“SPIDERS VERSUS SYMBIOTES FOR THE FATE OF THE MARVEL MULTIVERSE IN SPIDER-VERSE VS. VENOMVERSE!” Breathless, ain’t it?
When Dan Slott and Olivier Copiel first introduced the Spider-Verse, it was fun. There’s no denying that it translated to animation better than I thought it would. It also provided my wife with an all-time favorite Halloween costume — Spider-Rex. Because it’s its own multiverse, it almost seemed like its own sometimes ridiculous imprint. (If the Spider-Man Noir series supposedly coming to Prime turns out brilliantly, it’s worth it.)
In general, though, the fate of the multiverse gets exhausting. When Marvel introduced a multiversal Venomverse last year, it just made me think, really? Do we need infinite alternate Venoms? Or am I just being hypocritical, as I certainly love DC’s Earth-2 characters, even the alternate Superman and Batman?
Also full disclosure: when Venom was introduced, I thought he was a great villain. I maintain that. But the expanding world of antiheroes does nothing for me.
All that serves as prelude for this — it seems weird for two multiverses to collide when they’re already both multiverses. This announcement also brings into question something I admittedly haven’t read deeply enough to find out. Are they actually supposedly separate multiverses from each other and the larger branded Marvel multiverse? If this is your thing, have at it. Tell me how they all interact. Because these days, I’m way too bogged down in the fate of the real world and could use the distraction. Maybe I could use… FRESH BRAINS.
From Marvel:
Over the last few years, the Spider-Verse and Venomverse have exploded with new characters in blockbuster comic book series like Edge of Spider-Verse and Venomverse Reborn. But the Marvel multiverse isn’t big enough for both Spider and symbiote. This April, choose a side as webheads and symbiote hosts wage war in SPIDER-VERSE VS. VENOMVERSE.
Crafted by writers Mat Groom and Kyle Higgins and superstar artist Luciano Vecchio, this five-issue epic spins out of March’s WEB OF SPIDER-VERSE: NEW BLOOD and April’s WEB OF VENOMVERSE: FRESH BRAINS, two one-shots that will debut major players for the reality-shattering battles ahead. The armies amassed will include a wide range of characters including icons like Spider-Man and Venom, along with fan-favorite and recently-introduced newcomers from previous Spider-Verse and Venomverse stories.
SPIDERS VERSUS SYMBIOTES!
The arachnid war is here! With the fates of the SPIDER-VERSE and VENOMVERSE hanging in the balance, these eight-legged warriors will stop at nothing from protecting their people – or die trying! Will Spider-Man and friends succeed in protecting the Web-Heart? Or will Venom and his symbiotic comrades prove that the Hive-Mind fights for its survival? Meet the newest Web-Head Spider-Prowler as well as the mysterious symbiote Yaleo as this savage battle risks their extinction!
“When Dan Slott and Olivier Copiel launched the SPIDER-VERSE in 2014, it transformed the Spider-Man mythos and completely took over the world,” Groom said. “Since then, creators like Donny Cates, Al Ewing and Ram V have transformed the Venom mythos in a way that is arguably just as vital and transformative. Crashing these worlds together is a genuine honor and a privilege— and it gives us an opportunity to push both sides to the breaking point, so we can all discover whether the Spider and Symbiote communities hold strong against the oncoming storm… or if they crack under the pressure!”
“I think one of the genius decisions of this event was having Luciano do all of the character designs for our two lead-in titles,” Groom continued. “Luciano’s superpower is building complex tapestries of intertwined characters and worlds…and I love that readers will get an early taste of that in NEW BLOOD and FRESH BRAINS!”
cover by Luciano Vecchio
Check out Vecchio’s main cover and preorder WEB OF SPIDER-VERSE: NEW BLOOD #1, WEB OF VENOMVERSE: FRESH BRAINS #1, and SPIDER-VERSE VS. VENOMVERSE #1 at your local comic shop today!
This all begins 5/14/2025!
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In addition to running Fanboy Planet, Derek has contributed stories to Arcana Comics (The Greatest American Hero) and Monsterverse Comics (Bela Lugosi's Tales from the Grave). He has performed with ComedySportz, City Lights Theater Company and Silicon Valley Shakespeare, though relocated to Hollywood to... work in an office? If you ever played Eric's Ultimate Solitaire on the Macintosh, it was Derek's voice as The Weasel that urged you to play longer. You can buy his book "I Was Flesh Gordon" on the Amazon link at the right. Email him at [email protected].
