There have been many people who have bonded with Venom over the years, but Norman Osborn has unlocked the true key to cheat death with the symbiote. In the alternate world depicted in the Marvel Comics series Spider-Punk, Norman Osborn rules over a dystopian America, and uses the power of the symbiote to prolong his reign beyond his natural lifespan.
The Marvel limited series centers around Hobie Brown, better known as Spider-Punk, who preaches anarchism in a universe controlled by fascism and corporate greed. He leads a revolt against Norman Osborn and defeats the tyrant by cutting his head off with his guitar. But Spider-Punk’s mission isn’t done. Along with a group of other heroes, he travels to Washington DC to continue his heroic activities. However, once he gets there he discoveres a secret lair where Norman Osborn is still alive.
In Spider-Punk#4 for by Cody Ziglar and Justin Mason, Osborn unleashes a trap along with fellow villains Taskmaster, Officer Venom, and War Sentry. It’s revealed that Osborn was able to survive being beheaded by bonding with the Venom symbiote. Even more than that though, his severed head with the symbiote has been placed inside a glass jar with liquid that is being used to control a mech suit. In this form, Osborn is able to stay alive with just a head and even become an imposing physical force that Spider-Punk and his friends aren’t able to stop.
It’s been noted on several occasions that the Venom symbiote is able to prolong life. It has been used to heal ailments as well as give amputees like Flash Thompson their limbs back. In its most extreme cases, the symbiote uses hosts like Eddie Brock as mere puppets, keeping them alive far after they should have expired. But this is something completely new. Osborn is utilizing the symbiote to keep his own life force and brain going even without a body that can perform all the normal functions like breathing and blood flow.
It’s also fitting that Norman Osborn is the one to accomplish this. The use of the Venom symbiote in this way is oddly reminiscent of a mad scientist utilizing alien biology and technology to create something extraordinary. Those who usually serve as the host for Venom, such as Eddie Brock and Flash Thompson, don’t have the technical expertise or the biological knowledge in order to pull something like this off. But it seems that even before his head is separated from his body, Norman has a plan in place to quickly salvage his head before brain function ceases completely and bond it with the Venom symbiote in order to keep himself alive. It truly is a remarkable feat that Venom could be used this way that has never been done before, and only a mad genius like Norman Osborn could come up with it.
