits, is its understanding of Spider-Man's spidey sense.
Since the Symbiote was able to get into the mind of Spider-Man, it could fully comprehend this power and thus bypass it when connected to another host. This means that Brock never has to worry about Spider-Man predicting what he's going to do before he does it. In fact, it nullifies Spider-Man's ability completely. This evens the playing field for the two characters and makes Venom one of Spider-man's most formidable opponents.
He's Highly Resistant To Injuries
Although Venom's name sounds like it would physically harm the person it bonds with, it actually gives them amazing powers. Sure, Symbiotes can absorb a person's adrenaline and cause them to be sick in some ways, but they also make their host somewhat impervious to injury. When attached to the Venom Symbiote, Eddie Brock can use this gooey black body to shield himself from attacks.
This is because Venom's body is resistant to blades as well as bullets.
It also acts as padding for physical blows, meaning that Brock can be kicked around and wouldn't get hurt. The Venom suit also allows Brock to breathe underwater, therefore he cannot be forcibly drowned. Additionally, the injuries that Brock does sustain can usually be healed by the Symbiote. All of these traits make Eddie Brock particularly strong.
He Can Detect Symbiotes Even When He Isn't Venom
Once someone is bonded with a Symbiote, it significantly changes their anatomy. First and foremost, it gives them an array of special powers. One of the powers that the Venom Symbiote gave to Eddie Brock was the ability to sense other Symbiotes. Venom can detect its offspring wherever they are, as well as when they are disguised as humans, objects, or animals. This power comes in handy when Brock has to track down Carnage or other harmful Symbiotes.
Even when Eddie Brock is separated from Venom, he can detect other Symbiotes because the complex alien lifeform has imprinted so much of itself onto him. However, it should be noted that there are some ways that a Symbiote can remain undetected by even the likes of Venom.
As Anti-Venom, He Could Cure Diseases
Eddie Brock became another formidable character after having spent years as Venom. This happened after Martin Li used his powers on Brock, causing his white blood cells to bond with the traces of the Symbiote that were left in his body after it departed. The event transformed him into Anti-Venom, who has even more impressive healing abilities than Venom. He was even able to regenerate his head after being shot. However, Anti-Venom also lives up to his name as he can not only detect when others are sick but also cleanse them.
On one occasion, he does this with Spider-Man.
He was successfully able to rid Spider-Man of the radiation in his body that gives him his powers-- while he was in the proximity of the web-slinger, at least.
Tom Hardy Played Both Eddie and Venom
Although some critics clearly don't like Sony's new Venom movie, most agree that the casting of Eddie Brock was perfect. After all, how could anyone dislike Tom Hardy? The dude has rocked it in such movies as The Dark Knight Rises, Mad Max: Fury Road, Inception, The Revenant, Warrior, and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. He brought his A-game to all of those performances, and did the same in Venom. Not only did Hardy become engulfed in the role of Brock, but he also voiced the character of Venom as well.
If you have issues with how either character sounded, you may have to blame Hardy.
Thanks to Hardy electing to voice the Symbiote character, we could sense the bond they had with one another. It connected the audience to the characters as well.
Venom Absorbed His Cancer
In the 2003 story "The Hunger" it was revealed that Eddie Brock had cancer before he bonded with the Venom Symbiote. Due to the Symbiote's powers, Brock was temporarily cured of the effects of the terrible disease. Although it didn't disappear from his system, it didn't harm him in any way. This was beneficial to Venom since cancer causes the release of adrenaline, which sustains a Symbiote.
However, this meant that Brock was reliant on the Venom suit to live. When the Symbiote left him, Brock passed away. Luckily, Spider-Man was able to convince the Symbiote to bond with Brock once more, reviving him. Even though the Symbiote left him again, Brock was bonded with Toxin as well as with a remnant of Venom that made him Anti-Venom. In both cases, Brock's cancer was absorbed again.
He Was Hit By A Car In his youth
Eddie Brock was raised in a suburban neighborhood outside of San Francisco. Like all great comic book characters, he had a rough childhood. He could never successful obtain his father's approval. This trait pushed him to become a journalist and build his body into a formidable tool.
What triggered his need for his father's approval was a car accident. This traumatic event happened when Brock was just a child. It ended up bankrupting his father, who needed to pay for the expensive medical bills in order to keep his son alive. This caused Brock's father, Carl, to resent his son in many ways, pushing the two apart. This also made Eddie seek approval from other people as well, whether it was his friends, bosses, or love interests.
Tom Hardy Wore An Ear-Piece So He Could Hear Venom
Tom Hardy clearly took his Eddie Brock and Venom performances very seriously. He actually recorded Venom's voice before each scene so he could genuinely react to it on camera, instead of having anyone else read his lines for him. Venom director Ruben Fleischer explained that Hardy would record both his lines for Brock and Venom before shooting each scene.
The sound department would play Venom's lines through an earpiece that Hardy wore in every scene.
This way, everyone knew the timing for each line and Hardy could react to them as if Venom were in his head, or standing in front of him.
He's Semi-Resistant To Telepathy
The Venom Symbiote gifted Eddie Brock many powers while the two were bonded, but one of the abilities it gave him is rarely discussed. This would be Brock's resistance to telepathy. While Brock and Venom are attached to one another, it's particularly difficult to infiltrate his mind. This makes sense, since Venom is already doing that to Brock and whoever else he attaches himself to. From a story perspective, there's no need for a third person to get in there as well. From an alien perspective, chances are human telepaths would have a harder time reading non-human minds.
There are exceptions to this rule, however. Extremely powerful telepaths such as Jean Grey or Charles Xavier can infiltrate Venom's mind, but it will be slightly more challenging for them to do so.
The Symbiote Imparted Spider-Man's Identity to him
When the Venom Symbiote first came to the planet Earth, its first host was none other than Spider-Man. The Friendly Neighborhood web-slinger went to investigate a lab where he accidentally was bonded with the alien. This bonding allowed the Symbiote to absorb all the necessary information and abilities of its host to live with him forever. After Spider-Man found out that the Symbiote intended to stay with him, he separated himself from it. The Venom Symbiote soon found Eddie Brock.
It not only gifted Brock with many of Spider-Man's abilities, but also the true identity of the web-slinger.
This came in handy for Brock, who wanted revenge on both Spider-Man and Peter Parker for various reasons.
Tom Hardy Controlled What Venom's Goo Did
Tom Hardy got a lot of freedom while shooting Venom. Director Rueben Fleischer even allowed him control over Venom's biofluid goo. For example, when the Venom goo is climbing over Brock's body, Hardy had to imagine it as it was created with CGI later on. He was given little to no direction on what exactly the goo would be doing. Therefore, he had complete control over what it did.
Hardy would react to his imaginary goo as it climbed over his face, through his fingers, and over his chest. The VFX team would animate the goo later in post-production. This process allowed Hardy to come up with some interesting improvisations that wouldn't have otherwise been included in the Venom film.
---
What do you think is the craziest fact about Eddie Brock's body in Venom? Let us know in the comments below!