Warning! Spoilers ahead for Venom #31 from Donny Cates and Iban Coello
In the latest issue of Marvel Comics’ Venom, Eddie Brock is not doing so well. His symbiote was taken from him by Knull the Symbiote God in the first issue of King In Black, and Brock is now falling after Knull dropped him from the top of a skyscraper before continuing his invasion of Earth with his symbiote legions. Now, this issue takes place during the 32 seconds that Eddie is still falling. Meanwhile, Rex Strickland (once an ally of Venom’s) narrates Eddie’s life, and he does a great job of reminding fans why Venom is one of the most underrated superheroes in the entire Marvel Universe.
Despite now being dead in the current Marvel timeline, Rex’s words are coming from a message he recorded, specifically about Eddie and the bond he shares with his symbiote as Venom. As Strickland’s message plays, Eddie himself is continuing to fall without his powers from Venom, praying to God that he might survive for the sake of his son Dylan, whom he desperately wants to protect. Strickland recounts the life of Eddie, starting all the way back when he was a journalist that wrote about the wrong person which lead to the symbiote finding him, transforming him into Venom. While Venom started out as a vindictive Spider-Man foe, Venom eventually went somewhat straight as an anti-hero while living in San Francisco, becoming a Lethal Protector.
Near the end of Venom #9, Strickland notes that perhaps the real story of Eddie Brock is all the second chances he’s been given in his life. Despite all the mistakes and wrong choices Venom has made, he always seems to get a lot of second chances thrown his way, working hard to be better than the man or symbiote hybrid he once was. A lot of this work towards his redemption can be tangibly seen in the current comics today: Venom is no longer a villain of Spider-Man and hasn’t been for some time. Instead, he’s an Avenger with a personal recommendation from Captain America and has reunited with his son Dylan, doing all he can to be a good and supportive father. Nothing like that would remotely happen for a character like Venom if he didn’t work hard for it and took advantage of those second chances when they came, hence Strickland’s name for Brock: The Comeback King.
However, the issue ends on a much more dark and foreboding note, as Strickland follows up by saying that he knows at some point all those second chances are going to run dry, and Eddie will eventually fail one day, saying that “Eddie Brock is a dead man wearing his own coffin” just before Brock is about to hit the ground
While it’s more than likely Eddie will be getting yet another second chance to survive and win the day (even after taking this massive fall), Strickland’s words from beyond the grave do not bode well for Venom’s future. The King in Black has already proven how powerful he is, and has already taken out several Marvel heroes in his invasion. It could be possible that Venom’s second chances might indeed run out while trying to save the world from Knull in King in Black. Either way, Venom is an epic hero made even greater due to his incredible redemption arc, which is something that Rex seems to have overlooked. Many of the second chances Venom has received were earned, and even if some did fall into his lap, the effort still had to be made to take them and make something out of them, which is why he’s now a hero in the first place.
