Marvel's interview with Rick Remender
Venom author, Rick Remender, sits down with Marvel in his latest interview and gives us a lot of juicy details of what to expect in the upcoming issues of Venom. Below is the Venom part of the interview followed; however, if you just want to see previews from Venom #10, skip to the end! Enjoy!
Marvel.com: From a secret squad of mutants to a one-man hit squad, your other big title, VENOM, nears its one year anniversary. How’s it been developing Flash Thompson into a leading man and making it work with a blood-thirsty Venom symbiote on his back?
Rick Remender: It’s been terrific. I think I’ve found my niche, as I enjoy talking B- or C-List characters and reimagining them into something special. Obviously the initial idea of the series came from Dan Slott and Steve Wacker, and as I dug into it I discovered so many levels of awesome inside the concept. There are so many different things to exploit with Flash from his alcoholism, his egotism, being raised by an alcoholic and abusive father, and this new addiction that returned his legs to him. I love the book, I love Flash, and I didn’t know in the beginning I would enjoy it so much.Flash isn’t stoic or hyper intelligent. He’s a man of average intelligence, but has so much heart, loyalty and patriotism that make him the kind of person that doesn’t quit. In terms of the Spider-Man side of the Marvel Universe, he’s a classic character, and almost more Peter Parker than Peter is anymore. In the original AMAZING SPIDER-MAN books, Peter’s life was always depressing as hell. And while Peter’s life is still tumultuous, I wanted to really lean into that with Flash so it felt like a classic Spider-Man story except with Flash at the center of it. Flash has his own issues of power and responsibility explored from a different angle, one a good bit heavier and darker than what Peter’s dealt with.I hope people with a pre-conceived notion of what a VENOM comic is will set that aside and give our book a good look. With books like this starting at the very beginning is best, but we’re doing our best to make VENOM #10 as ‘new reader friendly’ as possible.
Marvel.com: VENOM #9 shows Flash in the aftermath of Spider-Island. We saw Flash, Captain America and Spider-Man defeat The Queen over in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, but when we last saw things, Flash’s father passed away and his long-time flame Betty Brant remains trapped in the hospital with the infested coming her. What’s the score with VENOM #9?
Rick Remender: This picks up moments after they defeat The Queen, and Flash goes to see what happened to Betty and to return the Venom suit because he’s worn it too long. On the way, though, he discovers an opportunistic super villain named Hijacker who has used the chaos in the city during Spider-Island to use his impenetrable tank to break into bank vaults and steal as much money as he can. During the course of that, Venom drops in to stop him.
Marvel.com: In #8 we saw the unusual team-up of Venom and Steve Rogers, and it brought up a lot of underlying potency given their shared military background and sacrifices. Any chance we’ll see more of Captain America in the book? Rick
Remender: Sure. In issue #9, Captain America will be a big part of the new status quo of the book and their relationship plays into that. Given how Cap is just learning that the government has been using the Venom symbiote for missions, he’s not quite comfortable with it even though Flash helped out a lot during Spider-Island. A lot of people have seen that Flash will be joining SECRET AVENGERS soon, and this story leads into that. Getting Venom inducted into the team isn’t easy, and the arc that takes him there is definitely one of the biggest and most exciting power chord moments of the series. It also leads into cosmic-sized threats for Venom. I love the idea that Venom is this super-powerful force, but can still be threatened when cosmic-level powers come into play.
Marvel.com: And in a way, Venom could be called cosmic since it’s an alien symbiote as seen in SECRET WARS.
Rick Remender: Right. The big Venom event I’m working on for next summer ties into all of that.
Marvel.com: After the big status quo change in VENOM #9, the next issues carry out that new mission while also trying to keep a big secret: his identity.
Rick Remender: That’s right. Flash isn’t used to being a super hero, and after he lost the symbiote temporarily in a fight with Kraven he was photographed by the main villain of our series, The Crime Master. Crime Master is teaming up with Jack O’ Lantern, and those are two people Venom’s done a lot to upset in the past. In VENOM #10, we see what they’ve been up to and how they plan on utilizing the fact they know Flash Thompson is Venom.The situation Flash is in here brings up an interesting question of how someone could blackmail a super hero. There’s always a scenario where a super hero can’t fight his way out of, and if Crime Master is a criminal genius then he has to think more than just of pure revenge and of the most strategic and damaging way to use this secret.
Marvel.com: One thing that isn’t a secret is your new artist on the book: Lan Medina. Lan’s no stranger to gun-toting soldiers from his work on DEATHLOK and FOOLKILLER, but what specifically from his repertoire do you look to take advantage of with him on the book?
Rick Remender: As you said, Lan is obviously great with soldiers and weaponry, but he’s also great with monsters. Not all guys can draw monsters, and being able to draw the Venom monster when he hulks out and do it right is a skill. He’s already finished a couple issues of VENOM, and I’m excited with what he’s turned in. There’s some VENOM scenes coming up that people are going to go crazy for. Lan does a good job with Agent Venom, but his monster Venom moments will have people going [crazy].
I have to say, this art is amazing! However, between these 5 pages and the one released earlier today and the two from two weeks ago, we can almost piece together the entire issue!