Venom Unleashed #18: The spiral tightens with Venom and Spider-Man office answers

Welcome back to Venom Unleashed, where your questions are sharp, the answers are sharper, and the Death Spiral chaos keeps tightening its grip.

This week, we’re looking deeper into the madness with the Spider and Venom offices as the event barrels forward, and things are only getting messier. A serial killer may be wreaking havoc, but families are being destroyed. Eddie is spiraling, Peter is trying to regain his footing after losing control of his life, and MJ is caught in the middle as the truth keeps shifting under her feet.

With the latest chapter of Death Spiral, part 4 in Amazing Spider-Man #24, out today, this column is your only place to get inside intel!

On the Death Spiral front, the team unpacks the themes driving the event, from addiction and instability to the fragile nature of life itself. There is also plenty of insight into Torment’s brutal methods, the logic behind key deaths, and how this twisted “family” of Peter, MJ, Eddie, and Dylan is being pushed to its limits.

Elsewhere, we touch on lingering questions about symbiote dynamics, missing characters, and what is next for key players once the dust settles. Some answers are clear, some are teasing what is coming next, and some might make you a little nervous about who survives this thing.

But first, let’s take a step back to ask the important question: if these creators had to become villains themselves, what kind would they be?

Let’s get into it.

Anonymouse asks: This event is all about villains. If y’all had to be villains in the Spider-Verse, would your powers be tech-based (Shocker), symbiote-based (Carnage/etc), reality-warping (eventuality/some big cosmic thing), or big monster (insert big monster here)? No good guys!

Nick Lowe [Spider-Man editor]: Big Monster! I’d have a ton of legs and arms, some with multiple legs and arms sprouting off of them. And my name would be LIMB-O!

Jordan D. White [Venom editor]: Oooh, interesting. I think because I keep getting so many questions for this column about my relationship with my theoretical symbiote, it has brought me around to wanting a symbiote. I would do my best to use it in subtle ways, though–probably not just to bulk up and swing around, but in more espionage-y ways.

Joe Kelly [writer]: I’m gonna throw animal-based powers into my answer. I mean, animals are small monsters, right? I’d get bit by something radioactive and get wild powers and a crazed Ditko villain suit and probably also rabies… or mange. Being a villain is hard.

Charles Soule [writer]: I’d be Kingpin. He gets things done.

Al Ewing [writer]: Everyone’s expecting me to say big cosmic thing anyway, so I’ll pick that. My cosmic power would be to stretch the fabric of time itself, and I’d use it to give myself a week off.

Death Spiral Questions

LRN asks a thoughtful question: During this event, I get the impression that our three main characters (Peter, MJ, and Eddie) seem to be facing a rather similar fear. Aside from the fear of a serial killer who wants to kill them (which is honestly already a lot), I feel like I’m seeing a recurring theme: the loss of control… So I wanted to know if this theme was a major aspect of the thinking behind the scripting, and what to expect in terms of how our characters will develop with this.

NL: The main control theme was centered around Eddie and his addictive personality, as far as I recall, though the writers or even JORDAN may remember differently. The theme I remember plumbing was the delicacy of life (as in delicate, not cuisine, you sicko) and how quickly life changes any time you look or go away.

JDW: Actually, the big thing I remember all three writers jumping at almost immediately was the family aspect–Carnage being Venom’s child. MJ acting as “parent” to Dylan, Eddie being his actual father. Peter and MJ being… uh… close. And how all that made them basically into this weird and dysfunctional family. And that, of course, led to Torment’s death spiral methods. But Eddie’s addiction to symbiotes was certainly a huge factor. Writers?

JK: Peter is coming off of a huge loss of control post-cosmic adventure. He hasn’t lost control of himself, per se, but he did lose control over his life when he was sent across the galaxy. He returns to very shaky ground and really wants to reestablish “control” over things – if he ever had any at all. And then… Torment.

CS: Eddie knows his life is out of control. He’s been in a downward spiral (get it?) for a long time, but he’s also at that point where he can see the descent but has no idea how to stop it. Control? That’s a distant dream. He’s just trying to get through each day.

AE: I think MJ and Peter are definitely getting shocked by how much they don’t know going into this – sometimes we try to control our individual reality by clinging to assumptions rather than checking to make sure they’re correct. MJ and Peter have both been doing this – each assuming they knew roughly what’s been going on with the other – and now the rug’s been pulled away from them and they’ve had to scramble to get back on top of things in circumstances that aren’t ideal.

Anonymouse asks: Did you guys make up a family tree for Torment to follow, or is there a big list of spider-family collateral damage out there?

NL: we used some reference that we had and mainly tried to focus on what would help the story the absolute most. No-Prizes are available to intrepid fans who write in!

JK: I pretty much picked members of my family I could do without and changed the names to protect the innocent. Don’t worry… they know who they are…

CS: I came up with the deaths first – names were secondary. But maybe someday someone will decide to go back in and create full-on backstories for each and every one of them. Stranger things have happened in comics!

Ian A. asks, and I’m assuming why kill Shocker when he asks: Why Shocker?

NL: If you, wonderful writers, want to take this, I can shut up. But here’s mine: it’s so sad, isn’t it? I’ve really come to care about Herman in my Spider-Time. Our main reasons started with the utilitarianism of his gauntlets and that Joe had been using him a bunch in ASM. Torment is smart and knows that he needs more than his razor whip to take on Venom and Carnage. Herman has depth, so it’s an especially big bummer that Torment targeted him, but part of what worked for me about the choice was that’s life, isn’t it? No one deserves to die. And we actually have a Shocker super fan up here at the House named Mike Strobl, who took it VERY hard. He made an amazing shrine to Shocker!

JK: Poor Mike. I didn’t find out until much later that he really, really loves the Shocker. Dresses like him on casual Fridays… only uses quilted toilet paper… that’s fandom.

CS: Stories like this need oomph, they need stakes, and Herman fit the bill very nicely – it demonstrated that we weren’t screwing around here.

AE: I’m pretty cold-blooded about this kind of stuff – Herman bringing Boomerang back to life during Venom War didn’t help his chances of survival any, because I knew his death would make for a nice scene with Fred.

Jolo asks: Will Eddie Brock ever interact with Flash Thompson at some point during Death Spiral?

NL: Full disclosure-not a lot.

JDW: Sorry, Brockson shippers.

JK: “Brockson!” HA!

CS: I think he *just* misses him at one point.

Jon asks: I’m curious if we’ll see anything from Ben Reilly/Chasm during this event? I really like the angle of making Chasm into a villain, like old-school Venom, and would love to see whether the fallout from MJ interacting with Ben will play a role in this story or further down the line.

NL: He doesn’t show up in “Death Spiral” proper. But we aren’t done with Ben by a long shot. You are welcome and sorry!

JDW: Sorry, to all the Reilliphiles.

JK: “Reilliphiles!” HA!

Chagryn asks: Is Torment a Symbiote like Venom?

NL: Nope! He is a superpowered human with an AWESOME and gross suit designed by Ed McGuinness!

JDW: LOVE that suit! What is it made of? I am sure I do not know. Someone cosplay it so we can find out!

JK: It’s made of screams. And 10% lycra for some stretch.

Stuck in Spidey Webs asks: How does MJ feel about the whole Torment situation? Is she worried that she, Peter, and the people around them will be next?

NL: She’s not pleased, I’ll tell you that much. As soon as she figures out Torment’s pattern, she does her best to safeguard her loved ones in a great moment.

JDW: Yeah–I think once they understand the death spiral, it’s less worrying and more knowing!

AE: I think MJ’s definitely wanting Torment taken care of as soon as possible. She’s lucky in that Torment found out about her after Eddie and Peter, so he’s had less time to go after her relatives… but he might want to make up for lost time.

General Venom Questions

NousagiMy asks: When they become Venom, the symbiote seems to be in control while MJ is some backseat passenger giving directions like a car GPS. Is there an instance where MJ takes direct control as Venom?

JDW: I think that is because the symbiote has more experience Venoming than MJ does…but it’s operating with her symbioted with her, so she is a part of all of it. That’s why it gives her the credit for them doing all that shape shifting they’ve been doing–that comes from her creativity.

CS: My view is that symbiote relationships can work pretty differently from person to person – just the way your relationship with person A in your life might be different than person B. Body chemistry, past history with symbiotes, strength of will… all of those things can play a role in the dynamic. I’d say Eddie is particularly, even uniquely good at being a host – which is both good and bad for him!

AE: That “seems” is doing a lot of work – it’s a pretty uncharitable reading of the setup, especially considering that Venom and MJ’s teamwork is often right there on the page. Last time I answered these questions people were complaining about Flash being too controlling with the symbiote, and I’m pretty sure nobody was enjoying it when Lee Price was firmly in control, so there’s an element of MJ not being able to win here… but if you want to see her take charge, go back to #10 – who’s in control of that mindscape, right inside Venom’s head? It’s not Venom.

Infamousjeb asks: Where is Bedlam, Lee Price ??? And Flexo??

AE: In captivity or in the wind.

JDW: Yeah–we last saw Lee at the very end of Venom War. Same with Flexo? I actually cannot recall where he ended up. Bedlam got away, for sure… which means there IS a crazy Eddie Brock who is also kind of a symbiote out there! How mad is that?

AE: I think Bedlam was taken down, but we never saw him in a S.C.A.R. cell, which means either he’s in a separate cell… or he’s out there. Either way, he’s a ticking bomb for Eddie down the line.

Peter and Mary Jane Questions

SpeedforceWally asks: What does Peter feel about Mary Jane? They haven’t interacted since the Venom War, and many months have passed since then. Does Peter still think of Mary Jane as the love of his life, even though he hasn’t really thought about her since? I kinda thought he moved on.

NL: You’ll see a bunch of this in the story, Speedforce. Without spoiling stuff, MJ has been a big part of Peter’s life. Nothing can change that.

JDW: I think we have already solicited Venom #258, as well, which features a big Peter & MJ scene, dealing with the “fallout” from Death Spiral.

JK: These two have been through a lot together, and they have a very special bond. Even special bonds evolve with time, though. We’ll start to get a sense of where they could be headed in this story.

CS: I’ve really enjoyed writing a few scenes between MJ and Peter. Lots of crackling energy there because of their long, intense history.

AE: Once Death Spiral’s all over, MJ and Peter are going to have a chance to talk properly – and that talk should set up where they are right now and where they’re going.

Max asks: Peter seemed quite upset that MJ “died”, necessitating her bonding with Venom. Given that it was Paul who was responsible for this predicament, will Peter confront Paul at some point in the story to address how his mishap has resulted in MJ’s current status?

NL: I’m not sure I, MJ, or Peter would put that weight fully on Paul’s shoulders (though Paul might). The Jackpot tech wasn’t something Paul or MJ used gleefully. It’s a dangerous and powerful tool. But MJ chose to use it and use it in the most powerful and dangerous setting.

JDW: Yeah–Paul certainly didn’t MAKE MJ become Jackpot, and was constantly trying to keep her safe from it. She went against his advice when she had Venom rig it to give her more power. THAT was what caused it to go on the fritz. MJ is her own woman and does what she wants, not what Paul wants.

JK: Yeah, if Pete thought that Paul did something untoward, he’d go after him, but as it was explained to him, this was a bad situation all around. Also, Pete has died himself – almost eight times in one story – so he knows the mental anguish that can cause. He’s more worried about that for MJ than Paul’s role.

CS: Has anyone ever said Peter, Paul, and Mary (Jane) before? If not, I’m saying it now. That’s mine.

AE: I will say we’ll get a taste of Peter’s opinion about Paul soon enough.

Questions for Joe Kelly:

Curious Carlos asks: Joe, how important would you say Amazing Spider-Man #65 is in regard to the rest of your run? Feels like there was a lot of foreshadowing there that might still come back around…

JK: I would say that is an excellent observation. :)

We got our first glimpse at Hellgate there, so who knows what else in that issue could still come to pass? That said, the future isn’t yet written… especially not by me since I am doing this when I should be finishing a script!

Bruno asks: How much longer does Joe Kelly intend to stay as the title champion? I’m really enjoying this run. Is there any chance he’ll stay after issue #1000?

JK: Thanks, Bruno! Appreciate it! I’m sticking around for a while after 1000, at least that’s the plan. I love Spidey, and I’m having a great time, so I hope to be on the book for quite a while.

Queen in Black Question

Ian Morton asks: Will there be an Infernal Hulk crossover in Queen in Black?

AE: I don’t believe so, but given how wild things are getting (and about to get) in that book, I wouldn’t want to distract them…

JDW: What Al said! While it IS awesome to get crazy crossovers like that sometimes, right now, Infernal Hulk is building to its own mad story–see the Comic Giveaway Day issue for your first peek!

And that’s a wrap on the second special Death Spiral edition of Venom Unleashed! Stay tuned, superfans, as we’ll be back with a new call for questions next Wednesday, March 25th!

But wait, there’s more, don’t miss EXCLUSIVE preview art for the next chapters of Death Spiral, and below!