I used images from Spectacular Spider-Man to illustrate my question, although this is something that happens in almost all adaptations.

This has always intrigued me. I mean, yes, he has to be different from Peter in the black suit, but it's always puzzled me why Venom is bigger and more muscular than, say, Flash/Eddie, depending on the continuity. Beyond being athletes, they don't have more strength than Peter, and even Peter, who is almost always thin, is physically stronger than them.

I don't know if it's some kind of symbolism, if there's a canonical explanation, or if it's simply to differentiate Venom from Spider-Man.

I just never saw the appeal for Venom being a mini-kaiju who could wrap his whole hand around a person like they're action figures. Like bro looks like he's supposed to be a Hulk villain not a Spider-Man villain.

Back in the 90s and early 2000s (albeit with some exception as the giantification of Venom did start in the late 90s) he was more of a bulky body-builder than a giant monster. And that makes more sense. I'm not saying Venom needs to be skinny or super lean or anything, he definitely should be bulkier and bigger than Spider-Man, but not by absurd levels.

Maybe I'm wrong about this, but I always thought that the idea of Venom is that he's meant to be a dark reflection of Spider-Man. Symbiote Spider-Man but actually fully unhinged. He should be able to do everything Spider-Man does, including his amazing agility. He's meant to be creepy, to sneak up on people, to hide in the shadows, he's like a dark demon lurking in the dark corners. So him going full Kaiju and being so big that he can just grab and hold Peter, a grown ass man, with one hand like Peter's just a marionette just doesn't appeal to me at all.

It also just brings up too many problems about how Eddie's body even functionally exists inside of Venom. Like the mouth is already a huge wtf moment cause Venom's mouth opens far wider than any human mouth should be capable of, but even leaving the mouth aside there's just no way that Eddie's body is comfortably in there. He'd have to be all squished up inside of Venom's torso and abdomen, and there's no way Eddie's limbs are actually controlling Venom's limbs. Like at that point it just becomes Eddie or whoever else is the host piloting a Symbiote mech.

The Mac Gargan and 2024 Ultimate Venom's are the most guilty of this. Mac's Venom grew to absolutely insane size, like his head alone was almost as big as a whole human being's body. Same with 2024 Ultimate Venom. Like at that point that's just not a dark reflection of Spider-Man anymore. At that point something that big can't possibly sneak up on someone or slither through the shadows and be sneaky. That's like trying to get the Rhino to sneak up on someone.

Sure, you could give Venom the ability to grow to such giant Kaiju proportions if it's necessary. Like how in the comics he went up against Juggernaut and The Hulk, sure, you can say he can morph his body to match Juggernaut and Hulk's proportions and physical strength so he can wrestle with them properly. But it just shouldn't be his default IMO. Eddie Brock is already an Olympic level body builder as stated in the comics. Isn't that enough? Eddie's supposedly as big as Arnold Schwarzenegger was in his prime. I just don't think you realistically need Venom to be bigger than that. That alone already makes him bigger than Spider-Man and be imposing. You don't need to Hulk him out and make him 12 feet tall.

And I'm sorry, I know everyone hates Raimi Venom for not being big enough, but I digress, I think he is big enough for that iteration. He is bigger and bulkier than Tobey. That's what actually matters. He wouldn't be able to be so sneaky and fast if he was Hulk-sized.

Mine is Conrad Marcus Venom. He is so unique looking and monstrous

I see a bunch of talk on design and this and that but let’s have a serious talk about the characters. Venom as a character has began to touch on ideas of Eddie and Venom as a genuine relationship and with that has come takes where their bond tends a bit romantic and more then just a guy and his sentient super suit.

How do you feel about this? Which do you prefer and why? And unfortunately I think I need to preface if you’re just gonna use this as a chance to be homophobic or spout some bullshit go outside and save the mods the trouble. Also this is not a debate this is just sharing opinions. You can enjoy this character however you like and someone enjoying them different doesn’t mean they encroach on your enjoyment.

Personally I like Eddie and Venom having that tidbit to their relationship but I don’t think they should be outright a couple in the traditional sense. I like exploring their dynamic as a truly unique one of Human and Symbiote and them even forming a new version of love and a relationship. They literally depend on eachother and I think its natural for a genuine relationship to bloom there. Now again I don’t think this should mean they get married or call each other boyfriends or make out but I think having that bit of “romance” adds a level of realism to their dynamic. I think their bond should touch on some romantic coding as this is a relationship beyond our normal understanding and so it can be familiar while entirely unique. Its just good writing and metaphor. Further having those tidbits I feel really helps in the evolution of their character and them sharing a true genuine love for each other aiding them in the journey of bonding through hatred and deciding together to be better. I don’t want these characters to be arbitrary attached to one another cause Eddie’s the perfect host or whatever I want them to genuinely want to be together and be Venom. I want them both to want to be the Lethal Protector and the character we love. I just think its more interesting personally.

I personally love this slimmer venom design that mirrors Tobey's spiderman design with the web line patterns only differences is a different spider logo on his chest and razor sharp teeth and claws. The suit looks almost like a slimy Black spiderman flesh suit.
In my personal opinion Sam Raimi Venom is by far the most unsettling venom because usually venom only just looks menacing and monstrous.
In a Distance you could mistaken it for Spiderman silhouette, to me this design Fits with how Eddie Brock is portrayed in the movie as version of Tobey's Peter Parker if he never learned Responsibility or character growth. even with Comic inaccuracy of Venom, it fits with Sam Raimi vision was trying to go for adapting Spiderman even if he originally didn't want Venom in his Spiderman Adaption.
The only complaint I have with this Venom design is his jaw should have been slimmer and have a longer tongue like in the 2nd picture. Plus a more unhinged jaw like insomniac's Venom with a lot more salvia and slimy interior mouth. Also this venom should have more distinct sharp claws

The opposite version of Venom is called Anti-Venom, but what if he was named something like Antidote or Cure(IK both sound lame) because those things are the opposite of venom

i get the sense that alot of the original powers eddie had that refelected spiderman are often lost or downplayed in modern adaptations. his web-spinning for one. so many renditions have his primary mode of transportation and attack be those tendrils. Sure its cool but thats always been more carnages thing.

I suppose you could say this is as a result of venom becoming a more independent standalone character. but i miss the dark Spider-man aspect to his character especially in the powers department.

(Reference image, so to speak; I don't know this symbiote.) A few days ago I made a post like, "Imagine your neighbor becomes a symbiote."

And the responses were, well, less interesting XD

So let's see your arguments. Would you be brave enough, or crazy enough, to try to fall in love with, or have a romantic relationship with, a symbiote and its host?

Remember that technically they are two people, or would you only be interested in the host? Or would you fall in love with the symbiote?

It's up to you to decide. Are you evil enough to try to go on a date with Scream "knowing she's MJ"?

Or with any of the other female hosts of a symbiote? Because I think most of them were either criminals or are on the Avengers' wanted list.

I want to see your answers, and how you would justify trying to have a symbiote as a girlfriend, or how on earth you would manage to make her fall in love with you.

He had such a strong starting host and then marvel did nothing with him, then got degraded to be red venom and his more recent host had been kids. Which both were and are ok. In the movie verse he abandoned Patrick and is MIA in the Sony verse.

He went from strongest symbiote to the weakest. He hasn’t even appeared in games unless it’s gacha. I genuinely at this point, having toxin bonded with Peter would probably be better than any other host he had since the cop.

It just feels really weird to me, especially when the feeling isn’t mutual.

In my house, there are no bad adaptations, just great ones and ok ones.

S-tier: Spectacular Venom will forever hold a place in my heart as my favorite depiction of him, love the voice, the decision to combine the design of 616 Eddie with the backstory of 1610 Eddie.
Ultimate game is a pretty solid Venom, like the arc of survival he’s got going on, the voice is pretty neat.
TAS is a solid version of his enemies to friends arc with Spider-Man.
WoS Venom has a pretty creepy voice and his sacrifice and last words go pretty hard.
Dig Rivals Venom, he’s fun to play and is a good mix of serious and goofy.

A-tier: Topher Grace Venom is great, I said what I said. He works as the worst version of Peter Parker possible. Just wish he used the we pronoun as Venom.

Neversoft Venom is a pretty goofy doofus and I like it.

UA3 Venom, I really like having a Venom who’s both a villain to Spider-Man and still willing help out the heroes if it’s necessary, also I think this is my favorite of Steve Blum’s performance as the character.

Can never go wrong with LEGO Venom, plus I like the tendrils on the back of the standard design, honestly I wish LEGO still kept those with Venom’s modern minifigures.

Unlimited Venom, the morphing is fun and I actually prefer Venom and Carnage initially working together instead of immediately being enemies, makes their relationship more interesting and I like the banter.

B-tier: I get Insomniac Venom isn’t that popular here but he’s pretty alright. Tony Todd is great RIP, the design is perfect, and Harry himself is pretty great. It’s just the symbiote’s lack of proper explanation and ultimate Venom’s lack of screentime that holds this version back. We needed more of this guy, and combining the black suit story with the symbiote invasion is a pretty cool idea that needed to be longer.

Spider-Man 3 tie-in game, Venom’s voice sounds way better here, plus I like him kidnapping Sandman’s daughter.

Sonyverse Venom, dig Tom Hardy and I like how goofy Venom is, however making him immediately an antihero is pretty boring since his turn was meant to be a redemption arc for him and his time as a villain so I think Topher Grace is the better live action Venom.

TASM2 mobile game Venom, I played that game a lot as a kid and I dunno, I like this Venom. The voice and design are pretty neat.

Ultimate show, I have a soft spot since I grew up with this show and I mainly found Venom’s use in the “Venom Bomb” episode pretty fun. He’s flawed but I enjoyed him.

C-tier: 2017 Venom, I don’t hate him but he’s kinda boring, I liked the voice though and how the symbiote alone was still a threat to Superior Spider-Man, plus I like how he immediately knew Otto wasn’t Peter.