Venom Unleashed #8: Marvel’s Jordan D. White answers your burning questions

Welcome to Venom Unleashed #8, where the symbiote secrets don’t stay buried for long.

This month, over 160 questions came pouring in from fans like you, and Marvel Senior Editor Jordan D. White is back to answer the wildest, weirdest, and most thought-provoking of the bunch. From Doc Ock’s symbiote expertise to the philosophical divide between Eddie and Venom, this installment dives deep into the evolving identity of the Lethal Protector.

What’s up with “VenoMJ”? Why doesn’t Venom take MJ’s form when they fuse? Could symbiote memories become a storytelling goldmine? And is Bren okay or just off-panel doomed?

Plus: We’ve got your first look at exclusive art from upcoming titles edited by Jordan, and a brand-new fan survey at the bottom.

Let’s get weird, get gooey, and get into it.

AIPT: Welcome to the eighth edition of Venom Unleashed, Jordan! The fans are hungry for answers, especially with over 160 questions filed in the last fan survey! Before we get to their questions, let’s look at some of our fan polling. 

Fans were very hype for VenoMj, with 34% voting in favor of it, though simply “Venom” came in at 36%. 

Just curious, have you used VenoMj around the offices yet?

Jordan: I have not said “VenoMJ out loud to another human being, no, but I have used it in email to the team. I feel like it’s a text pun, but I cannot see myself vocalizing it any time soon, I am afraid. Out loud, I am 100% just “Venom.”

AIPT: And since it came up last edition, fans seem very hungry for past memories of Venom to be used with 43.7% saying yes to exploring that area. 

Not so much a question, but it’s good to know!

Jordan: Yeah–it is a really neat idea, but I think it totally depends on what is going on with her. She’s not just going to come home at night and browse Eddie’s memories like they’re Netflix, you know? But if something related to his experience comes up, then it would be a cool detail. 

Like, I feel like Eddie didn’t spend that much time thinking about things Spider-Man did that wasn’t related to himself or what he was up to, you know? Back when he was out for revenge on him all the time, sure–but when he was forging his own way, he wasn’t Superior Spider-Manning his way through his life story or anything. Additionally, MJ is coming to the symbiote at a time when it’s the most developed as an individual than it has ever been–I feel like she is much more likely to treat the symbiote as a partner rather than a tool than any of the previous hosts (with the possible exception of Dylan). So I feel like she would be more likely to ask the symbiote if it knows anything, and if it were to then share memories or experiences from its previous hosts, she would take that info…But I don’t think she’s on the prowl for that sort of thing. 

AIPT: Logical and understandable.

All-New Venom #7 is out now, buy it at your local comic shops, Venom Unleashed fans, and Doc Ock has entered the tale full force. Can you give readers a sense of how well Doc Ock knows these symbiotes, from Flash to Sleeper and everyone in between?

Jordan: Doctor Octopus is a genius and a master planner–he happens to know a great deal about a lot of things. So even the symbiotes he has not had run-ins with over the years, he’s got enough of an ear to the ground for all things super that he’s going to be quite knowledgeable. You’re pretty unlikely to catch him flat-footed on pretty much any topic.

Plus, here he is working with S.C.A.R., an organization specifically concerned with symbiotes, so he’s going to have prepared a good body of intel. Be assured, he has a master plan. 

AIPT: Onto fan questions, starting with a logical one from Dylan Hall, who asks: Why are symbiotes always one color when they can seemingly mimic any color clothing?

Jordan: I think those are just their natural colors. Like you said, they can make themselves look like anything, but Venom seems to be black when it is at its most. When it “relaxes” those “muscles,” so to speak. And Carnage is red, Toxin is red and blue, and so on. Just because they CAN change doesn’t mean that is how they “normally” look. It takes some sort of effort for them to change to something else–presumably, it is easy for them to look like themselves.

 

AIPT: Kaiju is curious about an overlooked character, asking: Since going to Avengers Academy, and Toxin is locked up with Sleeper, how is Bren doing? He’s apparently at home, but how is he doing? He had such a good bond with Toxin, and his dad doesn’t seem to be too fond of Symbiotes in general- is he doing okay?

Jordan: So–I can say he is doing great, and I fully mean it…but if, in a day’s time, a writer pitched a story about how terribly Bren is doing, then he would be doing terrible instead.

My general rule of thumb is that if a character is off the page for a long time, unless there is a strong reason to think it’s awful for them (they were left in literal Hell, for example), then I assume they are fine. It’s the moment someone wants to bring them back onto the page that you need to worry–that’s when we’re going to find out everything went terribly.

I worked with the late, great Peter David on the end of his X-Factor Investigations run, and afterwards, people would ask me, “When are we going to see Madrox and Layla again?” And I would always say, “They are happy together! Why do you want to destroy their happy marriage by dragging them back into the comics?” And sure enough, the next time Madrox appeared, he was killed off. 

AIPT: Anonymous asks: What inspired the use of AIM as a villain for the recent ANV books? 

Jordan: They are villains Al finds interesting, and I cannot blame him. It’s fun and interesting to have extremist scientists like this. And Al did a lot of great work with AIM in his USAVENGERS run as well. They’re always splintering and infighting, as well, which gives a lot of leeway regarding where we want them to be and what they are trying to accomplish. But we have not seen the last of them, I don’t believe. 

AIPT: Hank needs to know: Does Flash’s symbiote have a consciousness? Anti-Venom didn’t, but if I recall correctly, this symbiote originates from a symbiote dragon.

Jordan: Hank, let me tell you… I cannot fully answer your question beyond the classic sort of “Keep reading, true believer!” But you should know that your question sent me down a huge research rabbit hole that has revealed some really interesting things and will probably affect how things go with the character in the future.

AIPT: Jon1811 asks: Anne Weying seemed to have a past with her world’s Peter, and seems to be acting as the leader of the Venoms, will we see any interactions between them too? Get to see Anne’s opinion on Peter and his potential stance on not wanting to hurt the symbiotes?

Jordan: We actually do see interactions between Anne and Peter in Spider-Verse vs. Venomverse, but they don’t have the time or inclination to discuss their past relations with each other’s variants–there are bigger problems to attend to, what with the existence of every symbiote in the multiverse being pitted against the existence of all the spider-folk! 

AIPT: But wait, there’s more Anne questions! Draconian6 asks: Will Anne Weying (1051) ever meet Eddie Brock (616) again. I imagine she would have very conflicted emotions considering the man she loves the most is bonded with the thing she hates the most.

Jordan: Sounds like a good Anne story, but I think Eddie Brock AKA Carnage has more than enough on his plate with proper 616 denizens who are going to be extremely unhappy with who he has become.

Right now, SVvsVV is the spot to see Anne, and 616’s Eddie is sitting that one out, not being a Venom at the moment. 

AIPT: H-E-D asks: Any chance we’ll see Mavis Trent and the Payback symbiote return? They’re an obscure character, but they did make it onto a “Every Symbiote Ever” cover a couple of years ago…

Jordan: That’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time…a long time. I would not recommend holding your breath–no one has talked about using her anywhere just now. 

AIPT: Another question from H-E-D who asks: Did you, Al, and Hivemind know how important Venom War: Spider-Man would be while running Venom War, or was MJ becoming Venom an idea that came later?

Jordan: Both, sort of. Al had planned out a lot of the MAIN Venom War story before the MJ identity was locked in. We knew we wanted to have a VW: Spidey mini involving Peter in the symbiote, and then, once we locked in the MJ reveal, we realized we should find way to get her into the orbit of the event, so having MJ show up in Peter’s adventure seemed like the way to go. But even then, we didn’t know HOW important it would become–it could have easily just been a random side adventure to just get her on the page.

It is a testament to how cool the story Jackson Lanzing, Colin Kelly, and Greg Land put together was that Al ended up making it such a huge part of the origin of the bond. 

AIPT: Blue Knight asks: I’ve noticed Venom usually takes the form of his host body when he bonds with them, like Anne Weying, Flash Thompson, and Eddie Brock. Outside of the mystery element, why does Venom not look like MJ when fully Venomized? Like, is it because of a disconnect between host and Symbiote, just art style, or something else?

Jordan: I am not going to lie and say that the mystery element did not play into it–that is the REAL main answer, we wanted to have a big mystery, and this seemed like a good way to do it. But it grew, I thought, pretty naturally out of the previous host–Dylan is a tiny kid, and the symbiote transforms him into a massive bodybuilder. Seeing that was what allowed us to say “Oh, ok–the Venom ‘identity’ now seems to have a concept to it.”

It began with Eddie, sure, but now Venom seems to be comfortable in this muscular form, so it makes sense to us that in a new bond, the Venom identity would keep to that. I also think, in MJ’s mind, she is thinking of this as her becoming Venom much more than she is viewing it as the symbiote helping her. 

AIPT: Blue Knight asks: I like the idea of MJ being bonded to a symbiote long term, with Spiderverse vs Venomverse coming up, how do you plan on MJ interacting with her RYV self, who is still married to Peter? I can honestly see a lot of cool interactions between Spinnerette and VenoMJ.

Jordan: So, the first issue of Spider-Verse vs. Venomverse is out in shops now, so it’s not a spoiler to say that this is taking a little bit of a different approach to things than the previous Spider-Verse stories. Instead of being a story of EVERY Spider (or every Symbiote), it’s a story where a smaller group of spiders and symbiotes represents the whole. So Spinnerette is not currently scheduled to appear, and honestly, I will just spoil for you that VenoMJ only has a smaller role later in the series. But that said, if the series does well, I would LOVE to do more, and then who knows!

If we get the entire gang back together for, I don’t know, MAXIMUM CARNAGEVERSE or something, then it could happen!

AIPT: Y. Lu asks: As a big fan of Ewing’s take on the Utopian Kree, dare I hope MJ’s brief transformation is a sign of something to come?

Jordan: I think it’s rather a sign of things that came before–I think it was a reference to Kree warrior Tel-Kar and the symbiote’s past with him. For the most part, all of MJ’s Venom-spin Jackpot transformations were symbiote-related, some weird aspect of symbioteness. 

AIPT: Yes, asks: Any chance to bring/write Jimmy, aka Poison Wolverine, after his TVA stint?

Jordan: I think that is his new status quo–he lives and works with the TVA. It seems good for him as his mental well-being improved dramatically between being taken in by them and when we saw him next, working for them. 

AIPT: Abigail asks: Ghost-Spider (who has a synthetic symbiote) has been currently residing in the 616 for a while now, but she hasn’t been thrown into any recent symbiote drama ever since King in Black. What would her reaction be towards this version of her best friend being Venom? And would Gwen be a target of SCAR?

Jordan: A lot of multiverse talk this week! There are big developments coming for Ghost-Spider and her symbiote very soon–in issue 15 of her current series, leading directly into All-New Spider-Gwen thereafter!

As for Gwen’s reaction to VenoMJ, why would we play that story out in an interview rather than in a comic?  

AIPT: Alexander asks: In recent comics’ depiction, the Venom symbiote has become a kind of hero who saves the villains, while Eddie has somewhat regressed to the previous state of being the lethal protector who does not object to or even enjoys killing those villains. Could this be some kind of comparison suggested by the editorial, indicating that the Venom symbiote morally surpasses Eddie?

Jordan: A very interesting thought, and one worth exploring. I think it also relates to the idea that the symbiote has come into its own as an individual in a way it was not originally intended to. How much of what Venom was, originally, came from Eddie and how much from the symbiote? And was what we thought we understood about which was responsible for what correct?

All good questions and fodder for great philosophical conversation. 

AIPT: Scott asks: This may be All-New Venom, but after Venom #36, I’ve been wondering: Any chance Dylan and Bailey Briggs will cross paths? After that glimpse at the possible future, I need to know how they’ll meet.

Jordan: I sure hope so! We know that Dylan, Bailey, and Normie have a grand future together–or they COULD have, anyway! I think we need to get Dylan back into having powers again in order to give him a better ability to do all these crossovers people are suggesting for him! 

AIPT: Alexander asks: Has the Venom office already made adequate preparations for the upcoming 250th issue, and have you made early plans for the even more distant 40th anniversary and the 300th issue? As we all know, Eddie missed only one commemorative issue that was set at a 50-issue limit. Can we expect Eddie to appear in the 250th issue, or at least have a standalone short story?

Jordan: We are certainly well underway working on the 250th issue! I can say for sure that the character of Eddie Brock will appear in the 250th issue, but I don’t want to say in what capacity just yet. You shall see. We have not started planning for the 300th issue yet, nor the 40th anniversary, as we have LOTS of time before either of those.

We have, however, begun thinking about the 60th anniversary of our current host, Ms. Watson! That’s only next year (going by her first FULL appearance, anyway)! 

And that’s a wrap on Venom Unleashed #8! Be sure to fill out the newest fan survey below, and check out all the glorious and EXCLUSIVE art from upcoming titles Jordan D. White is editing!

Now it’s your turn to ask a question for the next edition of Venom Unleashed. Ask him anything be it Carnage, Venom, Spider-Verse vs. Venomverse, (or any other title he’s editing)! Can’t see the poll? Click here.