While Venom’s weaknesses are well noted as being sound and fire-related, he is actually completely immune to Ghost Rider’s deadliest attack. With hellfire in his arsenal, fans would think that Ghost Rider would make quick work of Venom, but when the two faced off in the dark, demon-filled sewers of New York City, Venom proved to be too strong for Ghost Rider to handle.
In Ghost Rider & Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance #6 by Howard Mackie and Adam Kubert, Ghost Rider and Johnny Blaze – who in this series are separate entities who work together as a team – are fighting a horde of demons alongside Spider-Man when they are attacked by Venom. Venom, at this point, is still hellbent on killing Spider-Man and making him pay for the hurt he caused both Eddie Brock and his symbiote. However, Venom is getting in the way of an incredibly important mission, so Ghost Rider decides to pull all the stops and take him down. Unfortunately for the Spirit of Vengeance, his ultimate attack completely backfires.
Ghost Rider grabs Venom and locks him in place with his Penance Stare as he attempts to burn Venom’s soul with hellfire. While Venom finds himself in pain, he isn’t completely incapacitated by the move. Ghost Rider is taken aback by Venom’s strength, noting the ineffectiveness of the Penance Stare is due to, “This costume of his… it is alive… alien… reacting to the Penance Stare in an unknown way…”. Just as Ghost Rider realizes his deadliest attack isn’t going to work against Venom, the Penance Stare backfires and creates a huge explosion, one which knocks Ghost Rider out cold and leaves Venom completely unharmed.
There have been a number of instances where the Penance Stare hasn’t worked against an opponent due to the victim’s inability to distinguish their actions being right from wrong, with Deadpool being the prime example. However, never has this move backfired so dramatically, as not only did Ghost Rider’s Penance Stare have little to no effect on Venom, but in his attempt to use it against him, Ghost Rider himself was gravely injured.
While there are other ways Ghost Rider could defeat Venom with the many hellish powers he has in his arsenal, this instance gave Venom the leg up he needed in their battle. Venom’s main target was Spider-Man, with Ghost Rider only in the way of his prey. Ghost Rider tried to make quick work of Venom with the Penance Stare rather than wasting time-fighting him hand-to-hand. Ironically, if he had taken the time to battle Venom the old-fashioned way, Ghost Rider likely would have won, but instead, he learned the hard way that Venom is completely immune to Ghost Rider’s deadliest attack.