A child of humans bonded to extraterrestrial parasitic alien Symbiotes, Dylan Brock shares an unconventional connection to the alien creatures, which gives him remarkable powers.
A Child of Two Worlds
When his mother Anne Weying suffers a serious injury, Dylan’s father Eddie Brock, AKA Venom, forces his Venom symbiote to bond with her, saving her life. While the symbiote returns to Eddie, a microscopic piece of its genetic material, called a codex, remains in Anne and merges with her son Dylan in utero. Therefore, Dylan becomes a human-symbiote hybrid, a living codex, and able to sever the Symbiote Hive-Mind’s psychic link from their creator, Knull.
Before Anne takes her own life, she leaves her infant son with Eddie’s abusive father, Carl Brock. Carl keeps Dylan’s true parentage a secret, raising him as his own son. When Eddie shows up at Carl and Dylan’s doorstep, Dylan and Eddie are led to believe they are half-brothers, and Dylan implores his “brother” to kill their “father” due to his abusive behavior. Meanwhile, Eddie’s Venom symbiote knows the truth about Dylan’s parentage and when Eddie realizes that his symbiote manipulated his memories, he discovers that Dylan is his son. The guilt-ridden symbiote separates from Eddie, saving Dylan from Carl and ending the brute's life. Later, when Eddie is accused of killing people at Ryker’s Island, Dylan goes on the run with him, though Eddie hides their true relationship from him.
Symbiote Powers
Born of humans and symbiotes, Dylan has the power to control symbiotes with his mind, bending the creatures’ physical appearance and actions to his will. He also has the power to sense symbiotes in others. Furthermore, he can remotely and telepathically connect to and control symbiotes from across great geographical distances.
While bonded to the Venom symbiote, Dylan possesses superhuman endurance, agility and strength. The alien further augments its host’s strength (lifting 40 tons) and reflexes. The costume replicates Spider-Man’s ability to cling to walls by controlling the flux of interatomic attraction between molecular boundary layers. Venom can shoot strands of the alien’s regenerative substance as adhesive “webbing” at high pressure up to 70 feet, which dissolves in about three hours. The costume acts as armor capable of absorbing bullets from small-arms weapons firing conventional ammunition; however, the symbiote is vulnerable to sonic and heat-based attacks. The alien can resemble any clothing and be nearly invisible if camouflaged. Since previously bonded to Spider-Man, the symbiote can neutralize his spider-sense. Venom can inflate to monstrous size.
He's also capable of calling upon the All-Black, AKA the Necrosword, though he can’t hold it for very long.
Fierce Foes
The symbiotic serial killer Cletus Kasady, AKA Carnage, searches for anyone with symbiote DNA locked within their spines, so naturally, he attacks Dylan and discovers Dylan’s special nature. Kasady and the Carnage symbiote often attempt to kill Dylan and even succeeds, though Dylan survives the ordeal of death.
Knull, the God of Symbiotes and the King in Black, makes many attempts to control Dylan, considering he’s a living codex.
Friendlies
The Lethal Protector known as Venom is both Dylan’s father Eddie and the Venom symbiote combined. Though at first Dylan is led to believe Eddie’s his half-brother, he comes to find out that he’s his real father and they bond over the trauma of symbiote-life.
Peter Parker, AKA Spider-Man, joins Venom in protecting Dylan and Normie Osborn, AKA Goblin Childe, a former host to Carnage and son to Harry Osborn and Liz Allan, when Carnage comes after them for their codexes. After a couple escapes from symbiote attacks, Normie relates to Dylan over their dads being monsters, while Dylan thinks they’re dads are doing well, considering the circumstances of their lives.
Following in His Father’s Footsteps
After being accused of killing people at Ryker’s Island, Dylan and Eddie found themselves on the run. They ducked into a nearby subway station but were pushed onto the tracks by Carnage wearing the Grendel Symbiote as a train hurtled towards them. The Venom symbiote emerged from Eddie, having never left him, and saved both their lives. Eddie and Dylan then attempt to get Spider-Man on their side, but they overheard a news story about a mass grave. Eddie soon realized that the dead bodies were all former hosts of symbiotes and Carnage was to blame. Apparently Carnage was attempting to consume symbiote codices from all those who had ever been possessed by a symbiote in order to free Knull, the God of the Symbiotes, from his interplanetary prison. Since Dylan was a living codex, he became one of Carnage’s targets. To protect Dylan, Eddie and Spider-Man hid him away with Spider-Man’s godson Normie Osborn and an evil Reed Richards, AKA The Maker, from a parallel universe. The Maker constructed a device capable of removing codices safely, so that Eddie could destroy them without harming the host.
Left in The Maker’s custody, the trio was soon attacked by Carnage’s minions—the Life Foundation Symbiotes. The Maker bonded with them, creating a new hybrid. Dylan and Normie attempted an escape as Spider-Man and his allies Steve Rogers, AKA Captain America, Ben Grimm, AKA The Thing, and James Howlett/Logan, AKA Wolverine, arrived. Dylan went for backup and liberated the Sleeper, Venom’s recent offspring spawn, who he could hear in his mind. When the Sleeper attempted to bond with Dylan, his symbiote powers rejected it, though he was able to control the Sleeper, forcing it into a wolf form. Dylan ordered Sleeper to kill The Maker hybrid. With the ability to create any chemical from his body, the Sleeper doused the threat with napalm, exploding the hybrid symbiote. The heroes reconvened and with the help of Bruce Banner, AKA Hulk, the codex was safely removed from Normie. Dylan and the Sleeper bonded though Dylan admitted he didn’t know why he chose a wolf as he wasn’t really a dog person, so the Sleeper changed his form into a cat and offered him protection and loyalty in what was to come.
Despite being safe again, the boys were soon pursued by the recently escaped Ravencroft Institute patient, Norman Osborn, who believed he was Cletus Kasady and had been possessed by the Carnage symbiote. Spider-Man kept them safe by fending him off.
The real Carnage resurfaced and sought the remaining codexes with his hive-mind minions, who threatened Dylan and Normie. Dylan’s powers manifested and he exploded the Carnage minion with a thought, but passed out from the effort. Normie dragged him to safety. With his son’s life in the balance, Eddie ultimately killed Carnage and Dylan finally learned the truth about his parentage. Though at first angry about Eddie’s deception, Dylan reconciled with his father and the Venom symbiote. Despite their win, Knull had been released from his cage.
While Eddie took precautions for Knull’s arrival and attempted to fix his Other, the Venom symbiote, who seemed off, Dylan stayed with Normie and his parents, Harry Osborn and Liz Allan. While there, Dylan continued to come into his powers as a living codex, and revealed to Normie that he saved a piece of the Carnage symbiote when it was attached to Norman, which he could control with his mind. They played around with it, letting it take over a raccoon, which got them into trouble at a convenience store with a clerk. Dylan threatened the clerk that he’d use the symbiote against him but Normie pulled him off. At night, Dylan seemed possessed and spoke of Knull. Normie called him out, and in calling him crazy, Dylan punched Normie, sending them both crashing through a window. Sleeper was nearby and caught them before they landed on the ground below, and negotiated with Dylan. Dylan agreed that he’d return to Liz and Harry’s, and tell Eddie the truth when he came back. Normie also agreed to return home. The boys explained their way out of the mess they made, claiming they had been playing baseball.
Meanwhile Eddie retreated to Isla de Huesos to save his Other from the Carnage symbiote, who had survived. Dylan’s growing powers allowed him to remotely enter the Venom symbiote to help free his father from Carnage’s control. His actions alerted Eddie to his son’s abilities and rid themselves of Carnage for good. Meanwhile, Knull made every attempt to manipulate Dylan while he slept.
Not wanting this life for his son, Eddie and Dylan returned to The Maker to find answers about Dylan’s powers. They found him standing in front of an interdimensional gate and Dylan couldn’t sense The Maker, who soon revealed that he had bonded to an artificial symbiote from his own universe. Suddenly a madman in mechanized armor known as Virus attacked Eddie seeking revenge, and they all got sucked into the gate, which was a portal to parts unknown. It was a twisted version of New York ruled by Symbiotes. Virus, hot on their tail, was soon thwarted by a team of ultraviolet and symbiotic versions of the Avengers. Dylan and Eddie as Venom retreated to the sewers, where they encountered human rebel soldiers led by his long-deceased ex-wife, Anne Weying, who was this universe’s Agent Venom.
Anne revealed that in this universe, Eddie died and she became Venom while the Dylan of their world, her son, had become the leader of the symbiote Hive known as Codex. When meeting his parallel mother, Dylan attempted to reassure her that he wasn’t him, but she was too jaded to connect with him. The group was soon attacked by a wave of symbiotes sent by Codex, but narrowly escaped thanks to an explosion caused by Agent Deadpool. They were later attacked by a Venomized Scorpion, whose identity was revealed as Mac Gargan (the original Scorpion who had followed them there as Virus), who sought revenge against Eddie for paralyzing him. Understanding his plight, Eddie offered Mac a deal: they’d let him live if he brought them to Codex.
While the rebels regrouped before taking on Codex, Dylan finally connected with Anne and she accepted that he wasn’t her evil son. Dylan expressed his desire to stay in her world so that they could make new memories. The team, with Dylan and Eddie’s help, attacked Codex’s base, though Mac turned on them, he was soon dispatched. Eddie controlled Codex with his symbiote and introduced him to his son Dylan, who gave his memories to Codex--the Dylan of this parallel world--and the process helped to restore him to his human-self before he entered a comatose state. Dylan and Eddie stayed on this earth for a year with Anne as the world returned to normal without Codex. Once they found a way home, Dylan and Eddie to their Earth, but not before Anne reminded Dylan to remember her voice should Knull’s voice get louder. When they returned home, Knull had arrived having wrapped the planet in a symbiote dome.
Eddie secured Dylan in a bunker that Spider-Man gave him access to, the same bunker created by Ezekiel Sims. Dylan protested, claiming he could help, but Eddie insisted that this was his fight. Eddie as Venom made contact with Knull, but Knull separated Eddie from the Venom symbiote, dropping Eddie from a building and leaving him with mortal injuries. Spider-Man let Dylan out to see his father where Spider-Man’s Avenger and Fantastic Four allies concocted a plan to save Eddie by bonding him to one of Knull’s dragon symbiotes. Though it failed and Dylan atomized it using his powers. Reed Richards, AKA Mister Fantastic, realized Dylan could be the key to defeat Knull and save the world, but suddenly Eddie’s heart went out and he perished.
Dylan seemed to be the heroes’ only hope, until Thor Odinson, AKA Thor, the God of Thunder, arrived. Dylan teamed up with Thor and together freed Knullified heroes. THough Knull ran Thor through with All-Black, the Necrosword, and trapped Dylan in an orb of symbiotes. Thor sent his ravens to retrieve the last hope in bringing Knull’s cosmic equal, the Enigma Force, to Earth: Norrin Radd, AKA Silver Surfer. The Surfer brought the Enigma Force and it bonded to Eddie’s lifeless corpse, restoring him as Captain Universe, and allowing him to defeat Knull once and for all. He used the force to burn the traces of symbiote codex out of Dylan. The Enigma Force left Eddie and he became the new King in Black.
With the Knull threat ended, Dylan and Sleeper moved in with Eddie and the Venom symbiote. Not having any powers, and now having a father whose attention was taken up by his new responsibilities as the God of Symbiotes, left Dylan frustrated and taking it out on other kids that bullied him. Eddie had the Venom symbiote keep a watch over him. When Dylan passed by Jack O’Lantern mugging a woman, Dylan intervened and got shot in the chest, but the Venom symbiote attached itself to Dylan so that he could heal. Together they were Venom and they beat up the villain. Dylan with the Venom symbiote became the new heroic Venom with his father’s approval.
Ater an unfortunate series of events, Eddie died in front of Dylan and became unstuck in time, leaving Dylan alone. Dylan was forced to go on the run from the Life Foundation, who wanted to evolve the Venom symbiote’s evolution. Dylan was led to Eddie’s friend, Archer Lyle, though he betrayed Dylan and delivered him to Alchemex. The Venom symbiote escaped the Life Foundation’s grasp and rescued Dylan, bonding with him. Soon, a violent and bloodthirsty symbiote called Bedlam ambushed them, stabbing Dylan through the heart, leaving him comatose. Dylan’s consciousness, saved by Venom, awoke in a world surrounded by symbiotes, a great black cage and guarded by the Keeper, while his body was taken by the Life Foundation, who put him on life support. The Keeper, who was a copy of Eddie’s memories, helped Dylan to return to his body but not before he manifested the All-Black. Meanwhile, Sleeper rescued Dylan’s body and rebonded it to the Venom symbiote. Reunited with his body, Dylan took the form of his parallel world counterpart, Codex, and the alias as well.
Though Bedlam found Dylan and the pair fought. Dylan severed a tiny piece of the Bedlam symbiote, which he gave to his old friend, Normie Osborn, grandson of the Green Goblin. With this new Red Goblin at his side, and Kamala Khan, AKA Ms. Marvel, they attempted to traverse the chaos unfolding across the city caused by demons and faced Bedlam, who was in fact his father, the time-lost Eddie Brock, and a rage-fueled nightmare. Dylan and Ms. Marvel butted heads as she wanted to protect the innocent bystanders. Ms. Marvel tossed Bedlam away to protect those around them and had a tough talk with Codex and Red Goblin. Codex revealed himself as Dylan and realized he was just a kid. Red Goblin had absconded to face Bedlam and they caught up with the brute, fighting him back. Though Bedlam soon escaped thanks to his ally in Limbo, Madelyne Pryor, AKA Goblin Queen.
Dylan soon allied with Moon Knight as Alchemax and the Life Foundation sent their New Enforcers after him and the Venom symbiote. Together they took down the New Enforces, and Moon Knight offered Dylan a place in his Midnight Mission, though Dylan kindly refused.
Without a moment’s rest, Dylan was soon taken by Agatha Harkness, who pit him against Wade Wilson, AKA Deadpool, in a fight for a bit of Chaos Magic, capable of altering reality. But Harkness ultimately controlled Dylan while he was Venom so she could craft a new Darkhold. The Avengers came to his rescue and he was liberated from Harkness’ hold.
Seeking to save his father, Dylan formed a team consisting of Sleeper, Red Goblin, Flexo and Bren Waters, AKA Toxin. Though they soon came up against the reborn Carnage, who sowed distrust between Dylan and the Venom symbiote. This opening allowed Carnage to rip the Venom symbiote from Dylan and kill the boy. Though the Venom symbiote stabilized Dylan’s body, Dylan’s soul journeyed to the being called Eventuality, who showed Dylan the future if Eddie took back the Venom symbiote. Dylan miraculously awakened, but Venom, who was torn by guilt and despair, had left his host. Meanwhile, vampires united and launched an attack on the living as Dylan and Venom were separated and alone.
