Prelude
Dylan Brock tells of how he went to a place beyond death and encountered a being who introduced itself as the Eventuality and spoke in his father's voice, telling him that he could ask it five questions. When he asked it if Venom reunited with Eddie, it showed him a vision of him as Venom defeating an opponent and stating "We are Venom". When he asked how to stop him, the Eventuality stated that he would know when he was older and he saw a vision of himself when he was older, telling Dylan that he would get through this. [5]
Eddie Brock has become unstuck in time, along with Bedlam, Meridius, Tyro, and Wilde. Meridius tries to kill Eddie, but Tyro transports the former to prehistoric times, where he bonds with a Tyrannosaurus . While Eddie states that they will find Meridius again, Tyro tells him that he may find them first. Knowing that if Dylan keeps Venom, Earth will become Venom in the future that Meridius was trying to create, Eddie nominates himself to help set him straight since he is the only one with a body. Back in the present, Venom reveals that Lee Price has been revived as a zombiote and arrives at Peter Parker's apartment. After Dylan has a nightmare about Doctor Doom, he is visited by his future self, who he initially believes to be Eddie. [6]
After shooting Carnage with a mysterious anti-symbiote weapon, Flash Thompson confronts Liz Allan, who has become Misery after bonding with parts of Carnage and Anti-Venom. She tells him that she will explain the Misery symbiote to him later, as they must flee before the police arrive. The next day, Flash attends a support group and receives a call from someone who invites him out for a drink as Carnage reunites with Cletus Kasady's clone. At a pub, Flash meets with Liz, who tells him about Misery and why she was at the building where he fought Carnage, which has reformed over time. At Investar, Carnage massacres its employees and, two weeks later, attacks a crowd of his followers at Ashford Park as soldiers armed with anti-symbiote weapons attempt to kill him. Carnage abducts a soldier and learns that the "K-Chemical" weapons were made by Alchemax. [7]
Meanwhile, Black Widow and the Widow symbiote infiltrate an Alchemax facility and steal a symbiote-killing serum. [8]
Main plot
At Grand Garden Arena, wrestler Symbiote Smith issues a challenge to the Unlimited Class Wrestling Federation, with Crusher Hogan and Doc Sawbones serving as commentators. However, the match is disrupted when Eddie arrives and battles Smith. Eddie declares that the ring is now under the control of the Kings in Black, and that he will only relinquish control if they give him Dylan and Venom. Meanwhile, Dylan tries to connect with Venom while telling his future counterpart about his contact with the Eventuality. After his future counterpart fades away, Toxin approaches Dylan and tells him of the events at Grand Garden Arena; Bedlam, Tyro, and Wilde have bested Paladin and his mercenaries. At Alchemax, Liz Allan holds an emergency meeting with Carlton Drake and Meridius regarding Eddie and learns of Chemical K-43, which is toxic to symbiotes. Meanwhile, Peter talks to Venom, who explains that Eddie and Dylan are better off without him. Outside Grand Garden Arena, Eddie battles Paladin and his crew before confronting Spider-Man and Venom. [9]
Meanwhile, Meridius and Carlton Drake use the K-Chemical to create zombified symbiotes, dubbed "zombiotes". [10] Meridius infects Drake with a zombiote and fends off Liz Allan before being approached by the Carnage symbiote, who had parted ways with Cletus Kasady's clone after a falling-out. [11] At Grand Garden Arena, Eddie fuses with Bedlam, who devours Tyro and Wilde. Dylan similarly bonds with Sleeper and Flexo to battle him as the Prince in Black. [12]
At Alchemax HQ, Meridius and Carnage are watching the Zombiote chaos unfold. Willie Lumpkin is among those infected by the Zombiotes. However, Agent Anti-Venom frees him and heads to Grand Garden Arena to make Eddie stand down. Flexo attacks Eddie, preventing him from healing properly, before Red Goblin removes him from Dylan. Flexo and Red Goblin are revealed to have been manipulated by Doctor Doom and Kang the Conqueror, with Kang creating the Rascal symbiote from a fragment of Bedlam. Venom leaves Spider-Man as pieces of it bond to Eddie and Dylan. [13]
Agent Anti-Venom arrives, neutralizes Bedlam, and informs those present of the Zombiotes as they attack and Crusher Hogan and Doc Sawbones are converted into Zombiotes. The Anti-Venom symbiote moves to Eddie, who uses it to kill the Zombiotes. However, Meridius remotely possesses Eddie and the Zombiotes using Carnage's All-Blood the Necrospear, causing some of the Zombiotes to gain traits of Venom and Carnage. This forces Dylan to apparently kill Eddie. [14]
Eddie survives, but is wounded and cut off from the powers of the King in Black. Meridius arrives and throws the All-Blood towards Eddie, only for future Dylan to arrive and shoot a bullet dubbed "Eganrac", the anti-Carnage, into his younger counterpart. This enables Dylan to withstand the All-Blood striking him as he assumes a golden form. Meridius attacks Dylan, but is killed by him. With Meridius' death, the Zombiotes die as well, while a zombified Lee Price looks outside his holding cell at Alchemax. Future Dylan disappears when his future is rewritten and Flash regains control of the Anti-Venom symbiote. However, Venom begins dying due to Eganrac's effects. Venom abandons Dylan to prevent him from dying as well and flees. Carnage —bereft of its godly powers with All-Blood's destruction—approaches Eddie, who is now only human and gravely wounded, and considers bonding with him to survive. [15]
During the events of Venom War, a horse bonds with a copy of Venom. The horse, dubbed "Venom Horse", goes on a series of adventures of its own and ends up battling the Zombiotes. At some point during the final battle, Crusher Hogan commentates on the Venom Horse fighting the Zombiotes and cheers him on.
Subplots
Venom
At an unspecified point in the future, an older Dylan Brock is running down the street. He is attacked by mechanical Symbiotes before being saved by older versions of Normie Osborn, Liz Allan, and Spider-Boy. When the mechanical Symbiotes attack, the older Dylan finds himself pulled to the present. A few minutes later, he meets with his younger self and vows to prevent his future from happening. [16]
Dylan arrives at the Sanctum Sanctorum and is confronted by Doctor Strange, who traps Venom. Dylan mentions his encounter with a future Strange, who told him about Chthon and to tell his past self to see the future. In Dylan's possible future, an elderly Strange tells Dylan that he does not have a way to defeat the attacking machines. Just then, they are attacked by the Symbiote machines as Strange buys Dylan time to get away. After experiencing this possible future, Strange goes through his spell books as they enter a portal. Dylan and Strange emerge in a demonic location and are confronted by demons. [17]
Chthon agrees to help Dylan for a price. One female minion will want Dylan's love and the knowledge of his mother and the other wants the music and his friendship, while Chthon wants his name. Dylan states that if he gives them those items, Chthon will infuse his weapon with magic and send him and Strange back to the Sanctum Sanctorum safe and sound. He then accepts Chthon's deal. Dylan is returned to Earth, but encounters Loki in a remote Arctic location. [18]
Dylan escapes from Loki after a Nidavellir dwarf forges a special dagger and bullets for him. In flashbacks, Meridius blends in with life after being sent back in time and sees a younger Eddie Brock with his father Carl. Dylan fights Meridius and accidentally infects him with temporal radiation, which Meridius later uses to create the K-Chemical. He escapes to Grand Garden Arena, where he witnesses his younger self stabbing his father. [19]
Venom War: Spider-Man
While fighting Roderick Kingsley and a group of Hobgoblins, the Venom symbiote tells Spider-Man that it detects some type of mind control being used. As the fight becomes fierce, Spider-Man is then assisted by Mary Jane Watson as Jackpot. Watching from Alchemax, Meridius notes that Venom is back with Peter Parker as he plans to enjoy wrecking the world and that Venom will soon be his. A Symbiote sample emerges from the Goblin Glider and covers Hobgoblin and the other mind-controlled people, forming a monstrous symbiote called Arachniote. [20]
Twelve blocks from Grand Garden Arena, Spider-Man and Jackpot are struggling against Arachniote. They work to free each of the Hobgoblins from Arachniote, with Spider-Man webbing them to the wall. Once Roderick Kingsley is removed, Arachniote is rendered powerless. As Spider-Man heads to Grand Garden Arena, Jackpot is ambushed by Arachniote. [21]
Arachniote shows Spider-Man a potential future where he became the King in Black and killed Mary Jane Watson and the Avengers. As he battles Bedlam, Spider-Man gets a call from Paul Rabin about what happened to Mary Jane and that her Jackpot gauntlets are dead. Spider-Man states to Paul that he is not losing anyone else tonight as Arachniote is shown on a rampage. [22] Spider-Man enters Arachniote's body to save Jackpot. The two work together to destroy Arachniote from the inside. [23]
Venom War: Carnage
Cletus Kasady's clone tries to find information about Alchemax and its K-Project. Entering employee Sally Christiansen's thoughts, the clone sees that she worked on a failed experiment with a symbiote three years earlier. Posing as a worker from Killowat Electric, the clone visits Christiansen's associate Finn Taylor and possesses his body. [24]
Carnage heads to the center of the K-Project, where he meets Dr. Frekk. He learns that the K-Project is being tested on prison inmates after Alchemax made a deal with its prison wardens. A special aerosol is pumped into the chamber before the Symbiote can possess the prisoner. Frekk then reveals the Zombiotes and their attempt to control them, only for them to be controlled by the leader of the Hive. Carnage bursts out of Finn Taylor's body and kills all the security personnel before being ambushed by Meridius. [25] The clone manages to escape from Meridius and secretly takes an unknown item from him. [26]
Venom War: Venomous
Black Widow attends an auction for an anti-symbiote weapon called K42T. After confronting Dr. Frekk, Black Widow learns that he only made one sample of K42T. Frekk gives Black Widow his notes on K42T. Arriving at Alchemax, Black Widow is confronted by Agent Anti-Venom, who is following a lead on Carnage. As the two enter Alchemax, they find that the workers have been possessed by mindless symbiotes. Black Widow and Agent Anti-Venom work to save the workers and trap the possessed workers in storage. [27]
Liz Allan recovers and sees that the Zombiotes are loose in New York City and the footage of what is happening at Grand Garden Arena. She tries to get to Dylan Brock, only to be attacked by a Zombiote. Liz discovers that she can cure the Zombiote-infected humans using her Anti-Venom abilities and meets with Agent Anti-Venom and Black Widow to help free the humans from the Zombiotes. [28]
Sliver separates from Black Widow as they use a plan to draw the Zombiotes towards her. However, Sliver is possessed by a Zombiote. Liz channels her Anti-Venom abilities through the building's sprinkler system, which cures the infected at the cost of Sliver. Unbeknownst to Black Widow, a fragment of Sliver has survived. [29]
Venom War: Zombiotes
She-Hulk and Hellcat battle a swarm of Zombiotes, who manage to infect Hellcat. Shocker, Overdrive, and Speed Demon attack a Roxxon Security truck, during which Speed Demon is infected by a Zombiote as Shocker makes off with a box. As Overdrive jumps onto Shocker's getaway vehicle, they are chased by Speed Demon. Overdrive enhances Shocker's vehicle, which ends up crashing into She-Hulk. As Shocker emerges from the wrecked car, he is confronted by a group of Zombiotes led by Hellcat and Speed Demon. [30]
Shocker retrieves a specific item from his car, planning to take it to the Bar With No Name. She-Hulk later learns that the item is a stone that previously belonged to the League of Necromancers, which Shocker learned of from Doctor Bong. However, a Zombiote fragment infects the bartender Hilda and her cat. Boomerang, who was zombified and hidden in a body bag, escapes and attacks the patrons. [31] Overdrive uses a stereo to free everyone from the Zombiotes' control. [32]
Venom War: Wolverine
In Manhattan the day the Venom War began, Wolverine is playing pool at a dive bar. As a news report talks about the events at Grand Garden Arena, one of the patrons is infected with a Zombiote and goes on the attack. Wolverine then goes on the defensive until he is possessed by a Zombiote while remembering that this happened to him before. At Baylight Cemetery, the dead bodies there return to life possessed by Zombiotes as they are confronted by an unidentified person. [33] [34]
Years before the Venom War in Lastport, Maine, Keene Burke tells his son Flynn about Baylight Cemetery and how his father did not leave anything for him. In the present, Wolverine and Emily are attacked by the Zombiotes. Flynn comes home to find Wolverine fighting the Zombiotes. Before a Zombiote can attack Flynn, Keene shows up to stop the Zombiote and claims to Emily that he is their family. After Flynn stands up to him, Keene unleashes the Zombiotes on them. In the nick of time, Gambit, Jubilee, Nightcrawler, and Rogue arrive to help fight the Zombiotes. When Keene tries to threaten Emily, Wolverine beheads him. Nightcrawler delivers the Zombiotes to the Vault for safekeeping. Unbeknownst to Wolverine, Flynn held on to Keene's head as it and Flynn get infected by a Zombiote. [35]
Keene forms a body from several corpses, attacks a boat, and takes Emily hostage, during which he is possessed by a Zombiote. After Emily uses a sonar device on the Zombiote, Flynn sacrifices himself to capsize the boat as Wolverine, Emily, and Flynn escape. [36]
Venom War: Deadpool
Deadpool battles the Zombiotes in New York and is assisted by Andrea Benton / Silence and Princess, a dog-like clone of Carnage. A Zombiote-infected circus lion bites off Deadpool's arm, which is possessed by a separate Zombiote. Deadpool, Silence, and Princess escape underground, arrive in Monster Metropolis, and encounter Frankenstein's Monster, N'Kantu, the Living Mummy, Morbius, Manphibian, and Zombie. However, the Zombiotes follow them there and infect several monsters, including Man-Thing. Deadpool prepares to fight the Zombiotes with help from Jimmy Hudson / Poison. [37]
As Jimmy fights the Zombiotes, Deadpool tells Silence about him as she burns herself trying to cure Man-Thing. After the Zombiotes are defeated, Frankenstein's Monster advises Deadpool to leave immediately as Deadpool states that the Zombiotes are roaming the surface. Deadpool convinces the Monster Metropolis civilians to help fight the Zombiotes on the surface. With Princess wounded, she bonds with Deadpool, creating a form called Princess Deadpool. [38]
Deadpool and the monsters fend off the Zombiotes and subdue Jimmy. Mobius M. Mobius of the Time Variance Authority arrives to arrest Jimmy as he is from another universe. When Deadpool states that they have an emergency that involves the multiverse, Mobius states "Sorry, not my division" and disappears with Jimmy and his fellow agents. Silence tells Frankenstein's Monster that she will serve as the surface world ambassador to Monster Metropolis. [39]
Venom War: Lethal Protectors
Liz Allan calls Silver Sable and the Wild Pack to New York to fight the Zombiotes. At the Life Foundation building, Silver Sable activates the Lethal Protector Mode on the devices planted on the Wild Pack's arms, causing them each to bond with a symbiote: Carl Striklan is possessed by Phage, Puma by Riot, Tarantula by Lasher, Navvab Tadjvar by Agony, Lightbright by Scream, and Lina Abbas by Flicker. After Tadjvar is bitten by Zombiotes, Agony abandons him and moves to Silver Sable as the Lethal Protector's kill switch causes Tadjvar to explode. Sable gets a transmission from Meridius to stay out of his affairs. [40]
The Riot symbiote tells Puma that he should warn the Wild Pack that there is a traitor among them. Tarantula checks up on Puma who states that he is using his animalistic senses to try and find Meridius. Thanks to Puma, the Wild Pack find Scorpion walking down the alley as he begs for their help to get out of town. Just then, some Zombiotes attack as the Wild Pack bring out their Symbiotes. Scorpion is bitten by a Zombiote and Tarantula gets the tank. Scorpion punctures the tank and a sonic burst is unleashed sending all the Zombiotes falling to the streets. What was in the tank was Shriek who revealed that the Life Foundation regrew her in their lab. Lina warns everyone that the Zombiotes are climbing up the building again. When Silver Sable advises Shriek to come with them, Shriek attacks her instead as Tarantula knocks her out. The Wild Pack take the unconscious Shriek to the Mississippi Queen . [41]
The Wild Pack prepares an Alchemax amplifier to channel Shriek's abilities and destroy the Zombiotes. When the Zombiotes attack, Shriek betrays the group and kills Striklan. However, the Wild Pack activates the amplifier and evacuates the Mississippi Queen. [42]
Venom War: Daredevil
As Elektra, also known as Daredevil, reflects on her life, Matt Murdock speaks with some people moving some items. After a crack of thunder, Daredevil senses something that is similar to a Symbiote coming and has the smell of death. Elektra fights the Zombiotes until she retreats into the Saint Nicholas Youth Center, which Murdock has established as a safe haven. After learning that Javi went down to the building's basement and never came back, Murdock goes down to the basement and encounters two Zombiotes before being restrained by a Zombiote-possessed Javi. When a large bell is hit, Murdock gets the idea to ring the large bell to free Javi. Murdock and those with him ring the large bell enough to free everyone from the Zombiotes. However, Elektra becomes concerned after seeing fragments of the Zombiotes escape. [43]
Venom War: Fantastic Four
As Rascal and Flexo fight each other, it is shown that they are respectively being manipulated by Kang the Conqueror and Doctor Doom. In Chronopolis, Kang detects that the Fantastic Four is time-traveling and confronts them in the timestream, wanting them to counter Doom's chronoscheme. He directs them to eight decades earlier to stop Doom from tampering with Flexo. Mister Fantastic learns that Kang has trapped the Fantastic Four in a five-minute time loop. Thanks to Mister Fantastic's analysis, the Fantastic Four escape the time loop and arrive in Castle Doom. They encounter Kang, who they not believe to be an alternate version of Kang called He Who Schemes. Mister Fantastic proceeds to place He Who Schemes and Doom's robots in a time loop. [44]
Venom War: It's Jeff!
Kate Bishop, Gwen Poole and America Chavez leave on a mission and inadvertently leave the former two's pet/"son" Jeff the Land Shark behind. He is possessed by a Symbiote and causes chaos before a group of Zombiotes attack Coney Island. Jeff works with Kate, America, Gwen, and Fuse to fight the Zombiotes as Hawkeye recalls that Jeff has been possessed by a Symbiote before. [a] They defeat them when America gets the largest speakers she can obtain. Jeff gives up the Symbiote and everyone celebrates by having churros. [45]
