Venom Trailer Takes the Symbiote Design Straight from the Comics

The speculation can now end: This is the classic symbiote.

By Scott Collura

The new Venom trailer has finally revealed</a> the Tom Hardy version of the titular gooey Marvel symbiote, much to the relief of fans who spent the entire first trailer wondering where the toothy anti-hero was. There had been much speculation about how the design of the character was being handled in the Sony film, with some wondering if we wouldn't be getting a whole new spin on the character. But now that we've finally gotten a good look at this new big-screen Venom, it's clear that the film is sticking close to the classic design.

Venom made his debut in 1988, in Amazing Spider-Man #299. As drawn by Todd McFarlane, Eddie Brock's Venom was a perverted take on the black version of Spider-Man's costume that the hero wore when he was the temporary host of the symbiote; indeed, the black costume was the symbiote, which Peter had gotten in outer space during the Secret Wars miniseries (comics!). And while Peter Parker didn't bond with the alien creature, Brock did, becoming a more hulking, grotesque mirror image of Spidey. With a mouth and teeth!

Soon, more intense -- and gross -- versions of Venom began to take shape from artists like Erik Larsen, with the fangs, tongue and more jagged eyes that is a signature of the character today, and which appears to be the main Hardy design. Compare the movie and comics versions above.

One design element that remains a mystery is what is on the Tom Hardy Venom's chest. It wouldn't make sense for him to have the spider logo that Peter Parker wears since, well, it's pretty clear that his origin has nothing to do with Spider-Man's. So while the comics version of Venom/Brock purposely modeled itself/himself after the wallcrawler, the Tom Hardy character has no connection to Spidey that we know of. And the trailer gives us no hint as to what, if anything, will replace the spider logo. (Aside from a bunch of vaguely veiny stuff on his body.)

For more on Venom's visual history, check out the guide below...

For more on Venom, check out these 30 WTF Venom moments from Marvel history. Or read more about the history of the Venom movie's comic book influences. Or check out our breakdown of all the Easter eggs and references in the new trailer.

Venom will be released on October 5, 2018.

Talk to Executive Editor Scott Collura on Twitter at @ScottCollura, where he's tweeting every shot from The Empire Strikes Back for some reason. Or listen to his Star Trek podcast, Transporter Room 3. Or do both!

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