Venom Unleashed #14: Looking back and looking forward

Welcome back, symbiote faithful — and welcome to our final Venom Unleashed column of 2025! Fourteen installments deep, we’re closing out the year with something special: a look back at your favorite symbiote moments of 2025, a peek ahead at what’s cooking for 2026, and some of Jordan D. White’s most thoughtful (and funniest) answers yet. From MJ’s evolving bond with her symbiote to the long-awaited fireworks in Death Spiral, Jordan breaks down the creative joys, behind-the-scenes logistics, and big emotional swings that have shaped Venom’s wild year.

And that’s not all — down at the bottom of the column, we’ve got exclusive art you won’t see anywhere else, plus a brand-new fan survey to help kick off the next era of symbiote storytelling. Don’t miss it.

AIPT: We’ve reached the end of the year, Jordan, and 14 columns at that! To wrap up the year, we here at AIPT asked fans to reflect: What’s been your favorite part of Venom’s (or symbiotes’) journey in 2025?

The results are in, and 35% agreed that MJ becoming Venom was the best part of the journey. Coming in second with 29% was Eddie’s evolution through Eddie Brock: Carnage. With those results in mind, what aspect of editing Venom and symbiote comics in 2025 was your favorite?

Jordan: Tough call! Though at the end of the day, my favorite part of making comics is pretty much always getting to work with such great and talented people. Al and Charles are both such terrific writers who I have loved working with for years, as is artist Carlos Gomez, and getting to work with Jesus Saiz and Juanan Ramirez for the first time was also awesome!

But if you want me to pick something story-based, I think the thing I have enjoyed most is the further evolution of how the symbiote/host relationship works through MJ and her symbiote. They have a completely different relationship to any of the previous Venom pairings, and it has revealed a lot about the character of that symbiote and, through that, the nature of Klyntar in general. It’s been really cool.

AIPT: And then to look ahead, we polled folks asking: What excites you most about the future of the Venom line?

38.8% of folks chimed in saying the evolving MJ-Venom role as a street-level anti-hero. Second place (32%) was Eddie and Carnage’s clash in Death Spiral. Not giving anything away, mind you, what are you most looking forward to in 2026?

Jordan: For sure, both of those things are high on my list. There is, in particular, an issue of Death Spiral that I have been waiting for for a LONG time–it was one of the earliest pieces of that story that we locked in–and it’s going to be awesome. The big scene in question started being drawn this very week, and it’s as wonderful as I dreamed. I cannot wait to share it with everyone. 

Side note–do you think MJ’s Venom is an anti-hero? I think she MIGHT just be making the turn into anti-anti-hero, or rather, hero. But I could be wrong. 

AIPT: With Venom #252 out on stands, fans are getting an extra-sized issue celebrating Amazing Spider-Man #252, complete with two backup stories. Can you tell us a little bit about what goes into getting Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz back for a classic tale, and how you curate a book like this with another story by Jordan Morris and Jesus Saiz? Are you reaching out to them many months in advance? What goes into building a backup story that may be a flashback or alternate tale?

Jordan: I THINK I already talked about this all in a previous column here, but I’m happy to reiterate! The idea came up that, in getting to issue 252, the issue number at which, in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, the alien costume made its debut, we should do something to celebrate. From there, two ideas came into existence at the same time–one was debuting a red-and-blue Venom costume, and the other was getting the original creative team for ASM 252 back to honor their classic issue. I started on both of those things at the same time.

Reaching out to Tom and Ron was super easy, and they were immediately game for it. We hit on the idea of having it be an Eddie Brock-centric story set in the early days of black costume Spide,y and they turned in the great story you see in the finished issue. It’s a gorgeous-looking piece, with Brett Breeding joining in on the inks as well, as he did on the original 252.  I think it makes a great companion piece to their classic issue and a great addition to the Venom pre-history. 

At the same time, I reached out to Luciano Vecchio to design the red-and-blue Venom, and he turned in the awesome design we now all know and love. I then gave that design to Jordan Morris and asked him to cook up ideas for who this guy was. We threw around some ideas and he landed on Eddie Parker, the scumbag in a light-hearted symbiote named Pete. Jesus was, very unfortunately, coming off the just-ended EDDIE BROCK: CARNAGE series, so he was available for the art, and he knocked it out of the park. 

And then, I know I mentioned this part last month, but the idea of the red-and-blue being in the MAIN story in the issue was the latest addition to the whole thing! Al just loved the design and wanted to get in on the fun, so he wrote up this whole Venom-pretends-unconvincingly-to-be-Spidey story, which fit PERFECTLY with the Doc Ock fight. The whole issue turned out to be a blast, and I think it really did end up as a great celebration of both the classic ASM issue AND the amazing design Luciano cooked up for us.

Honestly…we love that design so much, this just might not be the last you see of it. 

AIPT: Okay, Jordan, onto fan questions!

SYMBIOTE LORE, POWERS & WORLD-BUILDING

Lasher Guy asks:

“How do you, as editor, see the role of symbiotes as characters? Do you think they should have their own characters and goals, or do most exist to support the development of their host?”

Jordan: The “should” is a very complicated piece of this question, as it feels so definitive when, at the end of the day, these things are so subjective and in fact can change given the context of the story as it stands and the story being pitched going forward.

If I were to imagine myself as having been the editor of all symbiote-related stories over the entire history of the character…honestly, my instinct would be to say that the original conception of the symbiotes as things we did not hear speak on their own, things we were not privy to the thoughts of, that we only ever knew through their hosts…that that is an important part of them and how they work. That is the reason for the most famous (non-brain-eating) phrase the character ever said–“We are Venom”–was because the symbiote doesn’t speak on its own, it only speaks as part of that WE, and to have it as its own character weakens that essential alienness that is so cool.

But, really, that doesn’t matter. That ship has sailed–the symbiotes have spoken, they have been clearly shown to have separate thoughts from their hosts. It is 100% undeniably proven to be so. Heck, I know this isn’t 616 continuity or anything, but the idea of Venom in the mind of the public has been forever shaped by the films where the symbiote and Eddie have conversations out loud constantly. Whether I would have done it or not, it’s part of the story, and as such needs to be embraced. I am not here to litigate the decisions of others, probably far better editors of the past, and I am CERTAINLY not here to try to tear down other people’s stories. I want to pick up the ball and move forward. Uh, not sure why I am using a sports metaphor when I know nothing about sports. I want to “Yes, and” the stories that came before. Ah, much better.

Which, honestly, is part of why I am glad we leaned so far the other way–that we are specifically doing stories ABOUT the fact that the symbiote is separate even while in symbiosis. It is both half of one thing and the entirety of its own thing at the same time. And that is complicated, psychologically and emotionally. There is a lot to explore there.

Anonymous asks:

“When an idea gets nixed or put aside, do you keep tabs on it to slot in for the future?”

Jordan: If I like it enough, for sure! There are still X-Men, Deadpool, and even Star Wars ideas that I threw out and were never used that still knock around in my head, and if I ever get the chance to toss them into the ring again, I will definitely do so.

Which is actually why I need to resist the urge to tell you any of them, so they will still be feasible in the future. If I were to tell you about them here, it would pretty much mean I had given up on making it real someday.

Tawhirimatea asks:

“What other kinds of Knullified weapons do you think could exist in the Marvel Universe?”

Jordan: While I formulate my answer, I can talk a bit about my thinking on it, and I can do it with a very clear and definitive example, as something SUPER similar has already happened. Over in the X-world, when I was an assistant editor during Jason Aaron’s run on WOLVERINE & THE X-MEN, the topic came up of what Quentin Quire’s psychic weapon would be. The big one before that was Psylocke having a psychic knife and sometimes a psychic katana. I am not sure whose idea it was that Quentin’s psychic weapon would be a shotgun, but I know I was fully on board immediately. I love the idea of shifting from a very simple, old-timey weapon to an incredibly complicated one.

There is definitely a part of me that wants to say we need to see a Knullified Nuke. It’s completely preposterous, but the idea of a symbiote that has learned nuclear physics so well that it can form into a functional nuclear device is pretty awesome.

DEATH SPIRAL & EVENT QUESTIONS

Dwight Jordan asks:

“Will Death Spiral be controversial, or is it more of a straightforward symbiote roller coaster?”

Jordan: Not sure how that is a diametrically opposed choice. There are definitely aspects of the story that will get people talking, and I am sure not all people will be fond of every plot point. So there is a good chance that some controversy will be stirred. That’s not the main goal of the story, for sure, to rile people up–the point is to tell a great story people will dig.

On the second point, I am not sure I would describe it as a story centered on symbiotes, either. Two of the stars of the story are symbiote-bearing characters, so symbiotes are in it, and it will have a lot of symbiote action, but it’s not a story driven by symbiote lore, like a KING IN BLACK was, say. But it IS going to be a roller coaster thrill ride, and it’s gonna have an impact on those characters.

Anonymous asks:

“Will Death Spiral feature MULTIPLE character-defining moments, or will it have a central character it’s focusing on?

Jordan: What a coincidence, I was just talking about the characters in DEATH SPIRAL! It’s going to for sure have big character moments for each of the three main characters–Peter, Mary Jane, and Eddie.  Well, and the Venom and Carnage symbiotes as well. And also a couple more characters beyond that! It’s not a Spider-man story featuring Venom and Carnage, or a Venom story featuring Spidey and Carnage–it’s a piece of all three of their stories, and important to all of them.

CHARACTER-FOCUSED QUESTIONS 

Blueknight asks:

“Do you have a favorite MJ/Venom interaction so far?”

Jordan: My favorite moments are when MJ accidentally stops hating the symbiote for a moment, and they are actually happy together for a moment. When you can tell they are both actually having fun and doing something they love. She always comes back to her senses and pulls away, emotionally, but for that limited time, it’s so nice for them both.

FUTURE TEASES & NEW DIRECTIONS

Anonymous asks:

“Can we expect any brand-new symbiote characters to debut in 2026?”

Jordan: … Sort of. It’s complicated.

Liviu Dragan asks:

“Are there plans to have a more cosmic approach to future symbiote stories? I really liked the Venom: Space Knight run.”

Jordan: I don’t anticipate anything in the exact vein of VENOM: SPACE KNIGHT, but there are, for sure, cosmic aspects to the story cooking in our KNULL miniseries and the places it’s building to. And you know, there is one place where a Space Knight moment might be called for. I will think about that.

That’s a wrap on Venom Unleashed #14, and the last edition for 2025! Thanks for contributing questions, and we’ll see you next year.

Check out exclusive art and a new fan survey to fill out below!

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