RELATED: Eddie Brock Takes the Symbiote Throne in Marvel’s Venom #200
It’s all been building to this. Nearly two years after relaunching Marvel’s ongoing Venom series to widespread praise, writer Donny Cates and artist Ryan Stegman are getting ready to bid adieu to the House of Ideas’ premiere symbiotic twosome. In a new interview with IGN, Cates and Stegman teased what readers can expect from their final story, which culminates in Venom’s landmark 200th issue later this year.
Cates and Stegman are also currently two issues into the King in Black miniseries, which finds the symbiote god Knull facing off against the heroes of the Marvel Universe in an epic battle for world domination. Naturally, Knull is also targeting Eddie Brock, who wasn’t left in the best place when Venom #32 dropped this month. However, Venom isn’t down for the count just yet. Stegman’s cover for the 200th issue hints that Eddie may end up dethroning Knull as the ruler of all symbiotes.
“It’s something that we’ve been building to, and building to, and building to,” said Cates. “Now we’re here. Ryan and I talk about that a lot. About how Ryan will send in a new page or King in Black, and it’s finally like a drawing of something that we’ve all been thinking about, a particular moment or a scene that we’ve all been thinking about for almost four years now. So it’s pretty surreal. It’s crazy. It really is a testament to how awesome the Marvel fanbase has been and the Venom fans in general, that they’ve supported the book so much. That this crazy idea of this Knull thing has stuck around so long, that we’re actually getting to do this.”
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Stegman also discussed how working on the series has shaped his drawing style over the last two years. Plus, he confirmed that he won’t be the only illustrator tackling the upcoming milestone issue. Venom #200 will also feature additional contributions from several guest artists to help usher in Eddie’s new status-quo.
“I feel like I’m always pushing,” said Stegman. “That’s just my motto in life and in comics. So I think there was definitely a lack of satisfaction with what I was doing. I thought that some of the stuff I was doing was cool, but I feel like once I got onto Venom, I started to really hone in what I did well. It was one of the first projects where I was like, ‘Oh, I know exactly how to do this and it just suits my style.’ Which at the time, my style was nebulous, but I felt like I started drawing in a way from issue one of Venom, that now I feel like in King in Black, it’s the ultimate form of that thing. If we have the cover to Venom #200, I feel like right now that would be the quintessential piece that exhibits what my style has become. I’m going to keep pushing for sure. But I feel like I’ve really found something. It’s a little bit annoying that we’re getting here to the end of King in Black.”
Venom #200 hits comic shops this April. You can check out the issue’s cover below. Are you excited to witness the dawn of a new chapter in Eddie Brock’s life? Let us know in the comment section!
Recommended Reading: Venom by Donny Cates Vol. 1: Rex
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