The idea of giving Spider-Man a new costume was conceived by Randy Schueler, a Marvel Comics reader from Norridge, Illinois.

[7] Venom's subsequent host, Eddie Brock, was created for the 300th issue of The Amazing Spider-Man in May 1988 due to cultural sensibilities of David Michelinie's suggestion of a villain consisting of the alien symbiote grafted into the body of a human female that forced him to conceive a male character by editor Jim Salicrup.

In December 2013, Sony revealed plans to use The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014) to establish their own expanded universe based on the Marvel properties they had the film rights to, including Venom.

[22][23] The casting of Hardy, whose son was a big fan of Venom, happened quickly after he had left Triple Frontier (2019) in April and Sony saw "an opportunity to court an in-demand talent".

Hardy gave Eddie an "aw-shucks American accent" while using a "James Brown lounge lizard"-like voice for Venom,[32] that was later "modulated to sound more sinister".

[38] Amanda Brennan, lead of Tumblr's Fandometrics analysis team, said that "Symbrock" fans existed before the film due to comics, but the increase in popularity was "undoubtedly" due to the film's portrayal of the characters which she said made Venom's dialogue more "casual" compared to how he speaks in comics, adding Brennan that dialogue such as "I am Venom and you are mine" was deemed to be particularly romantic by these fans, as was the idea that Venom be seen not as a parasite but as someone who "chose [Eddie] Brock and has a connection to [Eddie] Brock".

[41] Michael Walsh at Nerdist agreed with Pulliam-Moore, describing the move as "fully embrac[ing] 'Symbrock'" and calling it "brilliant".

Walsh said that though the advertisement was clearly a parody, it also "feels like a far more accurate portrayal of what the movie was really like than the initial [marketing] hinted at", and further highlighted the kissing scene.

[42] After being brought to Earth on a space shuttle by astronaut John Jameson as part of an invasion force of symbiotic lifeforms led by Riot, Venom and his team are captured by the Life Foundation, who bring them to San Francisco to begin a series of human trials in an attempt to achieve "symbiosis" and bind them to living beings, while Riot himself is stranded in Malaysia.

After explaining their origins to Eddie, Venom assists him in breaking into his old workplace in order to turn in evidence of Life Foundation CEO Carlton Drake's numerous crimes, marveling at the cityscape of San Francisco after climbing atop a skyscraper.

After the incident, Eddie returns to journalism, still secretly bound to Venom without Anne's knowledge, setting out to protect San Francisco by killing criminals.

Confronting a criminal who had been extorting local convenience store owner Mrs. Chen, the duo devours him, declaring that "We are Venom."

Later, as Venom tells Brock about the symbiotes' hive mind knowledge across universes,[b] a blinding light transports the pair to an alternate reality where they watch J. Jonah Jameson expose Spider-Man's identity as Peter Parker and as a "murderer" on television.

[c] After leaving the hotel, Venom and Brock go to a bar and learn about the new universe and individuals such as Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Thanos, and a major event known as the Blip.

They hitch a ride to the side of a plane bound for New York City, until Eddie and Venom are attacked by the tracking Xenophage and forced to crash in a desert field.

After being ambushed by Strickland and his team while barely escaping from them and the Xenophage, Eddie meets Martin Moon and his family of traveling hippie and alien enthusiasts who offer him a ride to Las Vegas on their way to Area 51.

Venom has the other confined symbiotes released, which bond with Sadie and other hosts to fight off the Xenophage, who has signaled to Knull that the Codex has been found.

After a panicked bartender escapes the burned remains of Area 51, a black cockroach crawls out of the rubble, alongside a broken vial that previously contained a sample of the Venom symbiote.

The writers and concept artists looked to the Ultimate Marvel version of Venom (created by Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley), whose origin was not related to Spider-Man and similarly does not have a spider-logo engraved in their chest.