Marvel has just announced the team who will be working on the next run of Venom beginning this November, and their choice of writers and artists suggests this might be one of the most horrific takes on the character to date.
Venom has received a lot of attention recently, with the character having played a major role in the King in Black crossover event and with a sequel to the 2018 film due in September. Venom has also thrived under the care of Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman, whose run with the character recently came to an end. Cates and Stegman expanded the lore around the symbiotes substantially, laying the groundwork for the King in Black event and earning praise from fans and critics alike.
Comics often change hands, however, and Marvel has announced that the next to take on the complex anti-hero will be horror experts Al Ewing and Ram V, accompanied by artist Bryan Hitch. Al Ewing is best known for his work on The Immortal Hulk, So it’s certainly a promising starting point for Venom, as the symbiotes are a natural fit for horror. Ram V’s horror credentials include These Savage Shores, a unique tale of vampires and monsters set in Colonial India, and he’s also worked on Carnage: Black, White, and Blood #2, giving him some familiarity with the symbiote lore as well. Artist Bryan Hitch will give fans a preview of his take on Venom with the delayed Free Comic Book Day special Spider-Man/Venom (2021) #1, set for release on August 14.
Al Ewing and Ram V. intend to present a “twisted new vision of Venom,” and take the symbiote lore to brand new places. The promotional pages provided by Marvel show Venom in space, surrounded by several other black symbiotes, as they move through an asteroid field. Venom’s body also bears a web of bulging veins and arteries showing through the symbiote’s skin, which seems to hint at the visceral approach this series plans to take.
As an interesting turn of events, it was announced shortly after the Venom news dropped that Donny Cates will essentially be swapping places with Ewing, taking over the next Hulk title with Ryan Ottley. The swap seems to be a good sign, as it’s quite rare for writers to just directly swap properties like this, much less with both series planned to start at the same time. Ewing and Ram V’s run will begin with Venom #1 this November.
