Has Venom Ever Actually Eaten Brains in the Comics?

“I cannot live on chicken and chocolate alone, I need brains.” – Venom in Venom: Let There Be Carnage

Created by writer David Michelinie and artist Todd McFarlane in 1988, Venom has become not only one of Spider-Man’s most iconic foes, but one of the most popular and merchandisable characters in Marvel Comics. Initially a villain, the character was rebranded as an anti-hero and dubbed “The Lethal Protector.” From his razor-sharp teeth to his large tongue, one of Venom’s most iconic character traits is his desire to eat brains, which has been on merchandise for the character and is frequently shown in the recent Venom movies.

Has Venom ever actually eaten somebody’s brains in the pages of Marvel Comics? Would Marvel allow one of their most iconic characters to do such a vicious, horrific act? If so, when did they do so, and why has this become an essential part of the characters? Here is Venom’s history of eating brains in the comics, why he does so, and how the Tom Hardy movies made this element so iconic while other adaptations ignored it.

The first time Venom referenced eating brains comes from Amazing Spider-Man #333in 1990 by Venom co-creator David Micheline and artist Erik Larson. At this time, Venom had not yet been developed into an anti-hero and was still a frequent foe of Spider-Man, and in the confrontation, the alien villain tells the web-slinger, “We want to eat your brain!”. This line would be one of three sayings the 1991 Venom toy would say, becoming one of the character’s signature lines and tying the character with the zombie-like act.

Yet Marvel Comics never actually showed Venom eating brains, that is until 1996’s Venom: The Hunger #1. Venom eats the brains of someone early on in the story, but the act itself is not shown and is only alluded to by another character commenting on watching the event unfold. The comic, like Venom: Let There Be Carnage, has the Venom symbiote breaking away from Eddie Brock because it desires to consume brains.

The comic storyline establishes that Venom consumes brains because it contains a chemical called Phenethylamine (PEA). Phenethylamine acts as a central nervous system stimulant in humans. The Venom symbiote had been consuming it from Eddie Brock’s brain but needed more, so this drew Venom to eating brains. Thankfully, there is another, more socially acceptable replacement to brains for Eddie Brock and Venom to get Phenethylamine.

Chocolate Is a Great Substitute for Brains

Despite being a monstrous alien, Venom does have a sweet tooth. Eddie Brock has found that chocolate is a good substitute for Venom in place of brains. Chocolate is one way the human body can produce Phenethylamine. When humans consume chocolate, it releases dopamine, a neurotransmitter that makes an individual feel good. This is one reason why chocolate has been labeled the “chemical of love” by some people.

Chocolate providing a feel-good sensation for people is also seen in the Harry Potter franchise, as it is used as a remedy for people following a Dementor attack. The idea is that if Dementors make an individual feel depressed, chocolate’s natural components release dopamine and make them feel happy. The same applies to Venom, as what he recieves from Eddie Brock as a host and later from consuming brains and chocolate is a strong positive chemical reaction.

This distinguishes Venom from his symbiote offspring, Carnage. Instead of feeding off Phenethylamine, Carnage sustains himself by feeding off his host’s anger and adrenaline. This is what Venom started as, as the symbiote host would enhance the negative aspect of their host to sustain itself. While both Venom and Carnage consume a chemical from their host linked to certain emotions, Carnage, as a villain, lives off negative emotions. At the same time, the antihero Venom tries to consume a chemical that is more associated with a positive feeling.

Venom’s love of chocolate and the association of the food with dopamine and love certainly adds layers to the Venom/Eddie Brock queer subtext. While the 2018 Tom Hardy film popularized that for many audiences and the sequel Venom: Let There Be Carnage expanded upon it, the idea had been seeded in the comics with Venom’s desire to eat chocolate.

Notably, in Venom: The Hunger, Eddie Brock notes that the brain makes more Phenethylamine when somebody is in love. The idea is that Eddie and Venom love and need each other. This love between the two is even shared by the end of the comic as Eddie Brock eats a box of Valentine’s Day chocolates to satisfy Venom’s appetite.

Venom is one of Spider-Man’s most iconic foes, but the cannibalistic element of the character is often forgotten when the character leaps from the page to the screen. They all still feature the monstrous form and drooling with his tongue sticking out, but the context behind that is often missing.

The character’s brief appearance in Spider-Man 3 mainly featured him as a physical foe to fight Spider-Man. The movie implies he attacked and killed a S.W.A.T. team, but it is unclear if he ate them. With both Spider-Man: The Animated Series and The Spectacular Spider-Man being cartoons aimed at kids, Venom’s brain-eating habits were left on the cutting room floor and most of the emphasis was on him hating Spider-Man.

Despite the Venom movies not having the major element of Spider-Man being tied to the character’s origin, the films faithfully adapt many other elements from the comics. The Venom movies feature multiple scenes of Venom chomping the heads off people. From the robber at the end of Venom to Cletus Kassidy in Venom: Let There Be Carnage to even the trailers for Venom: The Last Dance showing him tearing the heads off enemies and eating them.

This iconic finishing move, one tied to the character’s early comic book appearances that fans always wanted to see, is now an element mainstream audiences know about the character that has since bled back into other media. For example, the PS5 video game Spider-Man 2 showed Venom biting the head off of Kraven the Hunter, consuming his essence.

All three Venom movies have been released in October, and the character fits well with the Halloween season. He is a cross between the Alien franchise’s Xenomoph, a werewolf, and a zombie who has a penchant for eating brains. As Halloween shows, even a zombie trick-or-treater will settle for some chocolate instead.