By now, we’ve all seen the trailer for Sony’s Venom 3. The one thing everyone’s talking about is the Venom horse.
The Venom 3 Trailer
The third and purportedly final film in the Venom franchise (barring the possibility of Hardy’s Venom finally running into Andrew Garfield or Tom Holland’s Web-Slingers), Venom: The Last Dance follows Eddie and Venom on their latest adventure when Earth is invaded by symbiotes from Venom’s home world.
The trailer for Venom: The Last Dance presents a tone every bit as wacky and darkly slapstick as the first two Venom films, with one of the most memorable moments coming when the Venom symbiote bonds with a horse, galloping through a desert valley with Eddie hanging on for dear life.
Venom in the Comics
While a Venom Horse fits right in with the tone established by the Venom franchise, the alien symbiotes of the Marvel Universe are fully capable of bonding with any form of sentient life – and bond the Venom symbiote has in the comics.
In addition to the Venom symbiote’s famous bonds with Peter Parker and Eddie Brock in the pages of Marvel Comics, it has also had numerous other human hosts, including Deadpool, Multiple Man, Carol Danvers a.k.a. Captain Marvel, Spider-Gwen, Flash Thompson, Johnny Storm a.k.a. the Human Torch, X-23, and Groot, Drax, and Rocket Raccoon of the Guardians of the Galaxy (via Marvel.com).
Additionally, Mac Gargan a.k.a. Scorpion eventually becomes Venom in the comics, with Eddie Brock’s girlfriend Anne Weying also bonding with the Venom symbiote as She-Venom, as well. However, this only scratches the surface of the various human hosts Venom (who has one of the best healing abilities in the Marvel universe) has bonded with in the comics.
Other Human Hosts
Other humans have also been attached to the Venom symbiote for brief or extended periods in the comics, either in Marvel’s mainline Earth-616 reality or in various alternate-reality storylines.
These include Wolverine, Hawkeye, American soldiers Lee Price and Patricia Robertson, Kree warrior Tel-Kar, mafia son Angelo Fortunato, sorcerer Kultan Gath, and Doctor Octopus (taking on the moniker of “Superior Venom” during his Superior Spider-Man phase). Also included among Venom’s hosts are The Hulk, John Walker (a.k.a. U.S. Agent), Frank Castle (a.k.a. The Punisher), Mercurio the 4D Man, Quentin Beck (a.k.a. Mysterio), Wilson Fisk (a.k.a. the Kingpin), and Peter Parker’s clone and one-time Spider-Man successor Ben Reilly.
Additionally, the Venom symbiote also bonded with General Thunderbolt Ross in his Red Hulk form at one point, with Venom’s most recent host being none other than Eddie and Anne Weying’s son, Dylan Brock.
Non-Human Hosts
The comics have also featured some non-human hosts for the Venom symbiote, most famously the Venom-bonded T-Rex seen in the Old Man Logan story arc, with Venom Island also including a Venom T-Rex.
The symbiote has also bonded with a dog named Samson, the loyal dog of General Brad Dodge, while the Web of Venom: Venom Unleashed comics story also focuses on a canine version of Venom, and Avengers Forever also includes ants as Venom symbiote hosts of the animal kingdom.
With so many different hosts in the comics, the Venom symbiote has also been equally prolific in finding a variety of hosts on TV and cinematically, as well.
Venom in TV and Film
Spider-Man: The Animated Series adapts the well-known Venom origin story of the symbiote first bonding with Peter Parker and then Eddie Brock, while 2007’s Spider-Man 3 also includes both Tobey Maguire’s Peter Parker and Topher Grace’s Eddie Brock as the symbiote’s Earthly hosts. Meanwhile, when it comes to the contemporary Venom movies, Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock is just one of many hosts that Venom takes on after his arrival on Earth.
When Venom (one of the taller Marvel characters) first lands in Malaysia, he is taken in as a specimen by the Life Foundation in their headquarters in San Francisco. The Life Foundation uses a homeless woman named Maria (Melora Walters) as a test subject to bond Venom to, with Venom then jumping to Eddie Brock to escape the lab after Eddie uncovers the Life Foundation’s illicit experiments.
Venom spends most of the movie bonded with Eddie, though they are separated by sonic waves in a lab, with Venom briefly attaching himself to a dog as Eddie goes on the run from the Life Foundation. Venom then bonds with Eddie’s former fiancée Anne Weying (Michelle Williams), with Eddie and Venom then re-bonding to stop the plot of the Riot-bonded Carlton Drake (Riz Ahmed) of bringing an army of symbiotes to Earth. While Venom has multiple different hosts in his eponymous solo movie, Venom: Let There Be Carnage is where Venom really starts exploring other hosts apart from Eddie Brock.
When Eddie and Venom finally have a falling out over the latter’s appetite for human brains, Venom bonds with a homeless man before jumping over to a woman on a bicycle. Venom then jumps to another man in a gay night club who ultimately isn’t able to handle their symbiosis before latching onto a woman in the same club. After Venom bonds with another man after leaving the club, their symbiosis also goes south right as Venom arrives in the convenience store of Mrs. Chen (Peggy Lu) and subsequently bonds with her. However, with Carnage (Woody Harrelson) and Shriek (Naomi Harris) on the loose, Mrs. Chen ultimately ends up being the last of Venom’s secondary hosts, with Anne convincing Venom to combine with her again in order to re-bond with Eddie and put a stop to Venom and Shriek.
The Venom movies also show the symbiote’s well-known ability to replicate, with a fragment of Venom detaching from him and bonding with Cletus Kasady to become Carnage. When Venom and Eddie are briefly transported to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Venom also leaves a small piece of himself behind when they are sent back home in the end-credits scene of Spider-Man: No Way Home, hinting at a future human host of Venom’s replicated self in the MCU.
In all, Peter Parker and Eddie Brock might be by far the best-known hosts to take on the Venom symbiote but make no mistake – whether in the comics, animation, or on the big screen, Venom has had a plethora of human and non-human hosts alike.
Tell us what your thoughts are on the Venom horse. Additionally, check out our list of the 10 most muscular superheroes to find out where Venom ranks.
Venom: The Last Dance |
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Eddie and Venom are on the run. Hunted by both of their worlds and with the net closing in, the duo are forced into a devastating decision that will bring the curtains down on Venom and Eddie's last dance. |
Studio: Sony Pictures |
Running Time: TBA |
Release Date: October 25, 2024 |
Cast: Tom Hardy, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Juno Temple, Rhys Ifans, Peggy Lu, Alanna Ubach, Stephen Graham |
Director: Kelly Marcel |
Writers: Kelly Marcel |
Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi |
Box Office: N/A |