Venom #25 (2020)

Sitting before the Avengers at their base, Eddie Brock says that he knows they are asking themselves what everyone - even his own son - asks about him: is Venom a good guy or a bad guy? Eddie admits that the question is a fair one given that he and the Venom symbiote have operated on both sides of the law so many times even they can't keep track. Sighing, he further admits that he doesn't have an answer, and decides to go back to the beginning. Stating that he first called himself "Venom" after bonding to the symbiote because he'd thought it sounded cool, Eddie is disgusted that he'd once thought killing Spider-Man was the right thing to do; adding that if he thought he was being a hero during his villain days then even now he can't trust himself to rightly answer where Venom's allegiances lie. Eddie admits that he wants people to see him as a hero and look at him the way they do at Spider-Man, before questioning if he's even a good enough person to be a good guy. Despite his self-doubts, Eddie states that he's trying every day to be a better person. Going off on a tangent, Eddie states that the last few years have been rough for him. First he lost his job at the Fact Sheet due to the symbiote backsliding into its bloodthirsty state, then he teamed up with the teenaged Spider-Man to fight a primordial symbiote-dragon and went toe-to-toe with an avatar of the God of the Symbiotes. Eddie states that he won at the cost of the Venom symbiote's consciousness and had found himself facing his worst fear - being alone. Captured by the Maker, he had learned that sections of his memories were lies inserted by the symbiote and parted ways with it; though in the process he learned he had a son, Dylan. Smiling, Eddie notes that Dylan sees him as a hero even though he's not the best father. Returning to his recap, Eddie recounts being dragged into the War of the Realms and bonded to a magical replica of the Venom symbiote. Noting that he doesn't need to remind them of Cletus Kasady's resurrection and attack on Manhattan, Eddie states that the fallout of that is what he wants to talk to the Avengers about. Saying he's getting ahead of himself, Eddie states that he hasn't been entirely truthful to them but that he wants to thank them for giving him a chance. In a flashback to the Isla de Huesos, Eddie - bonded to and controlled by the reborn Carnage symbiote - battles the Venom symbiote, which is being remote-piloted by Dylan and transformed into a Tyrannosaurus rex. As Carnage morphs his arms into blades and lunges, Venom smashes Carnage with its tail. Dylan attempts to communicate with his dad through the Symbiote Hive-Mind, worrying that he won't be able to hold the Venom symbiote's form for much longer. As the Venom symbiote attempts to devour him, Carnage incredulously asks if this is a joke before forcing the symbiote dinosaur's jaws open and stabbing tendrils down its throat. In his mindscape, Eddie is trapped inside a cage formed from the Carnage symbiote. When Dylan appears, Eddie initially dismisses him as another vision conjured by the Carnage symbiote, but Dylan assures Eddie it's really him. When Eddie asks how this is possible, Dylan admits he's been hiding that he has powers which first activated when he was trying to protect Normie Osborn from the Carnage-ized Norman Osborn. Dylan apologizes for not telling Eddie sooner, but states that he was afraid and still is. As Eddie comforts Dylan, Carnage snarls that he can hear them; manifesting a massive axe and driving it into the Venom symbiote's head. As Dylan reels in pain, the Carnage symbiote manifests inside Eddie's mindscape as Cletus Kasady and mockingly greets Dylan before shoving him inside the cage. At the Allan residence, Dylan is abruptly ejected from the portal of living abyss he'd made from Norman Osborn's offshoot of the Carnage symbiote and falls off the roof. Assuming its humanoid form, Sleeper dives after him and catches him despite the agonizing pain being in contact with Dylan causes it; demanding that he sever his connection to the Symbiote Hive. Dylan refuses, while in Eddie's mindscape Carnage becomes incensed by Eddie "playing favorites" and in the real world uses its axe to hack at the Venom symbiote - Dylan feeling every blow. As the offshoot of the Carnage symbiote begins bonding to Dylan and spreading up his arm - to Sleeper's alarm - Eddie encourages Dylan to keep fighting, saying that he's been where his son is but that he can't give in to the darkness, and that as long as he's alive Dylan will never be alone. His eyes glowing red, Dylan rips the Carnage symbiote offshoot from his arm and destroys it, simultaneously blasting the main body of the Carnage symbiote off of Eddie. As Dylan severs his connection to the Symbiote Hive-Mind, the Venom symbiote returns to its amorphous state and rebonds to Eddie, asking if he's OK and apologizing for not being able to do anything. Brushing off its warning that Dylan could be dangerous, Eddie asks the Venom symbiote if it can regrow his left hand, but it says that the damage is too severe and that the best it can do is form a prosthesis. Transforming the symbiote into a Hawaiian shirt and shorts, Eddie wonders how he's going to get home - Dylan asking Sleeper the same question halfway across the world. In the present day, Eddie tells the Avengers that Dylan got Liz Allan to use her connections to contact them. Stating that while he and Dylan are still struggling to figure things out, his son taught him that it's important to come clean and face up to things you've done wrong; saying that he's going to tell them about Knull before it's too late. Iron Man asks who that is and is surprised when Thor reacts in horror and encourages his allies to listen carefully to what Eddie has to say. Captain Marvel flirts with Eddie, saying she's happy to see he's grown his beard back; and is chastised by Hulk. Captain America tells Eddie to continue, and Eddie states that it gets worse: his symbiote can sense a plethora of catastrophes - interconnected like a web - are about to rain down on them, some threats from within and some from without, some old and some new. Among these visions are a mysterious man donning a suit of War Machine Armor painted to look like Venom, a Celestial similar in appearance to Ziran the Tester being engulfed by symbiotes, the Maker bonding to the Venom symbiote of Earth-1610 and activating his interdimensional portal, Wraith battling a symbiote-dragon, and a mysterious warrior clad in black-and-red powered armor reminiscent of Knull's. Eddie tells the Avengers that he has no idea why they decided to trust him, but that come what may he's willing to fight alongside them and face the end of the world together. On the Isla de Huesos, the Carnage symbiote - which survived Dylan's attempt to destroy it - dives into the ocean and bonds to a shark, swimming out to sea.