Welcome back to Venom Unleashed! What started on December 5th as a fun way to check in with the creative team (and put the spotlight on your burning questions) has grown into a monthly fixture that occasionally sneaks in a bonus round—because let’s face it, there’s always more to say when Venom’s involved.

This edition arrives at a milestone moment. With Venom #250 still fresh in readers’ minds (it’s out today), an issue that pulled double duty balancing MJ’s street-level struggles with the cosmic return of Knull, the series is clearly building toward something massive. At the same time, the fan surveys continue to reveal just how invested readers are in the complicated bond between MJ and the symbiote, even as Dylan’s family legacy and the rogues gallery swirl around them.

So, edition #12 is the perfect time to take stock: where do readers want the story to go, how does editorial weigh those desires against the larger Marvel tapestry, and what teases can we pry out of Jordan D. White as Venom careens toward its next era? Let’s dig in, and don’t miss exclusive preview art and a new survey at the end!

AIPT: Once again, let’s start with the fan survey poll questions, Jordan!

Survey results show that over half of fans (54.7%) are most interested in MJ and Venom navigating their uneasy bond, with Dylan’s family legacy coming in second at 34%. What’s your take on those results?

Jordan D. White: I am happy to hear them because that very much fits with the priorities we have for telling the story! The other options are also terrific ones, but they are for sure the side dishes you get alongside your main course of MJ and Venom. 

AIPT: In our final poll question (2. Mary Jane and the symbiote have a complicated bond. If MJ were to set one “ground rule” for coexisting with Venom, it should be:), fans had a lot of creative answers about what MJ’s “ground rule” for living with Venom should be — from the silly (“Eating pizza”) to the oddly specific (“No sexy thoughts about Eddie that she can hear”), to the meta (“Never sell their history to a demon or devil”), to the over-the-top (“Venom should listen to MJ like a good boy 🤣”). What’s your take on seeing these kinds of responses from readers, and might you have a ground rule for them?

Jordan D. White: As always, we have delightful and clever fans, and I think of those ones you listed, the one about sexy Eddie thoughts is for sure the most vital for maintaining their relationship. I feel like, right now, MJ is operating with the ground rule of “We’re not friends,” but damned if that isn’t a bit harsh and not a little sad. I think a better ground rule for them would be pretty much your classic relationship rules, stuff like “Never go to bed angry”. It’s a classic for a reason–it’s a pretty important one. Hang on. Does the symbiote sleep? It used to take Peter out for a spin while he slept. Since those days, has it just learned to sit there patiently all night? 

AIPT: Before diving into fan questions, Venom #250 is a great ride interwining Marvel cosmic, the ongoing pickle that is Madame Masque, with big teases for what’s to come. It feels like we’re building towards a Marvel event, given the scale of Knull’s powers and the incredible twist at the end of the issue. Does this issue mean Venom will become more cosmic going forward, or will it stay street-level?

Jordan D. White: Why not both? We have the Knull series that is going to be spinning out of Venom here, which is going to be firmly set in that big world of galaxy-scale power that Knull lives in, and meanwhile, MJ can stay on the streets of New York, where she is comfortable. That said, it’s for sure that the big ball that started rolling with the return of Knull is for sure on a collision course with VenoMJ, and when it gets here, ready or not, they’re gonna be thrust into something bigger than anything they’ve dealt with together before. 

AIPT: When editing an extra-sized milestone issue like this, what extra work goes into getting multiple artists outside of the main one, and additional writers like Charles Soule, contributing? Is it an open call, or do you seek creators out?

Jordan D. White: It’s different every time–I have done a LOT of oversized issues in my 18 years as a  Marvel editor, so I have taken all sorts of different approaches. Back on my Deadpool run, I did like… I dunno 6 or 8 or maybe more 80 page issues with all sorts of approaches. For this one, I started by talking with Al about how big a story he wanted to tackle, and once we decided on that as a 40-page epic with half taking place in space and half with MJ, it seemed a natural thing to split the art between 2 great artists. We were thrilled to have Terry Dodson on board–he is a legend for a reason. And Todd Nauck was a later addition to the story, but he did SUCH a good job on it, bringing great energy to R’Gars’s doomed mission! Loved it.

I knew I had 10 pages more in the issue, and I wanted to get Carlos Gomez into the book. I asked him what he wanted to draw, and he asked for a classic Eddie Venom story. I went to Charles to write it because he was doing such a great job writing Eddie in Eddie Brock Carnage. I thought he could write a great flashback story that would fit in tone with his run. It was his idea to make it literally take place in the middle of Lethal Protector, which is why we have the naked, mulleted Eddie we have in there. 

AIPT: Last question, Knull is getting his own series! From your perspective as editor, what makes this the right time to spotlight him on his own?

Jordan D. White: It all spins out of the larger story we’re telling. This Knull series is an important step along a larger plan fitting into something big we have cooking. You now know, from Venom 250, that while Knull has returned…he’s been imprisoned by Hela! But if there is one thing Knull hates, it’s being imprisoned. He’s already dealt with that for far too much of his very long life. He’s at a low point right now…but this series is the story of his determination to rise again. He will not accept a life he does not deserve, to quote a very powerful woman. He’s going on quite a journey in this series, and it’s not going to take him where you expect.

Creative Process & Writing

Clayton asks, Great work on successfully weaving a great story with such a challenging task as making MJ the Venom host! My question is about Venom’s rogues’ gallery. I feel like it’s time they move on from C-list Spidey Villains and we start to get their own. Do you think that’s in the cards now that they are more grounded?

Jordan D. White: So, that is a complicated question to answer, and the reason speaks more to how we operate in general than to this book in particular. We’re in a place where a lot of the time–not all the time, but a lot of time–going with completely new villains can be risky. That a lot of the draw of the comics for readers is seeing the classic faces they have come to know and love (or love to hate) is what keeps people around. So there is a balancing act that we have to maintain between new and old. And that is not even mentioning that we very much do not ever want to go too far into the old, just doing stories we have already done again. So in that way, using established villains – Ock, Masque, etc – fighting a character they have never really fought before is a way to use the classic pieces but use them in new ways. And I know this column often becomes me gushing about Al Ewing, but I think one of Al’s greatest strengths is in using characters in ways that reflect previous stories while moving things forward, so I love when he uses established folks and makes them feel fresh.

That said, that doesn’t mean that characters that didn’t debut in Venom books cannot become big Venom villains. Don’t forget that Daredevil straight-up stole Kingpin from Spidey.

Peggy Parker asks, What will inspire MJ to update her Venom look into the new blue and red version?

Jordan D. White: Hahaha, so as silly as it sounds, the inspiration really was the issue number. It was pointed out to us that Amazing Spider-Man 252 was the debut of the symbiote costume, so we should do something special in Venom 252 to celebrate it. I joked, “Like, have Venom debut a red and blue costume?” and everyone got very excited for the idea. We had Luciano Vecchio design a look for it because he is incredible at that, and from there, everyone got even MORE excited. But here’s the thing–I didn’t want to have this fun concept get in the way of Al’s story.

Our plan was to have this look in the backup story that Jordan Morris is writing for us, based on the look Luciano devised. But I reached out to Al to let him know about the story and the look and the whole celebration…and he was immediately keen to be in on the fun. He said he had a great hook for why MJ would make the symbiote look that way in 616 continuity, and when he told me what it was, I was thrilled. Check out the next issue and issue 252 and see for yourself–it’s going to be awesome.

Characters & Relationships

The Grim Sleeper asks about the summary of ANV issue 10: it states that Toxin and Sleeper are “brothers”, but Sleeper is their uncle/aunt. Is that a mistake?

Jordan D. White: Yep, that was a mistake. Sorry about that! Toxin is Carnage’s offspring.

Robert M asks, MJ’s history with Peter seems to be downplayed a lot in the series. While she and Paul did break up, they avoided addressing the fact that Peter was collateral damage in their relationship. Is that something the Venom book might pick up on?

Jordan D. White: Peter is, I think, a constant presence felt in this book, even though he has not appeared in an issue of it as of yet. That said, yeah–MJ and Paul didn’t spend a lot of their relationship talking about MJ’s ex, which… is understandable? I mean, they had an unhealthy relationship, but not that particular brand of unhealthy. And when MJ reached out to Peter to talk to him about all this, it didn’t go very well (see Amazing Spider-Man #9).

To answer your question more directly, I don’t think the Venom series is going to go into how MJ and Paul’s now-ended relationship affected Peter. I think that is way more a thing that, if it’s going to come up, it’s gonna be in Peter’s book.

Taylan asks, I have to say I am quite worried about these couple of ‘subtle’ teases that have been made with Flash and MJ. Surely there are no plans to make them a couple, right? Because that would be VERY weird and kind of a betrayal of Peter’s friendship.

Jordan D. White: So, this is another one of those classic “spoiler questions” asking about things that may or may not be going to happen in the future. So, I am not going to answer whether or not a thing is going to happen. But to speak to the betrayal aspect…I mean, is that not something that has happened a lot in Peter’s history? MJ was Harry’s girlfriend before she was Peter’s. And Harry married Liz, who was Flash’s ex. And for a while, Flash was dating Felicia, though that started off as her getting revenge on Peter before turning into something real. There is a real soap opera aspect to comics, and I don’t anticipate that going away any time soon. You should see the relationship charts for the X-Men.

Anonymous asks, Are there plans for Rick to continue to be in All-New Venom for a while?

Jordan D. White: There are!

Publishing & Industry

DBZALLSTAR asks, With the renumbering coming up, is Al Ewing still on the title for the long haul?

Jordan D. White: He is!

Anonymous asks, With the title having relaunching into All-New Venom, will the numbering eventually go back to legacy numbering?

Jordan D. White: It just did! We went to issue #250, and we’re sticking with it–see issue #251 next month and so on!

DBZALLSTAR: With the relaunch into All-New Venom, would an Omnibus start with Ram V/Ewing and end with Venom War?

Jordan D. White: That is a question I think more for the collections department than for me. It will all depend on what folks want from that sort of thing. But I would say yeah–it’s probably smarter to have the Eddie-as-King-In-Black run be one thing and the VenoMJ be another, since there is such a huge swing in subject matter and tone between the two. The plot follows one into the next, but it’s a different story being told.

Other

Anonymous asks, What do you think about Venom as a metaphor for addiction in comics?

Jordan D. White: I say I hope you’ve been reading Eddie Brock: Carnage. Charles has put a lot of thought into the exact matter you’re asking about, and that book deserves a lot more attention than it’s been getting.

That’s it for Venom Unleashed #12! Check out exclusive art below and take the new fan survey!