All superheroes have a great love story, or several, given the ongoing nature of comics. Steve Rogers and “doing the right thing,” Diana Prince and Steve Trevor, Professor X and Magneto, and now, Eddie Brock and Venom.
Yes, Eddie and Our Favorite Symbiote are sweeping the Internet currently because they’re just too damn shippable. And I’ll admit, once I got over my Riz Ahmed-themed disappointment and actually looked at some of the cute fanart that was popping up on my Twitter timeline, I started to ship it too. Not to the point where I’m going to actively seek out fanfic (what I read on my own time is between myself and whatever god I keep), but I might start actively liking said cute art and continuing to heckle the people on my Facebook who disagree with my first post-Venom thought being “was Venom queercoded? Discuss.”
Google tells me that Venom/Eddie was not born with this movie, though it sure just hit the mainstream. In recent comics, Eddie even refers to Venom as “love” which is pretty telling, and the pair have a strange symbiote baby together. This isn’t the first time Venom has spawned a new symbiote, but this is the first time that baby Venom is a force of good, partially because Eddie is the baby’s de-facto father. For a full update on the strange Venom family drama, I’d recommend reading this summary.
Venom plays out like a buddy comedy/rom-com for the most part (heads up, spoilers do follow). Venom ribs on Eddie for doing everything from putting his hands in the air when faced with a taser to taking the elevator rather than jumping out a window, but after spending about a day in his head is suddenly so enamored of Earth that he betrays his team and the other symbiotes because he wants to save the world, not destroy it. That is 100% thanks to our man Eddie, who he relates to because they are both “losers” in their respective worlds, and also because he’s in love with him. That’s the subtext, right?
And of course, there’s the kiss. Venom, hiding in the body of Eddie’s ex-girlfriend Anne, plants one on Eddie to transfer bodies. And it’s not just a little peck either, it’s a full on French kiss. Which Anne later says was Venom’s idea, not her’s. So, make of that what you will. Honestly, it’s very hard to read it as not a Venom-inspired move, given that Anne is happy with her new boyfriend at the time, so you can pry the reading that it was Venom’s idea 100% from my cold, dead hands.
The film ends with Venom and Eddie in happy coexistence, with Eddie scolding Venom about which people he can and cannot eat and Venom demanding tater tots and chocolate. It even ends with a cut to black of them arguing over whether “parasite” is a pet name or not. It’s all very domestic. I haven’t read any fic yet but I’m pretty sure that was dialogue pulled straight from a fluff fic.
Listen, the Internet ships a lot of things, and not always with canon basis (yes, I remember the Pennywise/Babadook shippers, which I still don’t understand but I support you anyway). But Eddie/Venom? There’s an entire film and multiple comics dedicated to them being an item. It’s barely even subtext any longer, it’s practically text. If the Internet hadn’t picked up on it, it would’ve been weird, especially since the film frames them less as a parasitic relationship and more as a bond that actually makes the other better. Which is the basis for all the best ships, I’m just saying.
Also, the art is too cute. I never thought I’d say Venom could be cute, but here we are. 2018 brings the strangest things into our lives.
I hope their baby becomes movie canon in the next one so I can watch stressed dad Tom Hardy carry his baby Venom around in one of those chest slings. In fact, scrap the possible Carnage drama and just give me two hours of Venom and Eddie with a baby. I guarantee that film would make a boatload of money at the box office, and would be a delight. Tiny baby symbiote cuteness coupled with more domestic VenomEddie.
If anyone does write this fic, link it to me. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to stalk the Venom/Eddie tag on Twitter and pretend like I don’t actually want to go see Venom a second time.
(Image: Sony)
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