Warning: Spoilers for All-New Venom #8!Marvel finally reveals what the inside ofVenomlooks like whenever a host is inside it. The symbiote has had a plethora of hosts, but in the past, readers have only seen Venom’s face unmasked like a cowl to reveal the host’s face. Otherwise, readers hadn’t really seen the host while they were inside Venom.
All-New Venom#8 finally gives readers an actual glimpse as to what a host experiences while the symbiote uses their body. Currently,Mary-Jane Watson is Venom’s host. To escape the clutches of S.C.A.R. field leader Ripcord, Venom goes underwater, shapeshifting into a torpedo.
The comic book shows the reader what MJ is up to inside of Venom. Inside, the body of the host doesn’t necessarily move the same as Venom’s limbs, like a costume, butmore so wrapped in a cocoonwhile Venom is mobile.
Venom’s Biology Gets a Lore Update: Hosts Are Encased in the Symbiote’s Cocoon
All-New Venom#8 by Al Ewing, Carlos Gomez, Frank D’Armata, and VC’s Clayton Cowles
Since the Venom symbiote debuted under the moniker of being a living alien costume when Spider-Man adorned it during the late Jim Shooter’s 1984Secret Wars,it has led audiences to assume that the host wears Venom as such a costume.Readers assume that the Venom symbiote moves just as its host’s limbs do, just like how someone wears a costume. The way the symbiote occasionally reveals its host’s face, similar to how someone would unmask themselves or remove their cowl, has helped push this narrative further.
On the contrary, Venom’s biology works just the opposite because, asAll-New Venomshowcases, the host plays no part in the symbiote’s movements. Indeed,it’s more like the host is simply protected within a cocoon-like structure formed by the symbiote.Venom’s limbs and movements are completely independent, even if its mind needs the host to survive. This is further supported byAll-New Venom#6, where Venom and MJ are sitting side-by-side, and the symbiote sprouts its own arms and legs without the need for a host.
The Venom Symbiote Needs a Host’s Mind, Not Its Body
The Body of a Host is Useless to Venom
As MJ and Venom remind Paul and Robbie inAll-New Venom#6,they need to be touching at all times to not sever their connected ties to each other(or else, in this case, they’ll die). Furthermore,Venom details inAll-New Venom#8 how MJ’s presence gives him a creative sentience unlike anything he’s had before.
A symbiote lacks autonomy, not mobility. They can shift at will, but need a host to truly activate their mind. This is the role that the host actually serves, not to give the symbiote life or give it a body to move around in. This new addition to symbiote lore dramatically changes how audiences have come to understandVenomand other symbiote hosts over the past several decades, providing them with a more unique biology than previously understood.
