When the symbiote that became Venom first appeared as a new costume that Peter Parker could seemingly control with his mind, no one knew what it would spawn. When Spidey ditched the alien, and it latched onto Eddie Brock, Venom became one of the coolest and most dangerous new antiheroes in the Marvel Universe.
Through the years, there have been offspring from Venom with Carnage being the most famous. However, there have also been several different hosts for Venom himself — the original symbiote introduced to the Marvel Universe. With many different characters to possess this symbiote, here are the five best Venom hosts and the five worst.
10 EDDIE BROCK - BEST
Eddie Brock is easily the best Venom host, both in the comics and in the mind of Venom itself. Through the years, Venom has proven that he will jump out of a host without a second thought if he has a chance to get back to Eddie Brock (or Peter Parker for that matter).
When Venom and Eddie found each other, they were at their lowest points. Eddie had lost his job, thanks to Peter Parker proving he was a fraud. Spider-Man had rejected Venom, and the pair had a common enemy. However, Eddie and Venom also both wanted to be a hero, and they were the perfect match no matter who came after.
9 ANGELO FORTUNATO - WORST
Eddie Brock decided to give up his role as a Venom host and put the symbiote up for sale. His goal was to sell it and donate the money to charity. However, as nice as that sounds, the fact that the man who bought it was a local mobster made the decision bad, to say the least.
Don Fortunato bought the symbiote and gifted it to his son Angelo Fortunato, who became the new Venom host. Angelo was a bad guy, and he went to try to kill Peter Parker at the school he taught at and ended up killing one of Peter's high school friends. However, Angelo was also a coward at heart, and the symbiote abandoned him when he tried to leap from a building, killing him.
8 FLASH THOMPSON - BEST
Flash Thompson had a fantastic character arc in Marvel Comics. He started as a high school bully, pushing around Peter Parker and being a total jerk. However, Flash also idolized Spider-Man and wanted to be a hero one day. As a result, he joined the military and ended up in a wheelchair when he returned from war.
When the military gained possession of the symbiote, they gave it to Flash Thompson. While a Venom host, Flash was able to walk and move around again and became the most heroic version of Venom in existence. Flash was second only to Eddie when it came to Venom's loyalty.
7 KRON STONE - WORST
Kron Stone was the Venom host in the world of Spider-Man 2099. He had a much darker relationship with Spider-Man than the past Venom hosts because Kron was the half-brother of Miguel O'Hara, the Spider-Man in 2099. Kron is also a bully who ends up becoming a mass murderer.
The Venom in this timeline was a little different, having gained new powers such as acidic blood, but it still had little patience for stupidity. When Venom tired of Kron and separated from him, it took the chance to move quickly, taking over Roman the Sub-Mariner and leaving.
6 PETER PARKER - BEST
Peter Parker was the first Venom host as far as its introduction in Marvel Comics. The union between Peter and Venom happened during the Secret Wars event on Battlworld, where Spider-Man saw his costume ripped to shreds in a battle. However, the symbiote was on the planet and bonded to Spider-Man.
While Spider-Man thought he controlled the costume, he soon learned it was controlling him and found a way to escape the symbiote and abandoned it. However, while Venom hates Spider-Man, it still considers him a great hero, and Peter is the greatest superhero to ever serve as a Venom host.
5 ANNE WEYING - WORST
The most tragic person to ever serve as a Venom host was Anne Weying, the ex-wife of Eddie Brock. Also known as She-Venom, Anne was estranged from her ex-husband, but he still cared about her deeply. Anne, an attorney, took on the wrong case later and the third Sin-Eater shot her. Before he could finish her off, venom showed up.
Eddie saved his ex-wife and then told her that Venom could cure her. Venom separated from Eddie and bonded to Anne and saved her life. At this point, two thugs tried to kill Eddie, and Anne slaughtered them. Sadly, despite Venom returning to Eddie, the two bonded again later, and Anne could never mentally recover from the madness and took her own life.
4 A DINOSAUR - BEST
There wasn't much known about the Venom host from Old Man Logan except that it is a freaking Tyrannosaurus Rex. It was an immediate hit with fans as it chased down Hawkeye and Logan in their apocalyptic future. It was just awesome.
Old Man Hawkeye finally revealed the origin of the Venomsaurus Rex. Unsurprisingly, it came from the Savage Land, and Hawkeye had led Venom there where the dinosaur ate him. But, as this is Venom, the big guy just became a Dinosaur Venom and then came back after Hawkeye again.
3 LEE PRICE - WORST
Lee Price was a lot of trouble and was someone that Venom really, really didn't like. This is because Price was someone who was able to maintain control of the symbiote. As a child, Price killed his family, framed a mutant child, and then suppressed his memories.
As an adult, he became an Army Ranger. He ended up in an explosion that killed many of his troops, and the Army discharged him due to injuries. When his disability benefits did not come in, he turned to a life of crime and ended up as a Venom host while working for Mac Gargan. Lee eventually became a psychopath who wanted Venom at any cost but never really deserved the symbiote.
2 RED HULK/GHOST RIDER/VENOM - BEST
Much like the Venomsaurus Rex, this version of Venom is just here because it is all kinds of awesome. In a massive team up to stop Blackheart, Ghost Rider, Red Hulk, and Agent Venom all ended up working together even though none of them could stand each other.
The only way for the heroes to stop Blackheart from bringing hell to Earth was to merge. Red Hulk, Agent Venom, and Ghost Rider all combined into one being with the strength of Hulk, demonic powers of Ghost Rider, and symbiotic powers of Venom and then yelled out, "We am smash for vengeance." Yes, it was that cool.
1 MAC GARGAN - WORST
Easily the worst person to ever serve as a Venom host was Mac Gargan. Before this, he was nothing more than a C-level Spider-Man villain known as Scorpion. As he showed, more often than not, he was a coward unless he had the upper hand, and that is no way to describe someone who possesses the power of Venom.
As Venom, Gargan became the ultimate bully. Teaming with Norman Osborn and the Dark Avengers, he was still nothing compared to Venom in a true warrior's body. By the time Venom saw Eddie Brock again, he tried to get out of Gargan as fast as he could.