The Purple Man sets his sights on the Venom symbiote in an all-new retro series that sees the underrated MCU villain become the King in Purple. Venom is one of the strongest symbiotes in the Marvel universe and plenty of characters have sought to use it over the years. It’s been used by Eddie Brock, Peter Parker, Wolverine, Flash Thompson, Mac Gargan, and dozens of other characters. But few hosts will be as dangerous as the Purple Man if he gets his hands on it.
Readers are going to get to see the surprising confrontation between Venom and the Purple Man in Venom: Separation Anxiety, penned by Venom co-creator David Micheline with art by Gerardo Sandoval. Recently announced by Marvel Comics, this story comes off the heels of the recent Venom: Lethal Protector series and will be set during the initial years of Eddie trying to be a hero. It’s during this time that he encounters Zebediah Killgrave, an enemy unlike anything he’s faced before.
The idea of Venom and Eddie being separated isn’t new and has been explored before. However, this is the first time that the Venom symbiote will slowly be seduced away from Eddie, as Killgrave uses his powers to slowly warp Venom’s mind.
The Venom symbiote has usually chosen its various hosts, and very rarely has it been used against its will. One of the biggest times was when Knull the King in Black corrupted Venom, but now Marvel is promising a much more intimate, and terrifying, corruption. Zebediah Killgrave is one of the most dangerous people in the Marvel Universe because he’s capable of brainwashing anyone he talks to. With just a few words, he could make the Hulk rampage through New York or have Tony Stark turn his entire company over to him. Now, he’s testing his powers of persuasion on the Venom symbiote, much to Eddie’s horror.
While Zebediah Killgrave is capable of healing from almost any injury given to him, he’s not an especially dangerous fighter. He’s always been a threat due to his ability to control other people and force them to fight on his behalf. This is why the idea of the Purple Man with a symbiote is so terrifying. Not only would he be able to control anyone he wants, but he’d be able to overpower and kill anyone he can’t. It would make Zebediah almost an impossible threat to defeat.
Eddie is currently the King in Black, the god of the symbiotes and one of the most powerful beings in the universe. In a few months, though, Marvel will be taking readers back to his Lethal Protector days to show what could have been the King in Purple. Every time Zebediah touches the Venom symbiote, he’ll gain just a bit more power, and Eddie will get just a bit weaker. Eddie, especially in this time period, is used to just beating his foes into submission. But with the Purple Man threatening to take control of the Venom symbiote, Eddie is going to have to try a new approach to save the world from the potentially unstoppable villain known as the King in Purple.
Source: Marvel Comics