Both Carnage and Venom are some of the deadliest and most popular villains Spider-Man has ever faced off against. Over the years, the Wall-Crawler has found all sorts of unique ways to defeat these opponents, often coming incredibly close to death in the process.
However, while Venom and Carnage may share similar abilities, there are still plenty of differences between them that have made them completely different characters. Because of this, comic fans have often debated as to which villain is truly the greater. Looking at a number of specific factors, here is our list of 5 ways Carnage is Spider-Man’s best symbiote villain, and 5 ways it’s Venom.
10 Carnage: The Scale of Events
No matter how evil Eddie Brock may seem at times, he tends to keep his evil deeds directed at Peter Parker. Cletus Kasady, on the other hand, doesn’t hesitate to strike out against anyone, making him a much greater threat to the overall Marvel universe than Venom.
Looking at events like Maximum Carnage and Absolute Carnage in particular, several other heroes were needed in order to take Cletus down. Likewise, you know you’re a big threat when Spider-Man and Venom will stop fighting each other in order to fight against you. Considering the scale of Carnage’s actions tends to be massive, it makes sense as to why some would feel he is better than Venom.
9 Venom: His Similarities to Peter
In regards to Spider-Man specifically, Venom is arguably the better foe due to his similar background with Peter Parker. Before becoming one of Marvel Comics’ most popular villains, Eddie was actually a lot like Peter, as he too was a young man who was just trying to make his way as a journalist.
Like Peter, Eddie also came from a more troubled past, often feeling like an outcast himself, especially in his family. Likewise, though the two have very different experiences from the symbiote, it is still a unique tie to each other that the two share. While Eddie chose to do some far worse things with his power than Peter, the similarities shared by the two characters make for some interesting parallels in the comics.
8 Carnage: His Similarities to the Joker
Over the years, Cletus Kasady has been constantly related to DC’s own villain, the Joker. While the two have radically different abilities and backstories, there’s no denying that their personalities are scarily similar.
Furthermore, both villains are some of the most psychotic individuals in all of comics, making it easy to see why Carnage is so threatening. While Joker definitely has a stronger presence in the DC universe than Carnage does in the Marvel universe, it makes sense for them both to be popular among fans because of their equally twisted and crazy personalities.
7 Venom: He Knows Peter Intimately
While Eddie himself already hated Spider-Man before becoming Venom, the symbiote itself actually got to know Peter even more. Serving as the symbiote’s host prior to Eddie, the symbiote was able to gather all sorts of information from Peter Parker.
Armed with Peter’s personal information as well as a deep hatred for him, the symbiote actually made a perfect fit for the likes of Eddie, who had very similar views towards the same man. With so many reasons to dislike Peter, it makes sense that the duo would become one of the Web Head’s deadliest foes ever.
6 Carnage: He's Deadlier than Venom
As mentioned previously, the scale of Carnage’s attacks tend to leave a lot of death in his wake. However, even before obtaining his symbiote, Cletus was a far deadlier villain than Eddie Brock. While Eddie may be very dark in nature, his kill count is nowhere near that of Carnage’s.
As his name implies, Carnage has killed a great number of people over the years. Though Eddie has also been known to take a life from time to time, he is nowhere near the same extent as Cletus. Furthermore, Venom has even acted as a hero on occasion, which is far greater than anything Carnage has done in terms of giving back to society.
5 Venom: There Are Other Versions of Venom
Eddie Brock is easily the most popular and longest-running version of Venom, but also not the only version of the character. While many fans also know that Peter also held the symbiote for a time, several other key Spider-Man characters have also called themselves Venom.
For example, Mac Gargan, aka The Scorpion, has also held the symbiote, though Flash Thompson is easily the most notable host aside from Eddie. For several years, Flash accomplished a lot of good as a character. Likewise, seeing his relationship with the symbiote evolve over time also proved to be rather interesting as well.
4 Carnage: His Ties to Venom
While Venom’s ties to Peter have made him an interesting character, Carnage’s own ties to Venom are part of what made him so popular as well. Venom alone was already a great villain within the pages of Spider-Man comics. Therefore, when the symbiote had a son, things were guaranteed to get interesting once again.
Though Carnage alone is incredibly deadly, his lineage and relation to Spider-Man and Venom has played out in some very interesting ways throughout the years. Even as he grew more and more independent of the two, the differences between the two symbiotes, rather than the two hosts, have been just as intriguing as the villains themselves.
3 Venom: He Grows as a Character
Throughout the years, both Eddie and the symbiote have evolved in their own right as characters. While Carnage himself has become far more deadly with time, he generally tends to be rather static in terms of personality.
On the other hand, Eddie has gone from villain to hero, to villain and so on for several years at this point. His time as Anti-Venom was also an interesting time for the character, as it gave Eddie a bit of independence as his own person. However, seeing the symbiote’s attitudes change over time (especially in response to Flash Thompson’s morals) was also interesting to witness, arguably making Venom far more compelling than his younger counterpart.
2 Carnage: He's Truly Evil
Unlike Cletus, Eddie can actually be reasoned with, and isn’t full of a constant, blind, murderous rage. Though he is sometimes the villain, Eddie is typically fully aware of his actions, and also has a moral compass that guides him and his symbiote throughout their adventures.
Carnage, on the other hand, is aware that his actions are wrong, but lacks any form of empathy. Because of this, Carnage is truly evil, though both symbiotes in question are often viewed as the villains. While this personality trait gives fans favor over one or the other, there’s no denying that it makes Carnage the better “villain.”
1 Venom: He Came Before Carnage
Simply put, Eddie has an advantage as a villain just by arriving in comics long before Carnage. With this, Eddie has had more time to grow as a character, as well as do more evil things to Spider-Man.
Furthermore, considering how he was created by the incredible Todd McFarlane, Venom made a much bigger splash in Marvel than Carnage did when he first appeared. While both designs and personalities are cool and make for some great characters, Eddie will always have an advantage - at least in the two’s relationship to Spider-Man, as the hero’s best symbiote villain.