New Venom Is a Groundbreaking Reinvention of Symbiote Lore, Making Him Tony Stark's Fault (Theory Explained)

Summary Marvel's new Ultimate Universe shakes up Spider-Man lore with a middle-aged, married Spidey granted a suit by Tony Stark.

Stark picotech suit hints at Venom lurking within the code, with AI imitating Venom's speech bubble and Peter's consciousness.

Otto Octavius emerges as a potential host for the AI-based Venom, setting up a unique twist on the classic villain's origin.

Warning: Spoilers for Ultimate Spider-Man (2024) #7 ahead!Marvel's newly revived Ultimate Universe ducks expectations and traditional character tropes in a big way, such as introducing a middle-aged, happily married Spider-Man, who was granted his suit by Tony Stark. Yet this cutting-edge Stark picotech holds many secrets, and the latest issues of the series hint that Venom may be lurking in the code.

Ultimate Spider-Man #7 – written by Jonathan Hickman, with art by Marco Checchetto – finds Peter Parker, Harry Osborne, and Otto Octavius having gathered to test their Stark-tech-based suits. While Otto describes Peter's picotech suit as going "beyond hardware," the main order of the day is testing out the suit's onboard AI.

Harry elects to model his AI's personality off of his father, with predictably violent results. Meanwhile, Peter chooses to base his suit's AI off of himself – but when it speaks to him, it does so in Venom's distinctive black-and-white speech bubble.

Ultimate Venom May Have Already Been Introduced – As A Stark Tech Creation

Ultimate Spider-Man #7 – Written By Jonathan Hickman; Art By Marco Checchetto; Color By Matthew Wilson; Lettering By Corey Petit

Venom's visual hallmarks have been introduced into the new Ultimate Spider-Man series from the very beginning, but have been cunningly hidden in the background as the story and stakes develop.

There's already been a decent amount of foreshadowing to suggest that Ultimate Venom will be an offshoot of Peter's picotech suit, instead of an alien symbiote. When the suit is first seen in motion in Ultimate Spider-Man #2, it is an all-black sheath, reminiscent of classic Spider-Man's time in the symbiote suit. The Stark picotech flows on and off of Peter like a liquid, mirroring the gooey symbiote biomass - Otto Octavius even takes a sample via syringe, emphasizing its fluid nature.

Venom's visual hallmarks have been introduced into the new Ultimate Spider-Man series from the very beginning, but have been cunningly hidden in the background as the story and stakes develop. Most notable, however, is how Peter's suit speaks with Venom's traditional speech bubble - and in Peter's voice. This hearkens back to the Venom symbiote's early desire to fully bond with Peter, as the symbiote's consciousness and Peter's consciousness have always been closely entwined. The developments in Ultimate Spider-Man #7 set up Venom to be Peter's AI imprint gone rogue.

Otto Octavius Is A Natural First Host For The New Ultimate Venom "Symbiote"

A Novel Merger Of Two Iconic Villains

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Ultimate Spider-Man #7 lays out a fascinating case for an AI-based Venom: the all-black picotech suit, the AI that (in Harry's case) has proven its capability for anger and violence, and the offshoot sample in the hands of Otto Octavius.

Instead of a foreign consciousness bonding with Peter, it would instead be Peter's AI consciousness looking to bond with someone else, inverting Venom's traditional origin. As for the suit's host, there is a surprisingly likely candidate in Ultimate Otto Octavius. Otto is the scientist currently assisting Harry and Peter; we know that he has a sample of Peter's basic picotech suit that he wishes to experiment on. Otto's legacy in the mainstream Marvel universe suggests a villainous turn to come – and the most likely scenario right now would be for it to occur as a result of the "symbiote."

Ultimate Spider-Man #7 lays out a fascinating case for an AI-based Venom: the all-black picotech suit, the AI that (in Harry's case) has proven its capability for anger and violence, and the offshoot sample in the hands of Otto Octavius. While this is still conjecture, the evidence seems strong – in which case, the Ultimate Universe will see a Venom that has its origins as a Tony Stark creation. Venom has always been tightly bound with Spider-Man, but this potential Tony Stark-based origin for them both may be their most tangled web yet.

Ultimate Spider-Man #7 is available now from Marvel.