Marvel's New Venom Event Is the 'Die Hard' of Comics

Eddie Brock is returning to the front-and-center of the Marvel Universe alongside (or inside) the alien symbiote Venom thanks to Marvel’s upcoming summer event Venomverse. Eddie will lead an army of symbiote-suited superheroes, including unexpected fan favorites such as Old Man Logan, Mary Jane Watson, and Black Panther.

In Venomverse, Eddie’s team will face off with the Poisons, a newly minted threat in the Marvel Universe, described as “nature’s answer to the symbiotes,” by Venomverse editor Devin Lewis. “The Poisons will present a unique challenge for these Venoms, who’re some of the strongest and most powerful characters in the Marvel Universe,” he explained to Nerdist.

Lewis and writer Cullen Bunn are taking the antihero and his gang to a place that might feel familiar to Marvel fans. In 2014, writer Dan Slott pulled a similar stunt with the Spider-Verse, which rounded up Marvel’s various versions of Spider-Man throughout the years and went about gleefully killing off every Spidey, from Civil War’s Iron Spider to Earth-15901’s Vampire Spider-Man and Earth-8101’s Spider-Monkey.

“If Spider-Verse was Saving Private Ryan,” Lewis said, “then Venomverse is Die Hard,” whatever that means.

Featured art from Venomverse includes first looks at Poison Hulk, and glimpses of Venomized Black Panther, Logan’s Wolverine, and Gwenpool, all of which can be found on Nerdist’s website.

The question that remains is this: If Eddie is John McClane, then who’s playing Hans Gruber?

Marvel’s Venomverse #1 will be available in comic stores the first week of September, while the spin-off Edge of Venomverse #1 will be available on June 28.