The following contains major spoilers for Spider-Punk #3, available now from Marvel.

Marvel's next superpowered threat is the most twisted version of Norman Osborn yet, and he's bringing a new take on a familiar symbiote along for his big comeback.

Spider-Punk #3 finds the titular hero and his superpowered allies continuing on their explosive road trip towards Washington D.C. As far as the heroes know, their mission is to root out the remains of former president Norman Osborn's regime. Unbeknownst to the group, Osborn is getting ready to make a horrifying return in the midst of the heroes' efforts thanks to his own special blend of V.E.N.O.M.

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spider-punk 3 splash feature

President Norman "Ozzy" Osborn was first introduced alongside the rest of his rocking world in 2015's Spider-Verse #2's "With Great Power Comes No Future" story by writer Jed MacKay and artist Sheldon Vella. In the face of Hobie Brown's Spider-Army, Osborn and his Thunderbolts unveiled the Variable Engagement Neuro-sensitive Organic Mesh that his company had developed. This V.E.N.O.M. was nearly identical in ability to its living symbiote counterpart from primary Marvel Universe continuity, meaning it was also susceptible to the same supersonic weaknesses. In the end, Osborn was beheaded by Spider-Man with a guitar, though clearly that wasn't enough to defeat him.

A Dangerous Pairing of Spider-Foes

The Norman Osborn of the primary Marvel Universe first appeared in villainous form in the pages of 1964's Amazing Spider-Man #14. Written by Stan Lee and illustrated by Steve Ditko, the story introduced the Green Goblin to Spider-Man's world, while Norman wouldn't get a proper introduction as himself until almost a year later. Over the years, Norman has been both a mentor and antagonist to Peter Parker, often finding himself at the top of any list of Spider-Man's greatest enemies. Along with being an instantly iconic villain, Norman has also become someone incapable of being trusted even when he isn't plagued by his Green Goblin persona.

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The symbiote that would come to be known as Venom was first seen in 1984's Amazing Spider-Man #252 which was co-written by Tome DeFalco and Ron Stern and illustrated by Ron Frenz. At the time of its introduction, the Venom symbiote was merely an astounding alien costume that Spider-Man had recovered from space. Soon enough, the symbiote revealed itself as a being of unparalleled power and destructive ability. Though its bond with Spider-Man was shattered, Venom found a new host in Eddie Brock, which kicked off a decades-long fan-favorite saga that has seen Eddie ascend to the role of living god of the symbiotes as King in Black.

Spider-Punk #3 is written by Cody Ziglar with art by Justin Mason, colors by Jim Charalampidis, and letters by VC's Travis Lanham. Main cover art is provided by Takashi Okazaki and Rico Renzi, with variant cover art courtesy of Audrey Mok. Spider-Punk #3 is on sale now from Marvel Comics.

Source: Marvel