5 Powers Even Marvel Forgot Venom Had (Including 1 The MCU Stole For Ultron)

Venom has become one of Marvel Comics‘ most popular characters. First introduced in The Amazing Spider-Man #299, it was revealed that the hulking new villain was quite familiar to fans: Eddie Brock, who Peter had just revealed as a plagiarist, wearing the symbiote costume that Spider-Man had gotten rid of in Web of Spider-Man (Vol. 1) #1. Thanks to the artistic skill of Todd McFarlane and Erik Larsen, the villain was able to become the biggest Spider-villain of the ’90s, his popularity growing to such levels that he was soon made into the “Lethal Protector” and starring in his own miniseries where he still hated Spider-Man but fought other villains. Since then, he’s been a villain again, a hero again, been replaced by Mac Gargan and Flash Thompson as Venom, had numerous offspring, and became the God of Symbiotes for a time.

Venom had almost all of the same powers as Spider-Man, but the alien costume could do way more than meets the eye. Creators over the years have given Venom a variety of abilities, some of which have become well-known and an important part of his repertoire. However, some of these powers never really caught on or haven’t been used in so long that most don’t even remember he had them. Marvel forgot that Venom had these five powers, and honestly, for some of them, that’s for the better.

5) Mind Control

Flash Thompson proved to be one of the best Venom hosts. Peter Parker’s biggest bully lost his legs after joining the military, and was given the symbiote to continue his service. He regained the use of his legs, becoming a pretty great hero, and even joined the Avengers. He was able to discover a power that no other symbiote used before. During a fight in Venom (Vol. 2) #30, he was able to use the symbiote’s tendrils to link with a group of mercenaries and control their minds as long as the tendrils were connected to them. Klyntar symbiotes have always been shown to have a variety of telepathic talents, but most of them are used to either communicate with the host or with other symbiotes. It being able to control people that it touched – they had to be “weak-minded”, but that’s pretty common with most mind control powers – was a big change to the symbiote’s abilities. It’s weird that it hasn’t been come back, especially with all the major symbiote stories we’ve been getting.

4) Poisonous Bite

One of the biggest reasons for Venom’s early popularity was how cool he looked. Spider-Man’s black costume was one of the best costume upgrades ever, its sleek lines and awesome white spider a perfect modification on a classic, so Venom had that going for him, but it was that mouth that really made him memorable. That big slavering mouth, with those needle-sharp teeth, made him an icon. Back then in comic design, if you did something like that – put a lot of focus on a certain part of a character – there was a reason behind it and for Eddie Brock and the symbiote it was because he had a poison bite. In fact, that was the whole reason that he was named Venom in the first place – because of the poisonous venom bites. This has been almost completely forgotten over the years, but the more you think about it, the more sense it makes that he had this ability.

3) He Was Able to Enter the Internet

Once upon a time, the Internet was magic in the world of comics. Back in the ’90s, it was a new technology, and its role in fiction fit the then-idea of what the Internet would be at some point in the future. This was influenced by cyberpunk books like Neuromancer, where people would use digital avatars to enter the Internet and travel around it. This happened a lot in comics back in the ’90s, and one of those times revealed a new power for both Venom and Carnage. They were both able to enter the Internet at a “molecular level” and were able to manifest inside computers and continue their battle. The cover for Venom: Carnage Unleashed #4 shows the two of them popping out of a screen on a side of the building, showcasing the power. It’s an interesting ability – it reminds me of the Atom’s ability to travel through the phone lines – but it’s so ’90s it isn’t funny. Years later, of course, Ultron pulled the same trick to decide that humanity needed to be annihilated after spending literally seconds online.

2) Minor Telepathy

One of the most interesting things about symbiotes are their psychic skills. They can communicate mind to mind with their host and can form links with other symbiotes to communicate with them. However, the Venom symbiote had its psi-skills amped numerous times over the years. There’s the aforementioned ability to control the minds of others it touches (which also can allow Venom to read the minds of people it touches), the power to detect its offspring and communicate mentally with other symbiotes. Knull gave the symbiote stronger psi-powers, as well, boosting the various abilities it all ready had. One of the more interesting of these powers is one that doesn’t get mentioned a lot. Venom was able to absorb the negative emotions of its hosts and get even more powerful than they were before. A lot of the psi-powers that symbiotes had have been forgotten as they’ve gained other powers.

1) Parasitic Inheritance

Peter Parker’s time with the Venom symbiote was a learning experience, as the two of them learned what each of them could do. Peter never got to the level of being able to control the symbiote, but he did have a good rapport with it. The symbiote had access to everything that was Peter Parker, including his genes, and developed a unique ability because of it. The Venom symbiote was able to copy Spider-Man’s powers perfectly by interfacing with this genes. So, if the symbiote jumped on Magneto, it would gain his magnetic powers by changing its genes to be more like his. This would seem to work with just about anyone who the symbiote bonded with, allowing them to use their powers while covered in the alien lifeform. While some of the other power on this list have appeared recently-ish, this is one that hasn’t really thought of in years.

What forgotten Venom powers to do you remember? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!

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