Venom opened last Thursday to lukewarm reviews, with critics citing the movie’s lack of logic and weak character development, leading to an approval rating of 32% on Rotten Tomatoes. However, fans have been disagreeing with the critics, and the movie has broken the October opening weekend record by more than $20 million as a result.

The movie’s popularity is hardly a surprise, though. The symbiote has had a large following ever since its introduction as Spider-Man’s enemy in the Marvel comics back in 1984. Eddie Brock made his cinematic debut back in 2007 in Spider-Man 3 and the Venom symbiote made a cameo appearance in the trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man 2. But this standalone film in Sony’s Universe of Marvel Characters marks the villain’s biggest mainstream break yet.

The Venom symbiote’s first host in the Marvel universe is Spider-Man, and is initially a sentient alien costume, but it is perhaps best known for its association with Eddie Brock. The symbiote and its offspring have also taken over plenty other psyches and bodies throughout the comics, boosting the aliens’ popularity even further. Before you read the article, keep in mind that there are spoilers for the new Venom movie as well as some for the comics. There are also spoilers for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, particularly for Avengers: Infinity War, and other related comic books. After all, Venom is closely associated with Spider-Man, so we’d be remiss not to talk about our favorite web-slinging hero.Without further ado, here are 25 Crazy Fan Redesigns Better Than Venom.

Venom VS Spider-Man

Venom is perhaps best known in conjunction with Spider-Man, but sadly neither Tom Holland, Andrew Garfield, nor Tobey Maguire are in the new movie. However, Jebedai Couture has inked some astonishing works featuring a Venom-Spidey showdown. The tension is especially apparent thanks to the high level of detail in Spider-Man’s face, even with the mask on. He looks a bit beaten up, so let’s hope that Spidey ends up okay.

Unfortunately, we can’t find the original post because the account is deactivated, but the artist has plenty of other amazing art included in his portfolio.

College Venom

Tom Hardy has reached his forties now, and his portrayal of Eddie Brock is a grown man as a result, much like the original comics.

What would Venom be like if Eddie were a young adult?

In mangamie’s “Marvel College” project, various Marvel characters are now college students. Now instead of an investigative journalist, Eddie seems more like the English major who pens incendiary op-eds in the school paper and constantly documents everything with an edgily souped-up vintage camera. It could also make the dynamic between Venom and Spider-Man all the more interesting if they’re closer in age.

Venom Black Panther

Thanks to the 2018 movie of the same name, the iconic Black Panther has seen another surge in popularity. T’Challa was even a veritable scene-stealer when he made his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut in Captain America: Civil War.

Sadly, he’s one of the folks disintegrated by Thanos in Infinity War. Perhaps he’ll make a comeback with a symbiote, like in this drawing by junkome. Sure, the chances of that actually happening are slim to none, but combining an alien symbiote with the powers of the heart-shaped herb is an awe-inspiring and fear-inducing concept to toy with nonetheless.

She-Venom

If you didn’t know already, Anne Weying becomes She-Venom when the symbiote bonds with her in the comics. She-Venom does make a brief appearance in the Venom movie before Anne transfers the symbiote back to Eddie, but she deserves even more screen time, like in this piece by Chronorin.

It’d be interesting to explore Anne and Eddie’s differing experiences with the symbiote.

She does meet an unfortunate end due to the trauma of having bonded with the symbiote, so let’s hope she gets a happier ending on the big screen.

Venom Transformation

The internet freaked out over the character designs when the first trailer dropped, especially over Eddie’s transformation into Venom. The process goes by pretty quickly, but this piece by Royy_Ledger gives us a glimpse of what Eddie looks like just as the symbiote is about to take over.

In the movie, it kind of seems like Eddie’s just being covered up by a sentient suit, but in this drawing, you can see his body beginning to meld with the symbiote, with his skin giving away to alien tissue. The eyes are the cherry on top of this creepy sundae.

Venom With The Infinity Gauntlet

Clayton Crain is a professional comic book artist who has worked on Marvel projects, but this painting is too good to pass up. As if Venom weren’t powerful enough, Crain has drawn the creature with the Infinity Gauntlet, ready to obliterate half of the lives in the universe with just a snap of its fingers.

Let’s just be glad that the symbiote isn’t bonded with Thanos while in possession of the Gauntlet.

Venom is usually associated with dark, grim colors, but the multicolored lights of the Infinity Stones enhance rather than undercut the symbiote’s authority.

Venom Superman

The Venom symbiote has been in several alternate Marvel universes, so who’s to say it can’t cross over to DC? Charddskinnylee imagines an alternate universe in which the symbiote has bonded with Superman.

The Kryptonian superhero is next to invincible and has a super strong moral compass, so in order for the symbiote to take over, it would really need to dig deep for Superman’s darkest traits. Or perhaps this is an alternate timeline in which Superman willingly gives up control, giving into his most sinister impulses and teaming up with the symbiote.

Venom Ghost Rider

The 2007 Ghost Rider movie and its 2011 sequel—both starring Nicolas Cage as the titular superhero—aren’t what you’d call the best in the genre. That said, now that the film rights to Ghost Rider have been reverted to Marvel Studios, maybe Johnny Blaze will get another chance to shine.

Johnny doesn’t get completely lost when transforming into Ghost Rider, so maybe he’ll be able to fight off the symbiote.

Mephisto bonds Johnny with the demon Zarathos since he fails to get Johnny’s soul, which makes for an interesting dynamic if Johnny ever bonds with the Venom symbiote, like in this piece by junkome.

Female Venom

She-Venom already exists in canon as the result of Anne Weying bonding with the Venom symbiote, but this work by alecyl imagines a world in which the symbiote bonds with a woman from the get-go, instead of with Eddie Brock.

Having the symbiote bond with a woman would put a female character at the forefront in a genre dominated by men. Perhaps Dora Skirth actually survives being exposed to a symbiote, and comes back as a possible ally for Venom’s next adventure, strongly hinted in the post-credits scene as a clash with Carnage.

Tom VS Tom

Tom Holland’s take on Spider-Man in the MCU has delighted fans and critics alike, so it’s no surprise that folks like raichu.copper would want Venom to face off with a revamped Spidey. The details in this piece are stunning, complete with passersby in the background taking horizontal videos of the altercation.

The physical difference between the two is huge, making us worry about Spidey’s safety.

Plus, Peter isn’t exactly feeling well after the events of Infinity War, so he’s not really in the best position to fight Venom at the moment.

Venom Spider-Gwen

Gwen Stacy’s unfortunate passing has long been a point of contention among fans of both the comics and of Marc Webb’s series. In an alternate universe, the radioactive spider bites Gwen instead of Peter Parker, leading her to become Spider-Gwen.

She-Venom-1 has created a piece that merges Spider-Gwen with the Venom symbiote, and she looks positively scary. She still has her iconic white hood, but everything about her has jarring angles now, and even her hands and feet are claws.

Venom VS Anti-Venom

With the limited runtime of a movie, it’s obviously impossible to stuff a ton of characters from the original comics. Maybe Anti-Venom—another one of Venom’s “offspring”—could make a cameo at some point, resulting in a showdown like the one in this piece by thorup.

In the original story, Mac Gargan eventually becomes the new Venom and attacks Eddie.

However, the symbiote tries to reunite with Eddie, who ends up becoming Anti-Venom due to a new symbiote created by the remnants of Venom and the white blood cells in his body.

Venom Batman

Another potential crossover with the DC Universe is Venom Batman, drawn here by Algiark.

Batman’s already a formidable force without any superpowers of his own, relying on intense training and advanced technology. Bonding with the symbiote would certainly make his enemies cower. Or he might actually join forces with his enemies with a symbiote feeding off of the darkest impulses in his heart. After all, Batman has had to bring himself back from the brink before. So let’s just hope that Superman would be there to prevent disaster by mentioning Martha again.

Mayday Parker

Mayday Parker, aka Spider-Girl, has yet to make an appearance on the silver screen, but she’s been kicking villain butt in the comics. Even though she’s yet to appear in any movies, she’s been wildly popular with fans like Hunter407, who has created this mesmerizing piece of Venom Mayday in black and red.

Peter and Mary Jane were already super worried about May being Spider-Girl, trying to hide their past from her. They would most likely be devastated to hear that their daughter has bonded with one of Spider-Man’s most menacing enemies.

Venom Joker

Yet another frightening Marvel-DC crossover idea? Venom Joker, as drawn by Anny-D. Joker has already shown time and time again how little sympathy he has for others, a trait that makes him all the more menacing.

Adding the Venom symbiote to the mix would be an absolute nightmare.

Spider-Man and Batman would have to team up to fight two of their worst enemies. They might also want to brainstorm a game plan with their other superhero buddies. We’re hoping Venom Joker don’t get access to the Infinity Gauntlet.

Lasher, Riot, And Phage

The symbiote Riot appears in the movie and bonds with Carlton Drake, the main antagonist, but there are plenty of other symbiotes that have yet to be featured. Two of those symbiotes include Lasher and Phage, drawn here by HellMivenaro.

In the comics, the Life Foundation tries to create super-cops, and bonds its best security guards with the seeds of Venom. These five symbiotes have relatively short-lived appearances. Given the changes made to Venom and Riot for the movie, maybe they can have even more significant roles in a potential sequel.

Venom Batman VS Spider-Man

As a highly imaginative addition to a Marvel-DC crossover, Talez01 pits Venom Batman against Spider-Man in a distressingly one-sided battle. Batman has shown that he can hold his own fighting crime both alone and with the Justice League, even though he has no superpowers. Spidey versus Batman would already be quite a sight to behold, but add in the Venom symbiote?

Things aren’t looking great for Peter Parker.

He’d better enlist the help of both the Avengers and the Justice League-- maybe even with a side of the Defenders for good luck.

Marvel Symbiotes

If the Venom symbiote bonds with supervillains, the good guys are going to have to team up. But what if multiple good guys join forces with the symbiotes instead? ShadetheMystic gives us a look into a dark alternative reality in which Iron Man, the Hulk, Captain America, Daredevil and Wolverine have bonded with these aliens.

The most heart-wrenching new villain would have to be Cap, the moral center of the Avengers who has fought against every evil imaginable. And poor Bruce Banner—now he also has to grapple with a symbiote, too.

April Parker

Mayday Parker doesn’t bond with a symbiote in the comics, but she does have a clone named April Parker, drawn here by thelivingmachine02. The kicker?

April is a Symbiote Hybrid, which grants her the powers of both Spider-Girl and Venom.

Thankfully, April, aka Mayhem, is largely on the good guys’ side. She becomes a vigilante who, unlike other superheroes, was totally down to stop villains by any means necessary. She’s no longer alive in canon, but if she ever makes a cinematic appearance, hopefully she’ll stick with the good guys.

Venom Deadpool

Deadpool is one of the most popular antiheroes in pop culture, so it’s no wonder that fans like Vinz El Tabanas have merged him with the Venom symbiote. Maybe Deadpool’s ability to break the fourth wall would make it easier for him to stay in control of the symbiote and hopefully keep his sense of humor.

Regardless of the ramifications, it’s good to see that at least Venom Deadpool still retains his fondness for Mexican food, although he might now be a little more tactless when trying to get a taco.