He may be one of the coolest characters in Marvel Comics, but the way that Venom came up with his name is downright silly. In the character's 2018 film, “Venom” is actually the name of an alien symbiote who bonds with disgraced reporter Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) during an alien invasion. Thanks to Venom’s alien powers, Brock gains superhuman strength, speed, healing powers — and an appetite for brains — as long as they’re joined. In exchange, Brock’s human body, which is a perfect match for Venom, allows the alien to survive on Earth. Over time, their partnership grows and they begin telling the criminals they hunt, “We are Venom.”
Except… that’s not the way Venom came up with his name in the original comic book storyline. Film adaptations have been known to take major liberties with their source material, and in the case of Venom, the producers rewrote much of Venom’s mythology, even eliminating Brock’s main nemesis Spider-Man from the story entirely. Although this may have disappointed some fans, when they why Brock first chose to call himself “Venom,” they might be grateful for at least some of the changes.
When creators David Michelinie and Todd McFarlane introduced Eddie Brock in The Amazing Spider-Man #300, he was revealed to be an ex-reporter for The Daily Globe, a rival newspaper to Peter Parker’s Daily Bugle. Seeking to make a name for himself, Eddie once used a series of anonymous phone tips from someone claiming to be the serial killer Sin Eater to write a popular exposé for his paper. However, Spider-Man soon caught the real killer, discrediting Eddie as a reporter. Furious, Eddie blamed Spider-Man for his now-tarnished career. Unable to work for legitimate newspapers, Eddie was forced to write sensationalistic tabloid stories. He felt the garbage stories he was spewing out were "venom," laying the groundwork for his awesome new name.
Around this time, his wife decided to leave him, his father disowned him, and he learned he had terminal cancer. Convinced the entire world was out to get him, Eddie goes to a church and plans to commit suicide. As luck would have it, however, the church is also the place where Spider-Man recently abandoned his living symbiote costume — and the creature decides to bond with Eddie, seeing as how they both hated Spider-Man.
Realizing they need a cool name to embark on their new anti-Spider-Man crusade, Eddie and his alien partner come up with one: Venom. Since he blamed Spider-Man for his lousy job, he decided “Venom” would be a great way to show his hatred for the webslinger. Note to Eddie: if you have to spend that much time explaining your name, it kind of loses its dramatic impact. While Eddie has toyed with different aliases (there was a point in time where he got a different symbiote suit and called himself "Anti-Venom") he always goes back to his first choice. Eddie’s creative methods may be questionable, but coming up with the iconic name Venom shows that at least he gets good results.