Miguel O’Hara has a new look, and it’s absolutely Venomous!
News by Joshua Lapin-Bertone Contributing writer
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The Spider-Man of the future is going through some interesting changes. Miguel O’Hara has always been one of the most unconventional heroes in the Spider-Verse (which is saying a lot). There’s the fact that he grows fangs and bites his enemies, paralyzing them with spider-venom. And if you saw the animated film Across the Spider-Verse, you know just how intense he can be. Spider-Man 2099 doesn’t have the innocence that his timeline counterpart Peter Parker has.
Honestly, it’s a good thing he doesn’t have a Venom symbiote, otherwise things would get real nuts.
Oh wait….
Warning: Spoilers ahead for Symbiote Spider-Man 2099 #1!
Symbiotes in 2099
Let’s begin with a quick round-up of the symbiote situation in Marvel’s 2099 world. The 2099 titles are meant to be a possible future in the Marvel Universe. The world of 2099 made its debut in 1992’s Spider-Man 2099 #1. At the time the futuristic setting was more than a century away, but now we’re only 75 years away. Think of it this way, babies born this year have a reasonable chance of living to see 2099 (except it probably won’t look anything like Marvel guessed).
Spider-Man 2099 and its various spin-offs have introduced 2099 versions of Marvel’s various heroes and villains, such as Punisher, Doctor Doom, Ghost Rider, and of course, Venom. Remember, in the 90s Venom was HUGE, so naturally Marvel wanted 2099 to have some of that symbiote action.
Who are the Venoms of 2099? Let’s meet them…
- Kron Stone – Miguel O’Hara’s sad*stic half-brother. He bonded with the Venom symbiote after encountering the alien in the sewers. The symbiote had spent years mutating, and as a result Stone had some powers that Eddie Brock never possessed, such as shapeshifting and producing acid. The organization Alchemax took possession of his symbiote after Spider-Man defeated him.
- Roman, the Sub-Mariner – A New Atlantean who tried to invade the surface world. He bonded with the Venom symbiote in Spider-Man 2099 #44, and then…um…disappeared. Seriously, that plot was just dropped. Fantastic Four 2099 #6 casually mentions that died off-panel, which is an odd fate for a Venom.
- Alea Bell – A teenage girl who became a test subject at Alchemax. The scientists decided to put the Venom symbiote inside her, which seems like a dangerous idea. Luckily, this version of Venom is more of an anti-hero.
Symbiote Spider-Man 2099 #1 (written by Peter David and penciled by Roge Antonio) is set shortly after Spider-Man 2099 #44. The comic finally tells us what happened to Venom-Roman after he bonded with the symbiote, and before his weird off-panel death. The issue reveals that Roman rejected the symbiote shortly after a previously unrevealed rematch with Spider-Man.
Like most spurned lovers, the symbiote rebounded by returning to its ex. The alien found Kron Stone, bonding with him once more. This led to a particularly brutal fight between Venom and Punisher.
So far, that’s two Venoms in this series so far, and we haven’t covered Miguel’s transformation yet.
Miguel’s new threads
While Kron and Roman are playing hot potato with the symbiote, Miguel O’Hara is given some distressing news. An Alchemax scientist named Dr. Hibby informs him that the Venom symbiote had reproduced before Roman had stolen it. Miguel is rightfully horrified and orders Hibby to destroy the specimen.
(Not a bad idea, considering all the death and destruction that usually follows these things)
When he learns that Dr. Hibby is planning on continuing his experiments, Miguel suits up as Spider-Man, hoping his costumed persona would prove more convincing. Do you see where this is going? If not, then check the headline of this article and the title of the comic book.
Hibby tries to get the symbiote to attack Spider-Man, but the creature decides to bond with the hero instead. (Symbiotes are suckers for spider-themed heroes)
However, this bonding appears to be different. When Dr. Hibby calls for Spider-Man, the symbiote answers instead. “Spider-Man isn’t home right now. Will we do,” the Venomized Spider-Man says. This is where the issue ends, so we don’t know if Miguel is doing this to scare Hibby, or if this new symbiote is in the metaphorical driver’s seat.
Forget everything you know about the relationship between Marvel’s symbiotes and their hosts, because this isn’t your typical symbiote. Hibby stated that the spawned symbiote had mutated, and it didn’t have the same chemical makeup as its parent. In other words, the rules of other Venom symbiotes don’t apply. In addition, Dr. Hibby’s experiments have leveled the symbiote up. Shortly before it bonds with Spider-Man, the alien talks. I’m not talking about the ‘in your head’ talking we see in the Tom Hardy movies…I mean the symbiote SPOKE.
Whatever Miguel has on him, it’s nothing like any of the symbiotes we’ve seen before.
You get a symbiote! You get a symbiote! You get a symbiote!
Miguel getting his own symbiote is pretty cool, but the twist loses some of its flavor when you look at Marvel’s other titles. Marvel has been stretching their symbiotes thin, and lately it seems like almost every Marvel hero has been Venomized.
As an example, Symbiote Spider-Man 2099 #1 was released the same day as What If…? Venom #2, which features a Venomized Wolverine and a Venomized Doctor Strange. Black Widow & Hawkeye #1 features a Venomized Natasha Romanoff (a status quo that has surprised me by persevering), and Spider-Gwen: Smash #4 features a version of Mary Jane with the Carnage symbiote. And then there is Carnage #5, which is the latest chapter of the Symbiosis Necrosis storyline that features Carnage, Venom (Dylan Brock), Venom (Eddie Brock), and Anti-Venom (Flash Thompson).
This is just the comics that were released on March 13, 2024. In the past year we’ve seen Deadpool get a symbiote dog, and Peter Parker’s high school classmate Liz Allan becoming a symbiote anti-hero named Misery. The crazy thing is, she isn’t even the first person from Peter’s graduating class to get a symbiote (hi Flash Thompson).
I love symbiotes, and they’re always fun to read, but maybe Marvel needs to cool down before they get overexposed.
An advance copy of Symbiote Spider-Man 2099 #1 was provided ahead of release by Marvel.
