WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Venom #20 by Donny Cates, Iban Coello, Zé Carlos, Rain Beredo and VC's Clayton Cowles, on sale now.
For the past 18 months, Marvel has effectively changed everything we thought we knew about the Venom symbiote and the parasitic alien race known as the Klyntar. It all began with the revelation that the symbiotes’ history with planet Earth was deeper than initially believed; In fact, it stretched all the way back to the birth of the universe itself with the revelation that the aliens had their own god and creator, Knull.
Since then, more and more layers of the symbiotes’ mythology have been revealed, such as the codices they leave behind in their hosts and the real purpose of their home planet. But it hasn’t stopped there. In fact, Venom #20 keeps the surprises coming with the Maker's startling revelation that the symbiotes have a precognitive ability to sense oncoming danger, something that sparks their reproduction.
And that’s not all. Not only does the issue bring the Ultimate Universe version of Venom into the regular Marvel Universe, it also reveals one of its main purposes... something that could easily be used to bring the Venom symbiote into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
In Venom #20, the Maker delivers a sort of status report to his benefactors, the Council of Reeds. As he explains to them, his experiments to open a dimensional rift to his original reality, the Ultimate Universe, yielded an unforeseen yet fortunate result. Through his work he learned that such attempts take a dangerous toll on the mind and body of a human traveler.
However, while he hasn’t been able to go back home yet, something actually came through: the unscathed synthetic version of the Venom symbiote, an artificial, symbiotic suit created by Peter Parker’s father, Richard, and Edward Brock Sr. Therefore, the Maker concludes that one of the symbiotes’ purposes, be they alien or synthetic, is to allow its wearer the ability to safely travel between universes.
And therein lies the perfect route to introduce Venom into the MCU.
As many fans know, the cinematic rights to Spider-Man and the characters associated with his corner of the Marvel Universe are currently divided between Disney and Sony. While Venom (starring Tom Hardy in the title role) was a huge box-office success, the film does not take place in the MCU, but rather Sony’s own shared Spider-Verse.
For that reason, the character was never expected to crossover with the likes of the Avengers. However, a new deal between both studios has extended their shared custody of Spider-Man, something that will allow Tom Holland to reprise his role as Peter Parker in the MCU and perhaps make more connections between the two universes. Therefore, the latest issue of Venom may have given us the perfect way to bring Sony’s Venom in the MCU. If the symbiotes allow their wearers the ability to safely travel from one universe to the next, then Hardy’s Eddie Brock could potentially travel from his own reality to that of the MCU.
Then, the character would be able to share the screen with Spider-Man, trade blows with the Avengers, and maybe even become a Guardian of the Galaxy. It’s a simple solution and it opens up a whole lot of possibilities.