Venom 3 Remixes Several Marvel Comics Characters to Create Its New Symbiotes

Venom: The Last Dance manages to cram a lot of symbiotes into its 110-minute run time, and their ties to Marvel history aren’t easy to unravel. Die-hard fans may have been familiar with Toxin, Agony and Lasher, but their forms here and the hosts they choose are a little different. Here’s a look at the characters and where they come from.

Before now, we’ve seen Venom and Eddie Brock go up against the symbiote Riot bonded with Carlton Drake and Carnage bonded with Cletus Kasady. However, we’ve been warned that there are millions of symbiotes out there looking for life forms to inhabit and to prey on. In The Last Dance, we learn that Venom and Eddie have become fugitives running from the “symbiote hunters,” and from earthly law enforcement as well. This time around, we get more detail than ever about the other symbiotes, starting with Toxin.

Toxin is the offspring of Carnage, who was the offspring of Venom. We saw that Detective Patrick Mulligan (Stephen Graham) was briefly host to Toxin, who left him before he was picked up by Area 55 and the Imperium Project. There, Mulligan was bonded to a new symbiote who never got a name and seemed to be an original creation for this movie. This alien had an eerie teal color, and did not last long when fighting broke out.

The symbiote Agony seems much more strongly connected to Marvel Comics. In the movie, Agony bonds to Dr. Teddy Payne (Juno Temple), who seems to be based on Dr. Thaddeus Paine from the comics. Paine is a villain in both Venom and Moon Knight stories, but so far this film version seems more friendly. She bonds to an unnamed purple symbiote, but it’s clear that the creature is meant to be Agony. It’s notable that Payne and Agony both survive, leaving the door open for further movie appearances.

The green symbiote that bonds with Sadie Christmas (Clark Backo) also goes unnamed, but seems to be based on the Lasher. That means this scientist is likely based on Lasher’s host Sadie from the 2019 comic book crossover event Absolute Carnage. Finally, the orange symbiote seems to be based on Phage, but its host, Jim the security guard (Jack Brady) doesn’t seem to have an obvious counterpart on the page.

Venom: The Last Dance is playing now in theaters. Venom (2018) is available to stream on Disney+, while Venom: Let There Be Carnage is streaming on Starz, DirecTV Stream and the Roku Channel.