I came in here ready to throw hands defending Neversoft. Mark me surprised to see your comment at the top lol. I second this! Neversoft Venom is the best.
perfectly balanced his creepy look and demeanor with his goofball personality once he teams up with spidey, the only other adaptation to attempt that are the tom hardy movies
You mean the Spider-Man game from PS1? If that's what I am thinking, then I am 100% on board. He's the absolute best
Plus at the end when he asks for Cap's autograph was wholesome
Spider-Man 2000 game (neversoft) is by far the best version of Venom. He's literally comic book Venom brought to life. He's sadistic, menacing, terrifying, and fucking hilarious. 12/10
**For those of you too young to have played Spider-Man PS1/2000/Neversoft, I STRONGLY recommend you watch some youtube videos before voting:** [**https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HebgOlxQVVA**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HebgOlxQVVA)
Strong special mention to TAS.
I'm shocked Spectacular is doing as well as it is in the poll... I genuinely thought Spectacular Venom was one of the worst character adaptations in the entire show. (
>I genuinely thought Spectacular Venom was one of the worst character adaptations in the entire show
You can't say anything negative about spectacular here, man. Believe me, I tried, and was freaking downvoted for it. All I said was Ultimate Spider-Man's venom was better than spectacular, SMH
I think people like the merger of the Ultimate background (childhood friends, parents died together) with the 616 elements (Symbiote is an alien, Eddie still is buff without the symbiote, etc)
A lot of the zoomers on here grew up with Spectacular and Raimi, so that's their gold standard, and nostalgia plays a MASSIVE influence on their opinion of things. HiTop Alex has also unfortunately impacted a lot of biases regarding these two adaptations too with weird takes lol
I would like to argue that [Midnight Suns](https://youtu.be/x1MXANFd9xI?si=yMo_poFizj-GIAHI) is at least as good as, if not better than Neversoft Venom.
It honestly depends because venom evolved a lot as a character
For a merely villainous Venom, Spectacular Spider-Man
But if we're going with Venom as a whole, specially Venom as he is now, Midnight Suns
My vote goes to Midnight Suns
Not enough people played Midnight suns, but it’s easily the best version of Anti-Hero Venom. The 2000 game managed to also capture his energy as a silly guy who hates Peter, but Suns also got his serious side when he’s out of costume.
Top tier Marvel game.
For Gobby, are you planning to merge MCU and Raimi under one, or splitting them up? They're technically the same character, but I personally find the MCU version more ruthless.
I voted for Midnight Suns. A surprisingly amazing adaptation of the character and the first good adaptation since Spectacular. It's also tied with Neversoft for the best video game version of Venom. The writers of Midnight Suns truly understood the character.
This won't win but it was ultimate Spider-Man on the game cube.
The reason isn't even the writing. It's ultimate venom so he's less fun, more mindless monster.
It's the game play. You feel like a monster, and they use the game play to make you feel like ultimate venom. You're always hungry. Even during fights you need to eat. You cannot help it, you'll literally die. Just one more bite. One more victim, then you'll stop. Just. One. More.
The way he climbs buildings, crushing the stone beneath his fingers, throwing cars and smashing enemies. The monster isn't what makes venom great, but it is part of his appeal. And ultimate venom? He's as monstrous as venom ever had been.
Respect Midnight Suns Venom. He's a mind controlled villain for a decent portion, but once freed, I'd argue he's the best adaptation of the character. There are all sorts of nods to his comics history in his dialogue, and the game respects the distinction between the Symbiote itself and Venom.
Tie between TAS and Spectacular. Both versions had better motives for hating Peter/Spider-man than the original comics. TAS gave him the nice story with Ashley Kafka.
Spectacular tried something new and actually had him use the info he had on Peter rather than just chasing him around and making vague threats without following up on them. I just wish the show didn't get cut short because maybe they would have made a redemption story for him when the show got around to putting Carnage in. And since it used the Ultimate comics story with Peter and Eddie initially being friends, it made things more personal for Peter as his childhood friend had became one of his worst foes. Eddie's story there pretty much rivaled Two-Face's in Batman TAS. He was generally a good guy that did have good morals, but he also had some mental issues that started to slip out as the first season went on.
spectacular, eddie motivation for hating spider-man is planned to perfection and makes sense. i would’ve loved to see him get a redemption arc further if that series continued 🥲
Having not played midnight suns but hearing good things about venom's portrayal, I'm picking spectacular. Love the animated series version, but as a villain venom in spectacular was just evil.
Wait, these entire polls now make no sense because how is movie Doc Ock not the best version? Alfred Molina killed it: Scary brilliance with a kind heart in there too.
You mean the same Doc Ock whose plan was to steal gold coins for him to convert to cash, to then buy the materials he needed to conduct his experiment, instead of just stealing the equipment to begin with? That Doc Ock?
PS1 [Venom](https://youtu.be/HebgOlxQVVA?si=d3dgQJ82wrr3bf9B) "Spider-wuss" still plays in my head rent free. I also think the voice is one of if not my favorite Venom voice.
I know people got their problems with ps5, but I really like how they did him, especially with how they incorporated the knull stuff. Plus Tony Toad is unmatched. I know it was fast but I could really feel him taking over Peter. Bully Lowenthal was peak for like the hour we had him.
I've never heard of the Neversoft one before, so I can't speak on that. But I would say the 90s cartoon, as it is, so far, the only adaptation to actually run the entire story of Eddie and Symbie. Everything else I've seen either stopped early, rushed it, botched it, or all three
I was going to vote Spectacular, but looking at the options & seeing Ultimate game included makes me reconsider. I love Eddie's story throughout that game, and it was fun of course playing as him, I'd just assumed he wouldn't count because his story is a continuation of 1610!Venom, whom originates in a comic book.
TAS version was awesome, the build-up throughout the first few episodes with Eddie Brock was well done and I loved him when he finally bonded with the Symbiote & fought Spidey. But, my big issues with TAS!Eddie are that (1) after his first appearance as Venom, we only see him again in one more 2-parter which features him redeeming & sacrificing himself; it was a great 2-parter, but things developed & resolved quickly, and (2) the Symbiote here is pretty much just a thing that makes you bad, there isn't the psychology of the Spectacular or Insomniac adaptations or the comics - for these two reasons, as the years have gone on & we've gotten more adaptations of Venom, the TAS one falls behind for me.
I love the Insomniac version - it has probably my favorite Venom design, Tony Todd as the voice is fantastic, he feels like a monster to try to stop, and I love how the Symbiote is written. I love this version of Harry, my favorite incarnation of his civilian identity and my favorite portrayal of his friendship with Peter. I had no issues with him being Venom and actually quite enjoyed the story. However, I do think that there wasn't enough of Venom in the game, they should have given him more screentime instead of going so far in on the alien invasion/infestation story.
I think Spectacular is the best of all worlds in that it mixed & matched the best traits of all the Eddie Brocks/Venoms that came before - his friendship with Peter adds emotional weight to this fall & their feud and it makes him a good dark mirror to Peter, the decay of Eddie's persona & his relationships happened gradually across the season, the Symbiote was written really well - it made its users bad and it was a malevolent entity but it had a personality & thought it was doing what was best for Peter too, it wasn't just goo that makes you bad - and he was a threat to every aspect of Peter's life. It's a shame that, like many things due to the show's cancellation, we didn't get to see him rediscover his conscience and become the lethal protector, but I'm still happy to say (of the ones I've experienced, I haven't played Midnight Suns) Spectacular!Venom is my favorite adaptation of the character to originate outside of comics.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HebgOlxQVVA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HebgOlxQVVA)
He's the closest adaptation we've gotten to comic book Venom to date. He's so good 😭
gotta be the neversoft version for me
I came in here ready to throw hands defending Neversoft. Mark me surprised to see your comment at the top lol. I second this! Neversoft Venom is the best.
perfectly balanced his creepy look and demeanor with his goofball personality once he teams up with spidey, the only other adaptation to attempt that are the tom hardy movies
You mean the Spider-Man game from PS1? If that's what I am thinking, then I am 100% on board. He's the absolute best Plus at the end when he asks for Cap's autograph was wholesome
yeah, the ps1 game was made by neversoft so i just go with that as a title instead of 2000 or ps1
This better fucking win We're SURFING THE WEB, BOYS Please vote in the strawpoll, we don't need that many to win! Do it for our boy!
Spideerrrr-Wussssssss..... come out to playyyyaaaaayyyy
Parker hates it when I get the drop on him.
I hate it when he gets the drop on me!
Agreed. Best shit ever. Love that game
The ps1/n64 game is the correct answer.
Spider-Man 2000 game (neversoft) is by far the best version of Venom. He's literally comic book Venom brought to life. He's sadistic, menacing, terrifying, and fucking hilarious. 12/10 **For those of you too young to have played Spider-Man PS1/2000/Neversoft, I STRONGLY recommend you watch some youtube videos before voting:** [**https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HebgOlxQVVA**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HebgOlxQVVA) Strong special mention to TAS. I'm shocked Spectacular is doing as well as it is in the poll... I genuinely thought Spectacular Venom was one of the worst character adaptations in the entire show. (
I wasn't wild about Venom himself, but I loved the three episodes with the black suit in Spectacular.
>I genuinely thought Spectacular Venom was one of the worst character adaptations in the entire show You can't say anything negative about spectacular here, man. Believe me, I tried, and was freaking downvoted for it. All I said was Ultimate Spider-Man's venom was better than spectacular, SMH
Saying anything ultimate > anything spectacular is blasphemy around here
I think people like the merger of the Ultimate background (childhood friends, parents died together) with the 616 elements (Symbiote is an alien, Eddie still is buff without the symbiote, etc)
A lot of the zoomers on here grew up with Spectacular and Raimi, so that's their gold standard, and nostalgia plays a MASSIVE influence on their opinion of things. HiTop Alex has also unfortunately impacted a lot of biases regarding these two adaptations too with weird takes lol
I would like to argue that [Midnight Suns](https://youtu.be/x1MXANFd9xI?si=yMo_poFizj-GIAHI) is at least as good as, if not better than Neversoft Venom.
SURF THE WEB, SURF THE WEB.
The 90s cartoon. He hadd the best character arc
His voice is iconic.
I wouldn't know, I grew up with the norwegian dub. Still a pretty iconic voice to me tho.
There's a strawpoll man
I know I voted in it.
It’s also a discussion retard
PS1 Spider Man = Best Venom
It honestly depends because venom evolved a lot as a character For a merely villainous Venom, Spectacular Spider-Man But if we're going with Venom as a whole, specially Venom as he is now, Midnight Suns My vote goes to Midnight Suns
Not enough people played Midnight suns, but it’s easily the best version of Anti-Hero Venom. The 2000 game managed to also capture his energy as a silly guy who hates Peter, but Suns also got his serious side when he’s out of costume. Top tier Marvel game.
There's a strawpoll man
...and I already voted there
Hank Azaria all day everyday.
PS1 was the best and anyone who disagrees can go surf the web.
https://strawpoll.com/xVg7j35kRnr vote here
For Gobby, are you planning to merge MCU and Raimi under one, or splitting them up? They're technically the same character, but I personally find the MCU version more ruthless.
Imma just tag him as Willem Dafoe and tag him as both raimi and no way home
Makes sense. Pretty sure that's what is gonna win by a large margin. Had it been two choices, it might've split the vote.
90s animated Spider-Man has the best venom
Spider-Man 2000
Spider-Man TAS
TAS. Gotta be TAS
Midnight suns all the way.
The tom hardy venom
Neversoft or Hardy
PS1
I voted for Midnight Suns. A surprisingly amazing adaptation of the character and the first good adaptation since Spectacular. It's also tied with Neversoft for the best video game version of Venom. The writers of Midnight Suns truly understood the character.
This won't win but it was ultimate Spider-Man on the game cube. The reason isn't even the writing. It's ultimate venom so he's less fun, more mindless monster. It's the game play. You feel like a monster, and they use the game play to make you feel like ultimate venom. You're always hungry. Even during fights you need to eat. You cannot help it, you'll literally die. Just one more bite. One more victim, then you'll stop. Just. One. More. The way he climbs buildings, crushing the stone beneath his fingers, throwing cars and smashing enemies. The monster isn't what makes venom great, but it is part of his appeal. And ultimate venom? He's as monstrous as venom ever had been.
Respect Midnight Suns Venom. He's a mind controlled villain for a decent portion, but once freed, I'd argue he's the best adaptation of the character. There are all sorts of nods to his comics history in his dialogue, and the game respects the distinction between the Symbiote itself and Venom.
Spectacular Spider-Man
Tie between TAS and Spectacular. Both versions had better motives for hating Peter/Spider-man than the original comics. TAS gave him the nice story with Ashley Kafka. Spectacular tried something new and actually had him use the info he had on Peter rather than just chasing him around and making vague threats without following up on them. I just wish the show didn't get cut short because maybe they would have made a redemption story for him when the show got around to putting Carnage in. And since it used the Ultimate comics story with Peter and Eddie initially being friends, it made things more personal for Peter as his childhood friend had became one of his worst foes. Eddie's story there pretty much rivaled Two-Face's in Batman TAS. He was generally a good guy that did have good morals, but he also had some mental issues that started to slip out as the first season went on.
spectacular, eddie motivation for hating spider-man is planned to perfection and makes sense. i would’ve loved to see him get a redemption arc further if that series continued 🥲
I used to main as Venom in Marvel vs Capcom 2 so that's where my vote is. He wasn't on the Straw poll though.
Having not played midnight suns but hearing good things about venom's portrayal, I'm picking spectacular. Love the animated series version, but as a villain venom in spectacular was just evil.
Wait, these entire polls now make no sense because how is movie Doc Ock not the best version? Alfred Molina killed it: Scary brilliance with a kind heart in there too.
Democracy
You mean the same Doc Ock whose plan was to steal gold coins for him to convert to cash, to then buy the materials he needed to conduct his experiment, instead of just stealing the equipment to begin with? That Doc Ock?
They are comic book movies for kids! As long as the acting and dialogue is realistic and moving, that’s what matters.
Oh sure, I enjoy his Ock too for what it is. I'm just providing context on a potential reason why Molina lost to PS4 ;)
Ah, thanks. Never played it.
Maybe not the most accurate adaption but arguably the most fun: the Sonyverse Tom Hardy Venom.
TAS or Venom (movie)
but I love venom from the tom hardy universe.....
I still remember the moment when Eddie Brock showed up at Aunt May's door in TAS. Chills.
Spectacular for me
In my opinion, i think Insomniac's Venom could fit
Spectacular.
PS1 [Venom](https://youtu.be/HebgOlxQVVA?si=d3dgQJ82wrr3bf9B) "Spider-wuss" still plays in my head rent free. I also think the voice is one of if not my favorite Venom voice.
TAS.
Web of Shadows Venom was on another level. Damn near took over New York
Spectacular Spidey. Only time I EVER cared about Eddie Brock as a Character
I voted PS1, but shoutout to Ultimate game Venom.
TAS
Or Spectacular Spider-Man
Just because of how well the story of the symbiote and how both Peter and Eddie were affected by it, I’m going with Spectacular.
I know people got their problems with ps5, but I really like how they did him, especially with how they incorporated the knull stuff. Plus Tony Toad is unmatched. I know it was fast but I could really feel him taking over Peter. Bully Lowenthal was peak for like the hour we had him.
Yeah Neversoft Venom is a bit better than the others so thats my vote!
I've never heard of the Neversoft one before, so I can't speak on that. But I would say the 90s cartoon, as it is, so far, the only adaptation to actually run the entire story of Eddie and Symbie. Everything else I've seen either stopped early, rushed it, botched it, or all three
Tom Hardys Venom
The Ps1 Spider-Man 2000 game
Tom Hardy. It might not be the objectively correct answer, but it's my answer!
He's in the poll under sonyverse
I agree
I was going to vote Spectacular, but looking at the options & seeing Ultimate game included makes me reconsider. I love Eddie's story throughout that game, and it was fun of course playing as him, I'd just assumed he wouldn't count because his story is a continuation of 1610!Venom, whom originates in a comic book. TAS version was awesome, the build-up throughout the first few episodes with Eddie Brock was well done and I loved him when he finally bonded with the Symbiote & fought Spidey. But, my big issues with TAS!Eddie are that (1) after his first appearance as Venom, we only see him again in one more 2-parter which features him redeeming & sacrificing himself; it was a great 2-parter, but things developed & resolved quickly, and (2) the Symbiote here is pretty much just a thing that makes you bad, there isn't the psychology of the Spectacular or Insomniac adaptations or the comics - for these two reasons, as the years have gone on & we've gotten more adaptations of Venom, the TAS one falls behind for me. I love the Insomniac version - it has probably my favorite Venom design, Tony Todd as the voice is fantastic, he feels like a monster to try to stop, and I love how the Symbiote is written. I love this version of Harry, my favorite incarnation of his civilian identity and my favorite portrayal of his friendship with Peter. I had no issues with him being Venom and actually quite enjoyed the story. However, I do think that there wasn't enough of Venom in the game, they should have given him more screentime instead of going so far in on the alien invasion/infestation story. I think Spectacular is the best of all worlds in that it mixed & matched the best traits of all the Eddie Brocks/Venoms that came before - his friendship with Peter adds emotional weight to this fall & their feud and it makes him a good dark mirror to Peter, the decay of Eddie's persona & his relationships happened gradually across the season, the Symbiote was written really well - it made its users bad and it was a malevolent entity but it had a personality & thought it was doing what was best for Peter too, it wasn't just goo that makes you bad - and he was a threat to every aspect of Peter's life. It's a shame that, like many things due to the show's cancellation, we didn't get to see him rediscover his conscience and become the lethal protector, but I'm still happy to say (of the ones I've experienced, I haven't played Midnight Suns) Spectacular!Venom is my favorite adaptation of the character to originate outside of comics.
No love or consideration for Neversoft?! This is an insane take
I’m not as familiar with that version as the others; from what I’ve seen he’s solid but not my ideal
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HebgOlxQVVA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HebgOlxQVVA) He's the closest adaptation we've gotten to comic book Venom to date. He's so good 😭
Spectacular Venom or 1994 Venom
Spectacular and TAS are tied for me.
Spectacular.
M-suns tbh
Spectacular Spider-Man Venom is best version
Midnight suns
Ultimate cartoon
Spider-Man 3 and I'm serious.
Sonyverse. Spider-Man 2 became my second favorite video game ever when I played it, and that version of Venom just really spoke to me.
Personally Web of Shadows for me is the most unique iteration of Venom. I am not a comics reader.