Warning! Major spoilers for All-New Venom #5 and the identity of Venom’s new host!
The bombshell Marvel Comics news of the week is that Mary Jane Watson is the new host of theVenomsymbiote, but the immediate fan reaction to the revelation has been divided,withAll-New Venom’sauthor calling it “cynical” and offering up his hope that readers will stick with the book, as he and the creative team have “fun” things planned for this new era for both characters.
touchedAll-New Venom#5, which features art by Carlos Gómez; the issue was designed to be the grand reveal of Mary Jane’s shocking new role in the Marvel Universe, after the series’ early issues have teased a variety of possibilities for the new host’s identity.
As Ewing explained, though, the issue’s big secret leaked early, forcing Marvel to get ahead of the news, but potentially spoiling the way the issue builds to the big surprise. Further, Ewing commented on the negative fan response, suggesting that readers should move past their initial reaction.
Writer Al Ewing Calls Out The Divisive Initial Reaction To Marvel’s “Mary Jane-As-Venom” Reveal
All-New Venom#5; Written By Al Ewing; Art By Carlos Gómez; Color By Frank D’Armata; Lettering By Clayton Cowles
Mary Jane has factored into theAll-New Venomseries so far, but the series' first four issues successfully led fans astray, utilizing a sufficient amount of red herrings to keep the truth of her new role as Venom’s host from being too obvious, or easy to guess. That would have made the final page ofAll-New Venom#5 a legitimately huge shock, if Marvel had been able to preserve the secret until the comic’s release date. Unfortunately, that didn’t turn out to be the case, and so fans became privy to the reveal outside the context of the issue.
Thanks to Venom, Kirsten Dunst Finally Has a Good Reason to Make a MCU Comeback
The MCU missed a Kirsten Dunst cameo opportunity in Spider-Man: No Way Home, but now there’s a chance for her to come back as the all-new Venom.
Also out this week is All-New Venom #5, featuring the reveal of the mystery of the All-New Venom! Sadly, this got leaked a couple of days ago and Marvel had to get ahead of the news, so it’s going to be pretty tough to avoid being spoiled. But I urge you to try! The issue is put together to walk you through the clues (and the red herrings) before the reveal on the last page, and that really is the ideal way to find everything out.
Anyway, some folks are being a little cynical about this, which is just how things are these days in a world where everyone fears the worst in big and small ways - honestly, though, I just want to make fun comics.Our true intent is all for your delight,as they say –and I think I can speak for art genius Carlos Gomez and color supremo Frank D’Armatathere as well. We’ve all worked pretty dang hard to bring you this feast of telekinetic nostril beams, father-cat bonding, clues and secrets and a big last-page reveal - and I think once the dust settles and the waters calm, people are going to have a good time with it and the issues that follow.
As Ewing noted, the decision to makeMary Jane Venom’s new host is not meant to be controversial, but is instead intended to be a “fun,” even refreshing new direction for both characters.
Why Are Fans Dissatisfied With The “All-New Venom” Reveal?
Is The Fake-Out, Or Is It MJ?
In truth, it seems thata large part of the immediate reaction toAll-New Venom#5’s big reveal has nothing to do with Mary Jane herself, as she continues to be a character that most Marvel fans hold good will toward. Instead, what backlash there has been so far seems to be more a result of the fact that the reveal subverts the “suspect” list presented at the start of the series, whichincluded the hero Luke Cage, and perennial sidekick Rick Jones, as well as several other intriguingcharacters fromSpider-Manlore.
Considering Al Ewing is one of the pre-eminent creative voices at Marvel right now, fans should trust that he has exciting plans ahead for the future of Venom.
As Al Ewing noted, the reveal was meant to feel more “earned” by the end ofAll-New Venom#5, and so hopefully the issue itself will assuage many fans' concerns; Ewing himself noted the “cynicism” of readers' reactions, which is that most of them crave genuine surprises in comic book stories, but are then often overly-critical of the twists and swerves they do get. Considering Al Ewing is one of thepre-eminent creative voices at Marvel right now, fans should trust that he has exciting plans ahead for the future ofVenom.
