Part Two: Eddie Brock.
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| That's how you show the face behind the Venom face and keep it creepy. |
They say the rebound guy rarely
lasts, but in Venom’s case the rebound guy lasted for a good twenty years or
so. I know I’m making an awful lot of dating jokes in these posts, but
honestly, that’s what Venom makes me think of every single time. It’ll be a
little more clear once I’m finished with this one.
A little background on Eddie. His
mother died due to complications during his birth, and like most kids with this
background, it lead to Daddy not showing him any love. He did his best to be
outstanding in sports and academics, but Mr. Brock still didn’t give him the
attention or love Eddie wanted. He became a successful journalist in New York,
his big break being on a serial killer by the name of Sin-Eater. Brock was
contacted by a man claiming to be Sin-Eater. Brock interviewed the man and
published an exposé on him. Unfortunately for Brock, the man he interviewed was
a chronic, compulsive confessor. Even more unfortunately, Spider-man caught the
real Sin-Eater, ruining Brock’s reputation. Brock loses his job, his wife, and
whatever minute amount of love his father felt for him. Brock got a job at a
tabloid magazine to feed himself, and picks up body building to relieve his
stress, but Brock still couldn’t handle what his life had become. Oh, and he
developed cancer, the icing on the horrible cake. He blamed Spider-man for
everything. Dreams of revenge kept him going longer, but not by much. He decided
to commit suicide, and being a staunch Catholic, went to a church to pray for
forgiveness. Within the rafters of the Church, Venom waited. Sensing the
turbulent emotions within Brock, it sought him out and bonded with him.
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| "It's why we call ourselves, VENOM!" powerful intro. |
This leads back into the two Venom
theories I read earlier. The first one, the one where the bell forced the suit
off, Venom felt Eddie’s rage toward Spider-man, and fueled that fire once their
minds connected. The other, where Venom left willingly, explains that Venom was
confused and weakened after he split from Peter. Drawn to the first sentient
organism that he came across, they bonded. Brock’s rage confused the Symbiote,
and warped its own bitterness into a fury that would follow it to it’s later
hosts. Either way, once the melding was finished, a new, furious and powerful
organism was created. The first true incarnation of Venom. Once united the
newly formed Venom started referring to itself as “We” and “Us,” instead of “I”
and “Me.” Throw on a creepy, toothy grin and that huge, disgusting tongue and
we have ourselves a super villain.
Venom started harassing Peter
Parker, both as a superhero and as a normal man. The suit imparted Spider-man’s
secret ID onto his new host. Spider-man eventually defeated Venom, but the two
continued to fight for years after their first confrontation. Despite his
intense hatred and stalker like obsession with Spider-man, Venom did try to be
a hero. He sought out criminals and…ended them, whenever he wasn’t stalking
Spider-man. Think Batman if he had a homicidal alien suit.
Brock’s tenure as Venom came to an
end when he discovered his cancer, which the suit had put into remission, had
returned. Horrified with his impending doom, and realizing his close partner
was going to ditch him when his body became too weak, Brock put the suit up for
auction on the Black Market. It sold for a 100 million dollars. Cheap price for
superpowers. Eddie’s time as Venom had ended, but not interactions with
Symbiotes. I’ll get into that some other time.
Powers are the same, every time.
Oh, and I can’t believe I forgot this last time, the suit increases its host’s
regeneration. Basically it gums up bullet wounds.
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| Put the Scary Venom face back on. Don't peel it back when you talk. IDIOT! |
Eddie is the most recurring and
popular host for Venom, after Peter Parker himself. He appears in most
Spider-man media, sometimes as Peter’s rival, and even a close childhood
friend, but every time they find themselves clashing.
As I’ve stated before, I’ve only
seen a few episodes of the Spectacular Spider-man series, all of which centered
on Brock. This show had the best representation of the Brock-Venom dynamic.
While bonded with the suit, and after being split from it, Brock spoke like a
man in love. The suit gave him not only power, but all of the love and
affection, at least the chemical side of it, that he’d never felt from his
family. After being separated from the suit the first time, Brock started
following Peter at a distance while wearing a homemade Venom costume. After
making Peter so paranoid that he checked the site where he’d hidden the suit,
Brock reveals his plan to the audience saying he knew Peter would lead him to
“The one I love.” Brock’s reunion with the suit is temporary, his plan to
somehow strip Spider-man’s powers backfiring, causing the suit to abandon
Brock. Peter tries to comfort his former friend, but Eddie says he can’t let go
of the hate because “It only loves me, for the hate.” A real sad way to say
goodbye to the supersized monster.
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| This version of Venom Had really big lips. No idea why. |
Eddie Brock’s appearance in Spider-man
3 was bad. Really, really bad. Nothing against Topher Grace, it’s just he
didn’t have the body type or the anger to do the part right. His Venom suit is
creepy, but he peels the face back too often to get the full effect. I
particularly hate the scene where he got the suit, instead of praying for
forgiveness, he prays for God to kill Peter Parker for ruining him. And he
see’s Peter, somehow, in the bell tower thus playing down the suits role in
Brock’s revenge. For a film series that seemed to humanize every villain, (making
Gobby love Harry more than normal, Giving Doc Ock a wife, and Sandman a sick
kid,) they seemed to want to strip Eddie of any humanizing factors as possible.
I’ve heard Sam Reimi, the director, wasn’t a fan of the character. Still not an
excuse for making one of Spider-man’s top three baddies sucky. Not cool, Sam
Reimi, not cool at all.
Eddie is a character that I can’t
help feeling sorry for. Granted, he makes some huge mistakes, but he gets
screwed over pretty hard. Despite his attempts to kill Spider-man, overall he
does try to be a better man with the suit then he was before. As a matter of fact,
once it became clear to Eddie that his cancer was coming back, and that the
suit was planning to jump ship, he made plans of his own. As I said, he sold the
suit to mobsters, what I didn’t mention was that he gave all 100 million to
charity once the money was in his hands. He figuring the suit would seek someone
else out once he died anyway, so he might as well do a little good with that
blob of liquid rage. Some good from some evil, a pretty accurate metaphor for
Eddie’s career. Next time, a new Venom, Scorpion style.
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| That tongue, man, its just, wow, too much sometimes. |
http://marvel.wikia.com/Edward_Brock_%28Earth-616%29
http://www.comicvine.com/eddie-brock/4005-6733/
http://marvelanimated.wikia.com/wiki/Eddie_Brock
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider-Man_%281994_TV_series%29
http://www.comicvine.com/images/1300-3516535
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