42 Years Later, Venom Gets The God-Tier Upgrade That Makes Him Stronger Than Hulk

Spider-Man is no longer Venom‘s first host, as the symbiote finds a much more powerful hero to bond with in a new version of his origin story. Venom owes his origin to mutual rejection, as the entity now known as Venom started out as a nameless symbiote that transformed into Spider-Man’s iconic black costume. Then, after Peter Parker got rid of it, the symbiote sought out Eddie Brock, who provided it with an anthropomorphic form, a face, and a name, creating the hulking, monstrous antithesis to Spider-Man.

Yet, Venom has long shaped his own journey away from Peter Parker and Eddie Brock. Following Eddie Brock’s lengthy tenure, Venom bonded to the sadistic criminal Mac Gargan during the Dark Avengers era. The government later reclaimed the creature for Project Rebirth 2.0, bonding it to Peter Parker’s high school bully turned war hero, Flash Thompson. And in recent years, Eddie’s son, Dylan Brock, briefly took up the mantle to guide the symbiote during King in Black. Currently, Mary Jane Watson has stepped into the Venom role to protect her family and inadvertently fight at least two huge Marvel supervillains.

Besides his main hosts in Marvel’s main continuity, Venom has bonded with countless other characters in major crossover events, not to mention in alternate timelines where the symbiote chooses wildly different targets.

Venom’s First Host Is No Longer Spider-Man, But Thor

What If…? Thor #1; Written By Torunn Gronbekk; Art By Sergio Davila

Marvel’s new wave of What If…? stories continues with What If…? Thor #1, where Uatu the Watcher witnesses Venom’s origins change drastically as the first hero to make contact with the symbiote is Thor. Trying to get his cape fixed, Thor uses the fabric replicator on Battleworld, finding the symbiote instead. As Spider-Man watches, the symbiote covers Thor’s body and overhauls his suit and helmet, making him nearly invulnerable to harm along the way. In this timeline, the symbiote doesn’t take over its host’s full body, but gives Thor’s regal attire a black-and-white overhaul.

Bonded to the symbiote, Thor bends a blade wielded by Hulk, and he’s later shown helping defeat Galactus, Doctor Doom, and the Beyonder during the events of the original Secret Wars. In this version of the event, Thor ends up leading all the heroes on Battleworld, meaning he has ascended to a higher power level than powerhouses like the Hulk, who establishes his historical strength record of lifting an entire mountain range in this conflict. While Spider-Man gets a boost from the symbiote in 1984’s Secret Wars, he doesn’t become nearly as strong as the Thing, Colossus, and the Hulk.

Being Found By Spider-Man Is The Best Thing That Happened To Venom

The Symbiote Owes His Long History To Peter Parker

Being discovered by Spider-Man on Battleworld is undeniably the greatest stroke of luck in Venom’s lengthy life, as the alien owes its long history to Peter Parker. Had the symbiote bonded with Thor, the God of Thunder could have destroyed the creature with magic after discovering its true nature. Similarly, technologically advanced or resourceful heroes like Iron Man or Black Panther could have detected the foreign organism and used sonic frequencies to isolate and vaporize it. A casual interaction with other heroes like the Human Torch could have spelled instant doom, as Johnny Storm’s heat would have incinerated the heat-sensitive symbiote.

More importantly, Peter Parker provides the precise environment the symbiote needs to evolve from a simple blob of goo into a fully formed character. Since Peter is a street-level hero, he wears the black suit for months, which gives the creature ample time to study human emotion and mimic Spider-Man’s physiology. And it’s Peter’s rejection of the suit at the Our Lady of Saints Church that directly leads to the birth of an icon, as Peter’s number one hater, Eddie Brock, is there to give Venom his human template, something a hero like Thor couldn’t provide him.

What do you think would have changed if Thor found the symbiote?

What If…? Thor #1 is available from Marvel Comics on June 17, 2026.

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  First Appearance

  The Amazing Spider-Man

  Alias

  Eddie Brock

  Alliance

  Vigilante

  Race

  Klyntar (Symbiote species)

  
  

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  First Appearance

  Journey into Mystery

  Alias

  Thor Odinson, Eric Masterson, Kevin Masterson, Beta Ray Bill, Thordis, Throg, Red Norvell, Jane Foster

  Alliance

  Avengers, Warriors Three, Thor Corps, God Squad

  Race

  Asgardian, Human

  Franchise

  Marvel