There’s a new Venom in the Marvel Universe, but it remains a mystery as to who is wearing the symbiote. Venom has had a lot of different hosts over the years, from Peter Parker to Eddie Brock, with the latter being the person most associated with the Lethal Protector. That is about to change with the fallout of Venom War, the symbiote event that pitted father versus son as Eddie Brock and his son Dylan battled to see who would be the last Venom standing. As it turned out it was neither of them – so who is protecting the New York City streets as Venom? WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for All-New Venom #1. Continue reading at your own risk!
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All-New Venom #1 comes from the creative team of Al Ewing, Carlos Gomez, Frank D’Armata, and VC’s Clayton Cowles. Marvel has gone out of its way to tell readers that there are four possible hosts for the All-New Venom: Madame Masque, Robbie Robertson, Luke Cage, and Rick Jones. We get to meet all four of these individuals in the debut issue, as Madam Masque is under trial for her participation in the Gang War event. In the audience are Robbie Robertson, Luke Cage, and Rick Jones. A different points, the case can be made for each candidate potentially being the new Venom, but what’s fascinating is we know who it’s not, and it’s one of the former hosts.
Let’s run down the possibilities.
Madame Masque – The Terrorist
Madam Masque is the first suspect we meet on the opening page of All-New Venom #1. She appears inside a containment cell while she’s being tried for crimes committed during the supervillain Gang War. The trial is being live broadcast, which puts an added air of tension to the festivities. Madame Masque is known for being an organized crime leader and clashing with heroes like Iron Man, Captain America, and the Avengers.
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Once A.I.M. crashes the trial with hopes of executing Madame Masque, Luke Cage jumps into action. Madame Masque uses the distraction to escape out of her containment cell through the floor. We never see this happen on the page, so we have no way of knowing if Madame Masque used the Venom symbiote to burrow the hole, or if someone or something else freed her. Did we mention that the gold in All-New Venom’s suit does match Madame Masque’s metal facemask?
Luke Cage – The Mayor
Luke Cage became the Mayor of New York, replacing Wilson Fisk at the conclusion of the Daredevil event Devil’s Reign. Being Mayor doesn’t leave Luke Cage much time for being a superhero, though: he’s been in the thick of the Gang War and other events since then. In All-New Venom, Luke Cage is on hand for Madame Masque’s trial, sitting alongside Daily Bugle Editor-in-Chief Robbie Robertson.
A federal trial being broadcast live to the public is something that doesn’t sit right with Luke. He’s afraid the justice system will be twisted even more than it already is. Once Luke starts fighting A.I.M. he’s knocked out of a window, giving him enough time to switch into Venom… if that’s who he actually is. And just like with Madame Masque, Luke Cage’s signature gold color scheme is found on the All-New Venom symbiote.
Robbie Robertson – The Journalist
Robbie Robertson fears that if the prosecution continues playing to the cameras, Madame Masque could go free. Robbie has a major beef with Madame Masque and everyone involved in the Gang War since his son Randy got caught up in it. He vows that he can’t just sit back and watch it happen, not without doing everything in his power to stop it.
Robbie and Rick Jones escape the courtroom once A.I.M. appears, giving Robbie an opening to become Venom. He’s always been a supporting character in the Spider-Man comics, but All-New Venom could be an avenue for him to take on a bigger role in fighting supervillains.
Rick Jones – The Sidekick
Rick Jones is a sidekick to the stars, having been a sidekick for Hulk, Captain America, and others throughout his career. As Rick tells Luke Cage and Robbie Robertson, he’s also been a Hulk and a version of The Abomination and was dead for a bit. One can say that Rick Jones has been around the superhero block. But his latest role has him serving as the new celebrity columnist covering the “Threat or Menace” angle for the Daily Bugle.
[RELATED: New Venom 4 Rumor May Reveal How Franchise Will Continue After The Last Dance]
So could Rick’s next character development be as Venom? As we said earlier, Rick runs out of the courtroom with Robbie, so his whereabouts can’t be verified. One of the scientists for A.I.M., Maddox, is a specialist in superhuman body language. He can watch Venom move and tell it isn’t Eddie or Dylan Brock. But Maddox can’t quite theorize who the new host is. All Maddox knows is he’s recently seen this person before, narrowing the list down to our four suspects. But All-New Venom #1 doesn’t end without checking in on a former host.
Dylan Brock – The Detective
The All-New Venom #1 epilogue drops in Mary Jane Watson, aka Jackpot, and her boyfriend Paul. It seems they’ve taken in a homeless Dylan Brock, who is determined to find out who has taken Venom from him. Dylan examines TV footage of the trial and knows the suspects are Luke Cage, Robbie Robertson, Rick Jones, and Madame Masque. So that clears up any speculation that Marvel is doing a bait-and-switch by having Dylan be Venom all along.
While Dylan is busy in All-New Venom, Eddie Brock has partnered up with Carnage for the first time over in Eddie Brock: Carnage. We have to wait for that series to launch, but the mystery of All-New Venom’s host will remain a running subplot for the time being.
All-New Venom is on sale at Marvel.
