Summary
Something theMCUis severely lacking is the alien symbiote that has given Spider-Man and other Marvel heroes tumultuous times periodically. It’s unlikely that as long as Sony holds the majority of the cinematic rights toSpider-Man, fans will ever see Venom or the black Spider suit in the MCU. Well, then again, thanks to the events ofVenom: Let There Be Carnage, there might be a small possibility for the Venom symbiote to wreak havoc throughout the MCU. The mid-credits scene there showed Eddie Brock shift from the Spider-verse he’s a part of to the MCU. Meanwhile, a similar scene at the end ofSpider-Man: No Way Homeshowed him return to his proper place in the cinematic multiverse.
The symbiotes are parasitic aliens that need a host to survive. TheVenom symbiotehas found itself bonded to different characters besides Eddie Brock, such as Peter Parker and Mac Gargan. Marvel comics went as far as having the Venom symbiote bond with one of the strongest characters in all of Marvel: Hulk. Venom’s strong enough on its own, so pairing it with the Jade Giant is a power boost that is frightening enough to think about. Now, the possibility of such a creature appearing in the MCU is more likely.
Venom Hulk’s Comic Origins
Marvel Comics decided to have some fun withVenom and the symbioteback in 2019 within theAbsolute Carnage: Immortal Hulk. In this storyline, Carnage strives to awaken the lord of the symbiote, the ancient, evil force known as Knull. At one point, Venom (the symbiote) decides it needs a stronger host and abandons Eddie Brock completely. Who does the symbiote find as Brock’s replacement? None other than Bruce Banner.
The entire assimilation is an interesting analysis of Banner’s psyche as Bruce has a mental conversation with three different Hulks about joining with the symbiote. Banner isn’t just one person, after all. He’s multiple entities within a single body, sure, but Hulk gets an equal say in what happens to it. The moment the symbiote touches Bruce, a conversation between him,Savage Hulk, Grey Hulk, and Immortal Hulkensues and Banner’s Inferiority to the other three personalities is noticeable from the start. However, of the four personalities, only Immortal Hulk opposes joining with the symbiote and thus gets outvoted.
There have been other incarnations of the Venom symbiote joining with Hulk beforeAbsolute Carnage. Danny Fingeroth and Mark Bagley penned aWhat If…?story together in 1989. In 2012, Rick Remender showed fans the power power of the Venom symbiote when paired with Thunderbolt Ross’s Red Hulk during a six-part event titledCircle of Four.
How Dangerous is Venom Hulk?
TheAbsolute Carnagestoryline didn’t deliver the absolutely devastating powerhouse of a behemoth fans expected from a symbiote-infused Hulk. A connection with Knull amplified Carnage’s abilities, allowing him to make quick work of the Venomized-Hulk.Carnage targeted Banner’s brain, which weakened him and allowed Carnage to rip the symbiote from Bruce, leaving him defenseless. Carnage separated Banner’s spine from his body and that was the end of Venom Hulk. If Venom-Hulk had time to adjust to its newfound existence and didn’t go up against someone with near godlike abilities, he might have been one dreadful character. However, other versions of Venom-Hulk were more devastating.
TheWhat If…?version of Venom-Hulk saw the symbiote jump fromAvenger to Avenger, draining each one of their life force, until it joined with Hulk. Attached to the Jade Giant, it wreaked havoc and absorbed all the gamma energy it could from the behemoth until attaching itself to Thor. The only one who managed to put an end to the symbiote’s rampage was Black Bolt and his supersonic voice.
Maybe it’s not fair to include theCircle of FourVenom-Red Hulk because it wasn’t simply the symbiote merging with Red Hulk. Flash Thompson was the one using the symbiote at the time and he decided to let thesymbiote bond with Red Hulkin order to fight Blackheart, the son of Mephisto. However, they also included the Spirit of Vengeance in their joining, creating one powerful amalgamation. Instead of a penance stare ability, Ghost Rider’s signature move, the Ghost Rider-Hulk-Venom wields a “Penance Punch.” The amalgamation ends up taking down Blackheart before separating to become individuals again.
The Elements for Venom Hulk in the MCU
Tom Hardy’s Venom doesn’t exist in the MCU, but he does exist within the multiverse, so anything is possible. However, two mid-credit scenes show that it’s possible for Venom Hulk to appear within the main universe of the MCU.The events ofSpider-Man: No Way Homebrought villains and allies from all over the multiverse to Tom Holland’s universe, including Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock. Luckily, this iteration of Brock is less antagonistic than the early version in the comics.
By the end ofNo Way Home,Doctor Strange sent everyone who didn’t belong back to their own universe, including the inebriated Eddie Brock. However, a tiny sliver of thesymbiote wasn’t sent backand remained in the little tiki bar on the beach Brock discovered at some point betweenLet There Be CarnageandNo Way Home. How did Doctor Stranger return Eddie without the entire symbiote? Nobody knows and the movies didn’t bother trying to explain it.
The implication of a portion of the Venom symbiote remaining in the MCU was to hint at the possibility of Tom Holland’s Spider-Man bonding with it just as he does in the comics. If Marvel wanted to take some liberties, this could be an excellent time for the symbiote and Bruce Banner to meet. Interestingly enough, Brock wasn’t in a New York City or a San Francisco bar. He was on a tropical beach, not too different from the environment whereBanner trained his cousin inShe-Hulk. Perhaps when the sliver of Venom crawled off, it found its way near one of the Hulk’s.
MCU
The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is a sprawling movie and television franchise that weaves together individual stories of superheroes including Captain America, Thor, Spider-Man, Hulk, Black Widow, and many more. The first film in the franchise, Iron Man, was released in 2008. The MCU has garnered critical praise and financial success, earning billions at the box office and becoming a cultural phenomenon.
