On today’s “Next Big Thing” conference call with the press, Marvel senior editor revealed (purportedly accidentally) the identity of the new Venom host, to be first seen in next month’s Amazing Spider-Man #654.1, and the star of the ongoing Venom series launching in March.
Want to know who it is? That’s after the jump, so consider yourself spoiler-warned.
And, your new Venom is… Flash Thompson.
Yep, Peter Parker’s former Midtown High classmate and on-again, off-again friend; Spider-Man’s biggest fan; disabled military veteran; Betty Brant’s current boyfriend and one of the longest-running Marvel characters around, having first debuted in Amazing Fantasy #15, along with Spider-Man himself.
“We had Flash Thompson out there, we tossed around that maybe he was a guy who could end up with Venom. We had sort of the basic idea that Flash could be a good host of the Venom symbiote,” Wacker said during the press call.
Fan speculation on the identity of Venom centered around three possible candidates: Vin Gonzalez, John Jameson and Flash himself. Back in December, Rick Remender, writer of the new Venom series, told Newsarama the new host was, “Familiar to readers, but somebody who’s been prowling around the Spidey-verse for years and makes a lot of sense for the job.”
During today’s call, Remender said that many parts of Flash’s personality — including his past addiction problems and temper — will all come into play as part of the new series. The character was revealed to have lost both legs during the Iraq war in Amazing Spider-Man #574.
“This is Flash’s big moment,” Remender said during the call. “He’s a classic Marvel character, and now we have a chance to focus on him.”
Our full coverage of the call is here.
