“Nothing Has Ever Survived Its Touch”: Marvel Reveals the 1 Weakness of Its Ultimate Symbiote, the Arachniote

Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Venom War: Spider-Man #2! The Earth is under attack by a swarm of symbiotes during the ongoing conflict between Eddie and Dylan Brock, which is aptly named the Venom War. Both Eddie and Dylan believe that if the other has the Venom symbiote, they will usher in the end of the world, which is the catalyst for their conflict. However, the Venom War has just gotten out of hand with the introduction of the ultimate symbiote, the Arachniote. Thankfully, it’s not unbeatable, as Marvel reveals its one weakness.

In a preview for Venom War: Spider-Man #2 by Collin Kelly, Jackson Lanzing, and Greg Land, Peter Parker has reclaimed the Venom symbiote, which means he’s wearing the classic black costume once more. Venom doesn’t want to be bonded with either Eddie or Dylan, so he seeks refuge with Spider-Man, who is willing to wear the symbiote again until this conflict is resolved. However, the Venom War is far from over in this issue, as Spider-Man and Jackpot (aka Mary Jane) are battling the Arachniote.

While Venom is terrified of the Arachniote, and passes that fear along to Spider-Man (indeed, the Arachniote is a monster that even the original King in Black, Knull, was afraid of) since “nothing has ever survived its touch”, Jackpot is much more confident. Using the tech developed by her boyfriend, Paul, MJ launches an attack against the Arachniote, and she seems to have found the kaiju-symbiote’s weakness: a concentrated sonic/photon blast.

Spider-Man’s Mary Jane is Combining the Symbiotes’ 2 Greatest Weaknesses into 1 Attack

It’s been well-established in Marvel lore that symbiotes have two main weaknesses: fire and sound. These two things have always worked against the Klyntar no matter how powerful the symbiote is (with very few exceptions). Therefore, combining them into one powerful blast is essentially the silver bullet to put down even a symbiote monster as cosmically powerful as the Arachniote.

The photons launched from MJ’s gauntlet will produce thermal radiation that reaches extremely high temperatures. At the same time, Jackpot will also create a sonic frequency that will accompany the photon blast as it strikes the Arachniote. In other words, ‘fire’ and ‘sound’ are effectively being combined in a concentrated blast by Mary Jane (and Paul), which should be enough to take the Arachniote down for good.

Spider-Man’s ‘Spider-Family’ Now Has the Perfect Anti-Venom Weapon

Jackpot Can Take Down Any Symbiote with Her Gauntlet, Not Just the Arachniote!

After the Arachniote is taken down by this perfect anti-symbiote attack, it’s not as though the weapon will become unusable. That means the Spider-Family permanently has the means to defeat any Klyntar they come across – including Venom if he steps out of line. The Arachniote was feared by Knull himself, so if Jackpot can take it down with her photon/sonic blast weapon, then she can take down any symbiote. And since Jackpot is actually MJ, she’s firmly included in the Spider-Family (despite not being a spider-hero), meaning Spidey will always have someone to call during any symbiote emergency.

Of course, this is just a preview introducing a weapon that sounds like it can deliver the perfect method of taking down any symbiote – including and especially the Arachniote – but the deed hasn’t yet been done. Perhaps the Arachniote will prove stronger than the concentrated blast containing the Klyntar’s only weaknesses, which would be truly terrifying. However, as it stands, it’s safe to say that Spider-Man and Jackpot have their own symbiote silver bullet, and fans should be excited to see it in action during the ongoing Venom War.