Anti-Venom

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Anti-Venom
Anti-Venom.jpg
Eddie Brock as Anti-Venom, as depicted on the cover of Amazing Spider-Man Presents: Anti-Venom - New Ways to Live #1 (September 2009).
Art by Mirco Pierfederici.
Publication information
Publisher Marvel Comics
First appearance The Amazing Spider-Man #569 (October 2008)
Created by Dan Slott (writer)
John Romita Jr. (artist)
In-story information
Alter egoVarious hosts
Species Symbiote–Human white blood cells
Abilities
  • All powers of the symbiote's first human host, Spider-Man
  • Limited shapeshifting and camouflage
  • Symbiote's autonomous defense capabilities
  • Undetectable by Spider-Man's "Spider-sense"
  • Immunity to fire, heat, and sound-based attacks
  • Produces curative antibodies

Anti-Venom is a fictional antihero appearing in Comic books published by Marvel Comics. It first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #569 (August 2008), and was created by Dan Slott and John Romita Jr. [1] The creature belongs to a race of amorphous extraterrestrial parasites known as the Symbiotes and is regarded as Venom's symbiotic brother. His physical features include white "skin", a black face, and spider symbol across his chest.

Contents

Hosts

Eddie Brock

The 2008 story "New Ways to Die" features the first appearance of Anti-Venom. [2] Eddie Brock gets a job at a soup kitchen under Martin Li. Brock is unknowingly cured of his cancer by Martin Li, who possesses the Lightforce abilities, and Brock believes it to be a miracle. [2] After Brock is attacked by Mac Gargan (the Venom symbiote's current host), the Venom symbiote attempts to reunite with Brock, at which point Brock's skin becomes caustic to the Venom symbiote. Brock is enveloped in a new white “Anti-Venom” symbiote when remnants of the Venom symbiote in his body merge with special antibodies (produced by his white blood cells) due to Li's Lightforce energy. [2] [3] Eddie later sacrificed his Anti-Venom symbiote to cure people from the Spider-Queen's spider-virus during the Spider-Island event.

Ishaan Pai (Second Host)

During the "AXIS" storyline, a new version of Anti-Venom is seen in the crowd of new heroes attending a "self help" style seminar being held by Roderick Kingsley (aka the original Hobgoblin). All the new heroes have been given heroic personas by Kingsley that already exist, but are no longer used. It is not shown whether the new Anti-Venom is indeed a symbiote or just a man in a suit designed to look like the original Anti-Venom symbiote. However, the speech bubble used for the character is stylized in a way to suggest a distortion of the character's voice similar to the way Eddie Brock spoke when bonded with the Anti-Venom symbiote. [4]

Eugene "Flash" Thompson

In the comic "Venom Inc.", Venom was captured by The Life Foundation and was experimented on. The Life Foundation accidentally made Venom white. Anti-Venom possessed new abilities including the ability to phase through any solid object. He used it to escape the Life Foundation and bond with one of the scientists who happens to be Flash Thompson. Flash decides to use the symbiote for good and becomes "Agent Anti-Venom".

Powers and abilities

Anyone possessed by the Anti-Venom symbiote possesses superhuman strength, durability, and stamina, an accelerated and fast healing factor, genetic memory, detection of its Symbiote offspring, wall-crawling, web-generating abilities, spider-senses, immunity to Spider-Man's spider-senses, and camouflage.

Unlike the other Symbiotes, the original Anti-Venom symbiote used by Eddie Brock is immune to fire, heat, and sound-based attacks. In addition, the Anti-Venom symbiote can produce antibodies that can "cure" a person afflicted by things like radioactivity, parasites, diseases, and drugs. The new Anti-Venom symbiote used by Flash Thompson has the ability to heal physical injuries as well. [5] Due to its failed attempt at curing Spider-Man's radiation-based powers, the Anti-Venom symbiote causes Spider-Man's powers to cancel out when they are too close to each other.

However, Anti-Venom does possess a few weaknesses of its own. It is vulnerable to high concentrations of Norman Osborn's super-venom via Freak's DNA. Additionally since Martin Li's Lightforce touch created the symbiote, Mister Negative's Darkforce touch can interfere or halt Anti-Venom's healing abilities. Also as seen during the Spider-Island event, overusing his healing powers can cause Anti-Venom's powers to weaken.

Other versions

In What If? Peter Parker became Kraven the Hunter where Peter Parker killed Kraven the Hunter and replaced Kraven as the new hunter, Madame Web hired Anti-Venom, Spider-Woman and Mac Gargan to stop Peter. Despite being successful in mortally injuring him, they were all defeated. [6]

In other media

Television

Video games

Collected editions

TitleMaterial collectedPublished dateISBN
Amazing Spider-Man Presents: Anti-Venom - New Ways To LiveAmazing Spider-Man Presents: Anti-Venom - New Ways To Live #1-3, Extra #2 (Anti-Venom story)March 2010 978-0785141617

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