When the Venom symbiote bonded with Spider-Man, it copied a lot of his powers and abilities. This included things like his enhanced agility, ability to crawl on walls and web-slinging. However, there’s one major Spider-Man power that Venom never got, and that’s the iconic Spider-Sense.
Readers can see Venom lament his lack of Spider-Sense in 2022’s Venom: Lethal Protector #5 by David Michelinie and Ivan Fiorelli. In this story, Venom is constantly being attacked by criminals after a bounty is put on his head. Throughout this, Venom states several times that he wishes he had Spider-Man’s Spider-Sense, so he could predict impending right before he is attacked.
While Venom is certainly a powerful character and is definitely hard to take by surprise, the lack of a Spider-Sense is really shown when Venom is continually ambushed throughout this five-issue miniseries. At one point, the main antagonist even manages to trap Venom, due to a trap door that Venom is unable to sense.
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Venom Wishes He Had Spider-Man’s Most Iconic Power
Venom: Lethal Protector #5 (2022) by David Michelinie, Ivan Fiorelli, Travis Lanham, and Bryan Valenza
Spider-Man’s Spider-Sense is an integral part of his power set, so much so that even his gadgets rely on him using it. While having super strength and enhanced agility is certainly nice, nothing beats the ability to sense danger before it happens. In one alternate universe, Spider-Man’s Spider-Sense grows so powerful that people can’t even think about attacking him without triggering his Spider-Sense. It’s this ability that makes him practically untouchable, and it’s something Venom sorely misses.
There are many benefits to having a symbiote, such as enhanced strength, agility, and no longer needing to eat or sleep, but a symbiote can’t sense danger before it happens. Bonding with a person allows the symbiote to mimic some powers of its host, such as mimicking Peter’s ability to stick to walls or shoot webbing, but Spider-Sense is the one thing a symbiote can’t copy. Since symbiotes are separate beings from their host, they can see areas their host can’t, granting them a larger degree of vision. However, this isn’t the same as a warning against any impending threat.
Venom’s Enhanced Awareness Isn’t As Good As Spider-Sense
The Venom symbiote has been shown warning its host of attacks several times, attacks the hosts wouldn’t have seen otherwise. While this is certainly an enhanced form of awareness, it can’t quite beat Spider-Man’s ability to sense threats instinctually, even ones that are invisible. For as powerful as Venom is, he’s still able to be taken by surprise, as shown when he’s continually ambushed throughout this comic. That’s why, despite all the powers the symbiote absorbed from Spider-Man, there’s still one power that Venom will always be jealous of.
Venom
Venom is the name of an alien lifeform in the Marvel Comics canon that first premiered as a formless symbiote alien in “The Amazing Spider-Man” comic series. Initially a villain, Venom continued to bond with hosts such as Spider-Man and Eddie Brock, who affected his personality and eventually evolved into an antihero known as “The Lethal Protector.”
