Marvel’s Doctor Octopus/Venom Hybrid Has the Worst Name in Comics

Warning! Spoilers to Spider-Man: Spider’s Shadow #3 below!

While a Doctor Octopus/Venom hybrid sounds intriguing and genius, this amalgamated version of Eddie Brock wastes his potential and thus earns a nickname worthy of the disappointment. In Spider-Man: Spider’s Shadow, Eddie Brock’s reasons for hating the wall-crawler remain the same but instead of becoming Venom, he brutally commandeers Otto Octavius’ signature tentacles and participates in the Sinister Six’s attempt to ambush and kill the brutal vigilante. Failing to do anything close to what he promised, Eddie may be one of the few survivors of the experience but he remains the same loser he was before instead of becoming one of the greatest threats Spider-Man could have faced.

In the mainstream Marvel universe, Eddie Brock was a disgraced journalist who was fired when his interviews with a man claiming to be the infamous Sin-Eater turned out to be a compulsive liar while Spider-Man abducted the real killer. Blaming Spider-Man instead of himself for his personal failures, Eddie’s hatred of the web-head was strong enough to attract his rejected symbiote who bonded with him to create the terrifying behemoth Venom, dedicated to the destruction of their mutual enemy. Although Venom would eventually find rocky and easily reversible relationship with Spider-Man, Spider’s Shadow presented a version where Peter never rejected the symbiote, allowing it to bond further with him physically and mentally. The friendly neighborhood Spider-Man became a darker, less restrained character, comfortable with maiming and even killing his opponents in the pursuit of justice and peace.

Having killed Doctor Octopus in Spider’s Shadow #2, Eddie Brock appeared to take his place in the Sinister Six in Spider-Man: Spider’s Shadow #3 by Chip Zdarsky and Pasqual Ferry. Armed with Otto’s signature metal tentacles, Eddie’s motivations for hating and wanting Spider-Man dead remained the same despite others like J. Jonah Jameson pointing out his contradictory and hypocritical logic. When Spider-Man arrived, having killed their messenger the Beetle, he proceeded to fight and kill members of the Sinister Six, one by one. When it came to Eddie’s turn, he charged forward but lacked Otto’s control or formidable history with Spider-Man. “Buddy, I don’t even know who the $#% you are,” Peter says by knocking him out before focusing on Electro. After leaving later with the freed Peter, Jameson dubs Eddie as “Brock Ock” and comments that he should get to a hospital.

The original Eddie Brock worked himself into spectacular shape which combined with Venom’s abilities that mimicked Spider-Man’s abilities make him Spidey’s equal and superior in many ways. That Venom combined with Doctor Octopus’ control of his  mechanical arms sounds like a double threat that could seriously hurt or even kill their long-standing enemy. However without Venom to back him up, Spider’s Shadow’s Eddie Brock is simply a loser whining about how Spider-Man ruined his life when it was his negligence and spotty journalism that destroyed his career. He murders Otto Octavius and gains a considerable advantage but wastes all of that potential because he doesn’t have the history, power, or fear to give his motivation solid ground.

Eddie Brock only became dangerous because of Venom and years later, he continued to build on that reputation because of the doors it opened as he continued to be feared even as a member of the Secret Avengers or Guardians of the Galaxy. This version of Eddie Brock is a pale reflection of that potential, letting his hatred put him in a room of dangerous people with powers he didn’t understand or utilize, making him a poor man’s Doctor Octopus. Although he was one of the few survivors of the Sinister Six massacre, ” Brock Ock” may find living with the failure and humiliation a fate even worse than death.

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