Can Eddie Brock Be Saved?

[Mister Mets]

He should be Venom again. Eddie Brock has never been convincing as an anti-hero. His iteration of Venom was certainly not perfect, but he was an iconic villain who starred in several great stories and has undeniable potential. The character has certainly been mistreated over the years, but the right writer could definitely reinvigorate him. I'm honestly surprised that it hasn't happened already.

For the record I do like Flash as Venom, from what I've read.

Flash could get a different symbiote.

[Cmbmool]

Secret Wars maybe the final stand for Eddie Brock considering the multiple versions of Venom out there.

[Kurolegacy]

Who knows maybe with the likely 616 and Ultimate universes merging into one the character will be given a new lease on life? Things certainly can't get much worse for Eddie *gulp* or so I hope.

Trust me, Ultimate Eddie Brock is even worse than Eddie currently is. You don't want that version's characteristics anywhere near 616 Eddie. It'd only drag him down.

[Celgress]

Trust me, Ultimate Eddie Brock is even worse than Eddie currently is. You don't want that version's characteristics anywhere near 616 Eddie. It'd only drag him down.

Ah snap, I was unaware that version wasn't much better.

[SpiderWing20]

Maybe we could get two symbiotes in the reboot. One which is the alien symbiote going to Eddie and a suit based on the ultimate version for flash. Just wishful thinking

[Dmreyn]

Flash could get a different symbiote.

Well, seeing as how the most recent GOTG ended, Flash isn't leaving his symbiote anytime soon. It'll be interesting to see if this Planet of the Symbiotes arc has any lasting effects. I thought the new explanation of symbiotes was very, very interesting, and how they start off good but can get "corrupted". I have a lot of lingering questions regarding that but I'll probably never understand everything.

[TheNewFiftyForum]

Venom/Brock might be one of the characters who's gotten most screwed by continuity in modern Big Two history, he had a rocky start and is at this point such a mess that it's extremely hard for me to care about anything new being done with him.

If I were to try anything at all with him I'd probably make sure to clean up among the other symbiotes to let that particular power set stand out more, as well as remembering that anti-heroes are a dime a dozen while truly menacing villains are a rarity. Underlining him as one of the few villains Spider-Man genuinely fears might also be helpful. And with all that out of the way, there's still the question of somehow making his origin and motivations more plausible... As I said, it's a mess.

[Metamorphosis]

I think his origin / motivations were fine, because he was crazy. Like a celebrity stalker.

As for too many symbiotes, agreed. They should get rid of them all, and get Flash Thompson out of the superhero game, and rebond Brock and the symbiote.

[Webhead]

I haven't followed Brock's story too closely, but I can get behind not rebonding with Venom if it's established as character growth, due to fear/hatred of the thing they'd become. Not having Venom as a villain or even remotely tied to Spider-Man is a shame, but there are plenty of other people out there who could play the host part convincingly.

I thought Ultimate Brock was okay. Frankly he had a better motivation to antagonize Peter, even being unstable and all. He's been in limbo ever since that Latverian Beetle captured him though, before the Ultimate Spidey relaunch. Given the symbiote returned without him I doubt he's coming back at this point.

[Michael P]

There's nothing worth saving.

[Agent Z]

Isn't he currently Toxin?

[jgprime]

Eddie as Venom had grown pretty stale over the years so making him Anti-Venom was a nice change. I feel that making him Toxin ruined his character development though, and now it would take some really smart decisions and writing in order to make him Venom again and not seem like a redundant move.

[ThiefHookUps]

I hope Anti-Venom is left in the past. It was fine as a short term idea but I got tired of it pretty quickly (and hated that name). He could be a solid side character like Robbie or like Flahs was but if he's going to be more than that he'll definitely need some powers. And it'd be hard to imagine him without some connection to a symbiote. I just hope he's not revenge-bent or weirdly religious.

[Celgress]

Isn't he currently Toxin?

Yup, I call him Veno-Tox because there is literally no difference between the portrayals of Eddie/Venom and Eddie/Toxin. I often think the only reason those at Marvel don't just give Eddie the Venom suit back is because they want to keep Flash Thompson on the front burner after so many years of neglect.

[Hypestyle]

I don't care about Eddie Brock. He's never been a sympathetic character to me, just ignorant and arrogant. I never bought any of his solo comics, I never bought into him as being any kind of "anti-hero" compared to Spider-Man-- and especially as he was constantly trying to kill Spider-Man for years. Coming out with the irredeemably murderous Carnage as a way to "justify" Venom being considered semi-good was a rather obvious dodge, to me.
I'm done with symbiotes, period. The current era of Flash Thompson as "agent Venom" means nothing to me. I wish all the symbiotes could be thrown into the sun. It's an angle that has seen it's time and was run into the ground (see also the Weapon X initiative.)