Spider-Man, Venom and Carnage Form a Shocking Team Against a New Villain

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As a comic book writer, it’s incredibly satisfying when all the different storylines and character conflicts converge at a single, dramatic moment. Kurt Busiek once envisioned a year-long Avengers story where he’d gradually introduce new heroes, eventually leading to Captain America leading a team of entirely new faces. This idea ultimately evolved into the foundation for the Thunderbolts series.

I spoke with Mark Waid about how today’s readers expect stories to move quickly. We saw this happen with Marvel’s plans for a crossover involving Amazing Spider-Man, Venom, and Eddie Brock: Carnage. Unfortunately, Eddie Brock: Carnage was canceled before the crossover could happen, so the story just continued in Amazing Spider-Man instead. (But let’s keep that a secret!)

No matter how unexpected the path to this point has been, the team-ups between heroes and villains in this crossover event have been fantastic, and that continues in Amazing Spider-Man #25.

Amazing Spider-Man #25, created by writer Joe Kelly, artist Ed McGuinness, inker Cliff Rathburn, colorist Marcio Menyz, and letterer Joe Carmagna, marks the halfway point of this story arc. Now that all the pieces are in place, the issue delivers some compelling conflicts and exciting developments!

What are the central conflicts of the crossover?

One of the biggest surprises in this crossover event is that Spider-Man learns his ex-girlfriend, Mary Jane Watson, is now bonded with the Venom symbiote. While this is a huge discovery, their long-standing close relationship actually made the moment feel surprisingly understated.

If a loved one shared something shocking with you, would you immediately end the relationship, or would you try to understand and work through it? Most people would likely choose the latter, but stories often portray a much harsher reaction. It’s common to see characters sever ties over a minor misunderstanding, escalating things unnecessarily.

I really appreciate how Peter and Mary Jane work through their issues in this story, even when things get a little tense – like when Peter is surprised to see Mary Jane possibly developing feelings for their friend, Flash Thompson, who used to bully him. They don’t dwell on the problems and generally move forward.

It’s much more difficult to accept Eddie Brock joining forces with the Carnage symbiote. It’s hard to see why he’d make that choice, even when you consider his reasoning: he faced certain death, and if he’d died, Carnage would have simply bonded with someone else. He believed he could better control the symbiote than anyone, making it logical to survive and try to contain the threat himself.

The last issue ended with a shocking turn: Carnage defeated Eddie Brock and took control of the symbiote, leaving Eddie powerless. Now, the Venom symbiote is conflicted – it’s programmed to fight Carnage, but it still cares deeply for Eddie and can’t bear the thought of harming him, even though Eddie is currently connected to Carnage.

It feels like the comics are pushing the friendship between Spider-Man and Shocker a little too hard, considering Shocker has actually tried to kill Spider-Man before. They’re definitely not close friends. While Shocker isn’t as dangerous as some of Spider-Man’s other enemies, it’s odd to downplay their history, especially since everyone else seems to have forgotten their past conflicts.

Okay, so things really got crazy in this crossover. Carnage actually ditched Eddie Brock and bonded with Torment instead! Now, instead of going after who we thought was the target, Carnage is leading Torment on this messed-up hunt – a whole ‘spiral’ of people Torment needs to kill before he can get to the original victim. It’s like a twisted side quest before the main event, and it’s seriously raising the stakes.

Ed McGuinness’s artwork is fantastic and perfectly suited to this action-packed comic. He delivers a lot of exciting, over-the-top action sequences.

What is the major subplot of this issue?

This issue also features a smaller story with artwork by Pere Pérez. Recently, Norman Osborn temporarily took over as Spider-Man when Peter Parker was unexpectedly sent off-world. Osborn used a combination of powers from the Goblin Formula and technology from Osborn Industries to convincingly mimic Spider-Man’s abilities.

When Miles Morales and other Spider-Man allies went to check on the new Spider-Man, they were stunned to discover it was Norman Osborn, a former enemy they all knew. They had to team up, and Osborn quickly realized none of them had formal training. Peter Parker is good at encouraging young heroes, but not so much at actually teaching them the ropes.

Okay, so it looks like Osborn is launching a new miniseries where Norman will be training all the Spider-People! It’s really interesting because he’s basically putting them through drills against himself. He knows he could relapse into his villainous ways at any time, and he wants to make sure the others are ready to stop him if that happens. It’s a pretty smart, if slightly terrifying, move on his part!

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2026-04-13 03:14