Why Arrow’s Version Of Venom Shouldn’t Have Been Curable

Why Arrow’s version of Venom shouldn’t have been curable. The Arrowverse series began in 2012 and went on for eight seasons, ending in February 2020 following the events of the crossover “Crisis on Infinite Earths.” Long before the Green Arrow sacrificed himself, however, the superhero series had a serum that was somewhat Venom-like, giving its hosts enhanced abilities that encouraged aggression and violence.

First introduced in Arrow season 2, the Mirakuru serum was developed during World War II to create Japanese super soldiers. Those injected with the serum, experimental as it was, were at risk to die. If they stayed alive, however, the Mirakuru injection definitively altered their physical and mental states. Those like Slade Wilson (aka, the villain Deathstroke), one of Oliver Queen’s first adversaries, obtained superhuman abilities, including enhanced strength, endurance, healing, and heightened stamina and speed. The downsides to Mirakuru — and what made it exponentially more dangerous — was the instability and loss of control from the host. Those injected would hallucinate and be driven to excessive violence and murder.

Subjects of the Mirakuru experiment could actually be cured. While Mirakuru wasn’t a sentient drug or anything, The Flash’s Cisco Ramon and Caitlin Snow were able to create a cure to save those injected, giving it to their friends on Arrow. Mirakuru was presented as a lethal injection, a dangerous serum that could alter the life of anyone who took it (much like how Venom altered Eddie Brock’s physical form). However, making Mirakuru curable effectively removed all of the tension that otherwise existed because of it. The stakes were lowered because of the cure, which meant that anyone who took it later on could be changed back. That doesn’t particularly make for good drama, either, and Arrow lost a lot of its plot substance because of it.

Conversely, Venom, the alien symbiote that attaches itself to Eddie Brock and gives him abilities (including accelerated healing), had to learn to coexist with its human host. But rather than allow Slade Wilson and others injected with Mirakuru to fully wrestle with their change in behavior and altered physical state, Arrow gave them all an easy out. No longer did fans of the Arrowverse series worry for the lives of characters who were injected (intentionally or involuntarily) with the serum since they knew they would eventually be cured and their lives would go on. What’s more, the consequences for their actions under the influence of Mirakuru would merely be chalked up to the toxicity of the serum itself, which deflated any sense of responsibility after injection.

Arrow would have arguably been more interesting had Slade tried to fight the effects of Mirakuru, balancing his former self with the changes to his persona thereafter, similar to how Venom and Eddie had to work together to create some semblance of harmony. All a cure did was offer him and others an escape route for when things got too bad. Team Arrow also didn’t have to continue fighting team members like Roy Harper after he was injected with the serum, making it far too easy to provide him with a cure rather than contend with what his infection ultimately meant for his future.

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Mae Abdulbaki
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Mae Abdulbaki is a movie reviews editor with Screen Rant. She previously wrote about a variety of movies and TV shows for Inverse, CinemaBlend, Pajiba, and The Young Folks, where she wrote reviews, features, news pieces. Her other work can be found at The Mary Sue, Film School Rejects, UPROXX, Heroic Hollywood, Looper, The List, and Bam Smack Pow, among others. Mae has also appeared on television segments, podcasts, and panels to discuss all things entertainment.

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