Trivia / Venom (Mike Costa)

• Disowned Adaptation: Cullen Bunn — the co-creator of fan-favorite Mania — was shocked and dismayed regarding Mike Costa and Dan Slott's treatment of her in Venom Inc., which derailed his own plans for her. He chose not to re-power her during Venomized, and when asked why he stated he was worried he'd be told to kill her off.
• Executive Meddling:
  • Interviews indicate that Mike Costa had intended Lee Price's tenure as Venom to extend into an arc where he went on the run, pursued by the Anti-Symbiote Task Force — consisting of former symbiote hosts like Eddie Brock, Mac Gargan, and John Jameson. Poor sales owing to fan backlash at Price's abusive treatment of the symbiote led to the arc being Cut Short and the symbiote being returned to Eddie Brock by the sixth issue.
  • The near-fridging and de-powering of Andi Benton — a favorite not only of fans but her co-creator Cullen Bunn — during Venom Inc. is indicated to be a result of an editorial mandate from someone annoyed by Bunn's constant attempts to write her into every story he was tasked with. The decision to depower her happened without Bunn's knowledge;^note According to several writers, they regularly get together to discuss their upcoming plans so that continuity doesn't get messed up. and he certainly suspects or knows this was the case, as he stated that the reason he chose not to re-empower her during Venomized was out of fear he'd be ordered to kill her off completely. Dan Slott partially confirmed this on Twitter, saying the decision to depower her came about due to editorial declaring that having three heroic symbiote characters — Venom, Mania, and Agent Anti-Venom — was too many and would confuse readers.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Towards the end of Venom Vol. 2, Rick Remender and Cullen Bunn had drafted several plans for Volume 3 — dealing with the Descent subplot revolving around the Hell-Mark; and bringing Anti-Venom back for a "War of the Symbiotes" arc featuring Mania, Toxin, and Carnage. While the Descent subplot wound up being shelved again, Flash Thompson did become the new Anti-Venom as lead-up for him being killed off in Go Down Swinging.
  • Early solicits and interviews indicated that Lee Price was intended to been Venom for longer than just six issues, with him going on the run and the government bringing in the Anti-Symbiote Taskforce — comprised of past symbiote hosts like Eddie Brock, Mac Gargan, and John Jameson — to hunt him down. However, due to Price's extremely negative reception, this arc was aborted just as it was getting started and the symbiote was returned to Eddie Brock.
  • Mike Costa intended to have Venom eat people, though he never found the opportunity to make it happen before his run ended.