Marvel Comics has confirmed that Eddie Brock is returning as Venom, relaunching the flagship series with a new creative team and a fresh Number One issue on the way this fall, according to Bleeding Cool. The announcement, made Friday, ends Mary Jane Watson’s run as the symbiote’s host and puts Marvel’s original Venom back in black for the first time since 2021.
Back Together After Years Apart
Writer Charles Soule, known for his work on Daredevil and Star Wars: Darth Vader, teams with artist Tommaso Bianchi (recently of Daredevil/Punisher) for the new Venom #1. The Devil’s Trigger” and “Thunderbolts,” according to Comic Book Club. The issue carries a cover by Davide Paratore, alongside variant covers from Adi Granov, David Nakayama, Martín Cóccolo, Nick Bradshaw, and David Marquez, and is scheduled to hit shelves October 14, per Bleeding Cool. Marvel’s own preview copy leaves little room for subtlety about the reunion, declaring flatly that Eddie and the symbiote “ARE VENOM” once again, according to Comic Book Club.
Paratore, who is illustrating the main cover, confirmed his involvement directly on social media, writing that he was excited to reveal he’d be the cover artist for the new series, according to ComicBookMovie.com.
How the News Broke
The reveal was originally meant for Marvel’s “Next Big Thing” panel at San Diego Comic-Con this weekend, but details leaked online before the panel officially began, according to ComicsBlog.fr. The French outlet reported that the new “Venom” #1 follows directly on from “Venom” #262, which will close out writer Al Ewing’s lengthy run on the title before Soule and Bianchi take over with the renumbered relaunch.
What Happens to Mary Jane
The shakeup traces back to the ending of “Queen in Black,” the crossover event currently wrapping up Mary Jane’s time with the symbiote. The final issue of that series, “Queen in Black” #5, is due September 30 and is described in Marvel’s own solicitation text as carrying real consequences, opening with the ominous line “Oh, the humanity!”, according to Comic Book Club. Her exit from the Venom mantle is also expected to ripple outward into the wider Spider-Man line, Bleeding Cool noted, given how closely her status as Venom has been tied to Peter Parker’s own recent stories.
Eddie’s Long Road Back
Eddie Brock’s history with the symbiote is more complicated than casual fans might assume. He debuted as Venom in 1988’s “The Amazing Spider-Man” #300 before giving up the alien costume in 2004, according to Marvel.com. The symbiote spent over a decade bouncing between other hosts, including Mac Gargan, Flash Thompson, and Lee Price, before returning to Eddie in 2017. He held onto it until 2021, when it passed to his son, Dylan, and eventually to Mary Jane, according to ComicBookMovie.com.
Eddie hasn’t exactly been symbiote-free in the meantime, either. He’s cycled through other alien “others” over the years, including stints as Anti-Venom, Toxin, and Sleeper, according to Wikipedia, a résumé that makes him one of the few Marvel characters to have worn several different symbiotes across his publication history rather than just one. Most recently, after losing Venom during 2024’s “Venom War” crossover, Eddie bonded with the Carnage symbiote instead, attempting to keep it in check by allowing it to kill only the most violent criminals he could find, according to CBR. That arrangement was always framed as an uneasy compromise rather than a lasting fix, which is part of why his return to Venom proper has been treated by longtime readers as less of a twist and more of a long-overdue correction.
A Familiar Writer for a New Chapter
Soule isn’t new to Eddie Brock’s corner of the Marvel Universe. He previously wrote “Eddie Brock: Carnage,” a series that explored Eddie’s uneasy alliance with that symbiote before it was ultimately canceled, and he contributed to this year’s “Amazing Spider-Man/Venom: Death Spiral” crossover alongside Ewing and Joe Kelly, according to Comic Book Club. That earlier storyline, which ran from February through May, centered on a serial killer known as Torment and pulled in Spider-Man, Mary Jane’s Venom, and Eddie’s Carnage all at once, according to Wikipedia. A March preview of “Venom” #255, part of that same “Death Spiral” arc, had already teased Eddie’s re-entry into the wider story with what was described as a Carnage-sized secret tied to an ongoing murder investigation, according to Bleeding Cool, suggesting Marvel had been quietly laying groundwork for this reunion for months before making it official. Soule’s return to the character now, this time reuniting him with his signature symbiote rather than Carnage, gives the writer a chance to finish a story he’s effectively been building toward across multiple titles.
Where This Leaves the Spider-Man Line
Beyond the comics themselves, the timing is notable for what it doesn’t include: any confirmation of a screen tie-in. Tom Hardy’s live-action Venom trilogy concluded with 2024’s “Venom: The Last Dance,” and while an R-rated animated Venom film is believed to be in very early development, nothing about that According to ComicBookMovie.com, the project has been formally linked to this comic relaunch.
For now, the shift remains a comics-only event, though a significant one. Over the past two decades, Eddie Brock has spent more time apart from Venom than bonded to the symbiote, moving through identities like Anti-Venom, Toxin, Carnage, and others. His return to the character most fans still associate him with, timed to a renumbered “Venom” #1 and a high-profile creative team, positions the relaunch as one of Marvel’s more closely watched books heading into the fall. It also gives Marvel a clean jumping-on point for new readers just as the publisher heads into San Diego Comic-Con weekend, pairing a familiar face with a fresh Number One issue at a moment when the company is looking to draw attention across its wider Spider-Man line.
