Spider-Man has one of the most distinctive costumes of any superhero. The red and blue costume is immediately indicative of the character and has stood the test of time as the default look for one of Marvel's most successful characters, but the wall-crawler has had plenty of different costumes over the years too.
At one point, Peter Parker even donned a black suit that turned out how to be a living symbiotic creature trying to control his actions. Now, we're is looking back at the character, how he gained the symbiote and how it affected him in the recent Symbiote Spider-Man miniseries.
HOW SPIDER-MAN MET THE SYMBIOTE
Spider-Man first gained the symbiote suit in the original Secret Wars comics event. During the multiple battles that took place in the event, Spider-Man's costume was left in tatters. Spider-Man went into the mysterious alien base commandeered by the heroes and tried to use an alien device to create a new costume. The machine unleashed the symbiote instead, which overtook Spider-Man's body and became his new suit. The symbiote formed a connection with Peter, and was able to adapt to Peter's thoughts.
After returning to Earth in Amazing Spider-Man #252, Parker decided to keep his new black suit. The suit granted Spider-Man many beneficial attributes. It could morph into any appearance, giving Peter an easy and discrete way to change his costume. It also created its own webbing, allowing Spider-Man to get by without using any web cartridges in his web-shooters. However, it also proved to be capable of possessing a sleeping Peter Parker and piloting him around without awakening him. It was in these moments that the symbiote's ruthlessness was first displayed, such as in the recent Symbiote Spider-Man miniseries by Peter David and Greg Land.
THE SYMBIOTE SPIDER-MAN SERIES
Whenever Peter was taken over by the symbiote, he became a harsher fighter with little of the morality that keeps Spider-Man in check. Villains would notice the change in him however, seeing that his movements were far more rigid. Spider-Man was also noticeably quieter in these moments, not making any of the jokes that he'd come to be known for. Peter began to depend on the suit more and more, despite the inherent weaknesses of the symbiote. Both fire and loud sonic waves could hurt the symbiote and even potentially kill it, giving Spider-Man a new set of weaknesses to try and deal with.
As shown in Symbiote Spider-Man, Black Cat is one of the first people to notice just how alive the costume appeared. Peter doesn't pay it any heed, but the suit quietly influences his interactions with villains like Mysterio. It even separated from him briefly to kill a villain hired by Mysterio when the man threatened to shoot an unconscious Spider-Man. When Black Cat stole a piece of the symbiote and was blackmailed into handing it over to Mysterio, it even combined with the supervillain briefly. Mysterio tried to steal the rest of the symbiote from Spider-Man, but it separates from him when he tries to use fire against Spider-Man.
FROM SPIDER-MAN TO VENOM
Upon discovering that the symbiote was having such an effect on him, Peter went to the Fantastic Four's Reed Richards Fantastic Four to find out more about the symbiote. Richards examined the symbiote costume and discovered that it was actually alive. Peter frantically tried to remove the symbiote, but it followed him and tried to rebond with him. Peter was barely able to separate himself from the symbiote but did manage to get his freedom. However, the symbiote slithered away and fused with the embittered journalist Eddie Brock. This led to the birth of Venom, one of Spider-Man's most dangerous enemies.
While plenty of other Marvel characters have wielded the symbiote besides Brock, Venom is one of Spider-Man's most popular foes and uneasy occasional allies. Its played a major role throughout the Marvel Universe in stories like Absolute Carnage, which explores the long list of characters who have been possessed or taken over by the symbiotes at some point in the past. Even though it was always alive, the Venom symbiote truly came alive after being separated from Spider-Man.