RANKING Every Version of Venom / Venom 1994 SPEED-ART
Hey, I'm back! And with me another Speed-Art. This one is of ol' Venom. Now Venom has changed a lot over the years, and since I released his animated evolution on Tell It Animated, I wanted to go through and rank each version of Venom. So let's go through them from worst to first!
12. Gamma Venom
And coming in twelve place is Gamma Venom. This is the Venom that appeared in Hulk and the Agents of SMASH show, and I think it’s a strange interpretation of the anti-hero. It’s kind of a spin of the Ultimate Spider-Man version of him, which I also wasn’t a huge fan of. He’s an odd, unwieldy monster, who doesn’t have a personality of his own since he attaches to so many different Hulk variants. The animation for him was also somewhat strange in this episode. It’s not really like Venom. It’s not even an alien from outer space, but instead, something that Doc Ock created. And its voice is just the worst.
11. Ultimate Spider-Man Venom
Coming up next is the Ultimate Spider-Man Venom. This is the same kind of Venom as the one from the Hulk show, but this one appears in every season of the Ultimate Spider-Man series. Again, it doesn’t have much of a personality and is not much of a character at all. The coolest part of this iteration is you finally get to see agent Venom, but it’s more like Flash Thompson with a little bit of Venom. So it’s just not really Venom to me.
10. Avengers Assemble Dracula Venom
Coming in 10th place is Avengers Assemble Venom Dracula. I always forget that Dracula is part of the Marvel universe in some storylines. Unfortunately, this is a strange interpretation of both Venom and Dracula. This version of Venom, again, doesn’t really feel like himself but just Dracula using the Venom symbiote. Atleast in this universe, it is explained that he is an Ailen, but this storyline is in only one episode and doesn’t really get resolved. It’s just not the best interpretation of either villain, so it’s a skip for me.
9. Phineas And Ferb Venom
Ninth place goes to Phineas and Ferb’s Venom. This is actually a pretty accurate version of Venom as far as design goes. And this character is voiced by Danny Trejo, who’s amazing. He’s in the Halloween reboot, Breaking Bad, Machete, etc. He’s a freaken legend! And for some reason, he voices Venom, who only has a couple of lines in the show. So for that reason, this Venom’s better than the last three. But I can’t put him any higher because it’s just a Marvel and Phineas and Ferb crossover.
8. Spider-Man 3 Venom
In eighth place is going to be Spider-Man 3’s Venom. As far as I’m concerned, I think Topher Grace was miscast as Eddie Brock. I know he’s supposed to be the yin and yang to Peter Parker, but him and his Venom persona are just not physically imposing. It’s also not very comic book accurate which is fine, but he just comes across as weak. Plus, you just don’t get enough screen time with him. There are so many other villains, and I think he just gets lost in the shuffle. You can tell Sam Raimi isn’t into the modern-day villains. He’s more into Sandman, Green Goblin, and Doc Ock, so Venom just felt so shoehorned in. I do, however, like emo Parker and his epic dance moves. To be honest, I don’t mind Spider-Man 3 as a movie, but I feel like this version of Venom just drags the movie down.
7. Marvel Disk Wars Venom
And coming in seventh place is going to be Marvel Disk Wars Venom. This is a strange interpretation of him, but I do think he has a pretty interesting design once he attaches to Hulk and bulks up. I believe earlier he was attached to Spider-Man, but when he attaches to Hulk, he looks more like his Venom self. This version of Venom doesn’t really talk, but I don’t believe this version of Hulk does either. I just watched the one episode so I don’t really know. Truthfully, this show seems crazy. It’s almost like Digimon meets Marvel. I think this Venom is higher up on the list because I mostly like the look of him, but it’s not an amazing characterization.
6. Guardians of the Galaxy Venom
And coming in sixth place is Guardians of the Galaxy’s Venom. Now, this is more or less in the same universe as the 2017 Spider-Man animated series. For some reason, they completely changed the design of what this Venom looks like when it attaches to Spider-Man. It just doesn’t really work here. It’s a little more friendly, a little taller, and not as brutish. And for this episode, he’s being controlled by a Carnage-infused Thanos, which is indicated when Venom’s eyes turn bright red. When they’re not, Spider-Man controls him and helps make him a good person, which doesn’t really add up with what Venom was actually like in the 2017 Spider-Man series. But I think they just wanted to draw in more fans of the Spider-Man show. It’s not the worst version of Venom, but not my favourite either. It’s just a strange episode for the most part.
5. Marvel Spider-Man (2017s) Venom
The next one on the list is the 2017 animated Spider-Man Venom. So this Venom attaches to Flash Thompson first, followed by Eddie Brock and then Max Modell. Each version has some variation, but it’s more or less the same Venom. Each version is just getting stronger and stronger as it connects to the next person and the next. Eventually, he opens up a portal and lets all his symbiote brothers and sisters come into our universe. A lot of the episodes revolve around the symbiotes and them trying to take over the world. It’s not a bad interpretation of the character. It does a good job with the source material, and I kind of like this look for Venom. He looks a little swole and seems like an alien.
4. Unlimited Spider-Man’s Venom
Coming in fourth place is going to be Ultimate Spider-Man’s Venom. This is a weird series. It’s sort of a sequel to the 1994 series but is also not really a sequel. The designs are different. The first episode takes place on earth, but then he goes off into a different counter-earth, and it’s questionable if this is the same Peter Parker or not. There are flashback scenes of the symbiote attaching to Spider-Man as if it’s from the 1994 series, although the designs have changed to match the style of this show instead. So it’s trying to be a sequel while still trying to create its own show. Either way, I like this interpretation of Venom. It’s extremely monstrous. Although unfortunately, the story never gets wrapped up. There are only thirteen episodes since they never got picked up for a second season, but it’s worth checking out. It’s a very interesting Spider-Man show.
3. Spectacular Spider-Man Venom
And coming in third place is going to be The Spectacular Spider-Man Venom. This version of Eddie Brock has been best friends with Peter Parker since their childhood. So when Venom interferes with Peter’s life, it means a bit more since they have history. I don’t love the designs in this show that much, but when it comes to the storyline, this shows definitely has one of the best.
2. Venom 2018
Coming in second place - this one has some mixed reviews - is the Venom 2018 and 2021 live-action version. It’s obviously more campy and goofy than even some of the cartoon versions, but it works for the tone of the movie. I love his look, although the veins are a little much. They probably added more veins to make up for the lack of the white spider emblem on his chest, which they wouldn’t be able to use without addressing Spider-Man. But nevertheless, I think Tom Hardy does an amazing job as Eddie Brock, and when he and Venom are fighting, it’s a really good odd couple situation. So if you’ve been on the fence about checking it out, I highly recommend it. In my opinion, the second one is even better than the first.
1. Spider-Man The Animated Series Venom
And coming in at number one is going to be the 1994 Spider-Man: The Animated Series Venom. This version of him, based on the comic books, is essentially a template for all his looks going forward. They do a really good job making both Eddie Brock and Venom imposing to Spider-Man. Venom isn’t enormous, but just big enough to be a threat. I think the Venom saga - five or six episodes of the show - is worth watching. There are some ancillary characters added in the last two episodes, but regardless, it’s still almost a miniseries of its own. So if you’re looking for something Venom related to watch, I would recommend starting with this series and the Live-Action Tom Hardy movies, and give Spectacular Spider-Man a shot as well.
So that is my ranking of Venom. Feel free to leave your own ranking below, and if you haven't seen it, check out Venom's evolution on Tell It Animated. And until next time, I've been Aaron, and I'll tell you something later!