Venom: Lethal Protector (Vol. 2) is a 2022 limited series from Marvel Comics.
Set in the shared Marvel Universe, it's an interquel starring Eddie Brock, the titular antihero Venom. Venom: Lethal Protector was the title of Venom's first solo series, back in 1993 — the character's portrayal (and the mythology surrounding his powers) have changed a lot since his debut — and this series takes him back to those earlier days, serving as a prequel to the original series.
In 2023, it was followed by Venom Lethal Protector II, a sequel where Venom teams up with Silver Sable and throws down with none other than Doctor Doom.
Venom: Lethal Protector (2022) contains examples of the following tropes:
- Bad Boss:
- Carlton Drake threatens to turn Dr. Harwood into a test subject if her experiment proves anything less than a resounding success, and repeatedly reminds her that her life is on the line.
- In the final issue, Justin Hammer self-destructs his base and escapes, leaving his valet behind to die.
- Bad People Abuse Animals: Styx is shown trying to order a basketful of kittens to kill.
- Black Comedy:
- After Eddie's former colleague Dallas recognizes him and calls him a monster, Eddie turns into Venom and snarls that Dallas is a traitor, considering defenestrating him... but leaves. When the symbiote silently complains about not killing him, Eddie replies that killing Dallas would've made him a traitor too... and that they can always hunt him down and eat him later.
- After Venom kills Dr. Harwood, three hardened security guards respond to her screams. The first promptly throws up, the second quits the next morning, and the third is rendered mute for the rest of his life.
- Call-Forward: When Venom asks Justin Hammer why he put a bounty on him, Hammer explains that he did it for General Orwell Taylor, who Eddie would later meet in-person in Issue #1 of the original Lethal Protector.
- Carnival of Killers: Venom has a bounty placed on him, leading to fights with Blood Spider, Death-Shield, Jagged Bow, Hydro-Man, Chance, and Styx and Stone.
- Comically Missing the Point: Mulling over the events of the series, Venom almost comes to the conclusion that he needs to work on being a better person, and that love and compassion for others are important attributes. However, he instead concludes that love and compassion are weaknesses he must rid himself of if he is to attain his full potential as a super-hero... and kill Spider-Man, of course.
- Continuity Nod:
- Carlton Drake wants to recruit Venom to serve as the chief of security for the underground bunker he's building, a Call-Forward to him capturing Eddie and forcing his symbiote to spawn.
- Chance — an adrenaline junkie mercenary who did a one-time job for the Life Foundation — is one the villains drawn to attack Venom by the bounty put on him.
- While lamenting the loss of his pre-Venom life, Eddie asks the symbiote about its homeworld and whether it had any loved ones before its arrival on Earth — a nod to the revelations in Brian Michael Bendis' Guardians of the Galaxy and Donny Cates' Venom runs.
- Hammer's Hammer is made up entirely of villains who Justin Hammer had previously hired and given upgraded gear to in an Iron Man story-arc.
- Continuity Snarl:
- Venom kills Jagged Bow, Death Shield, and Blood-Spider over the course of the series, but the three show up none the worse for wear in comics set later on in the timeline.
- Melter and Porcupine appear as members of Hammer's Hammers, even though both characters were killed off prior to Venom's debut.
- Corrupted Character Copy: Dr. Dana Harwood is a reference to Dr. Dora Skirth from the 2018 Venom movie, being a dark-haired glasses-wearing scientist working for Carlton Drake and threatened with death — or worse — if she fails him. However, while Dr. Skirth was a sympathetic character, Dr. Harwood is arrogant and condescending.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Venom's first battle with Humbug ends in a humiliating defeat... for Venom. Turns out Humbug's amped-up recordings of insect cries are good for something after all.
- Eyes Do Not Belong There: There are several scenes where Venom manifests eyes on the back of his head, like when he fights the SWAT Team at the beginning of Issue #4.
- Gone Horribly Wrong: Dr. Harwood develops a serum that will render the symbiote immune to sonic attacks, and it works... but causes the symbiote to lose control of its shapeshifting powers. Unimpressed, Venom demands Dr. Harwood undo the cure... and then brutally murders her.
- Greater-Scope Villain: General Orwell Taylor never appears in the series, but most of what occurs in it was caused by him paying Justin Hammer to deal with Venom.
- Hero of Another Story: Spider-Man briefly appears responding to a fire, but is inconsequential to the story.
- Hero with an F in Good: Eddie initially ignores a homeless man's pleas but then has a change of heart and decides to help him out after all, stealing a bunch of jewelry from a store and giving it to the man. As Eddie walks off contentedly, thinking he's done a good deed, the police show up to arrest the homeless man with the jewels and drag him off.
- Hypocritical Humor: Venom is in full Obliviously Evil mode here, and is completely blind to the fact that he's just as bad as the other villains who are coming after him.
- Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: Nebbish entomologist Professor Buchanan Mitty once again dons the mantle of Humbug when Empire State University cuts his funding and relegates his office to the basement... only to get laughed at by Blood-Spider and Death Shield for thinking being a super-villain is a well-paying gig with medical and dental coverage. Despite his initial success against Venom, Buck is still unable to truly win the respect of the other villains — Blood-Spider and Death Shield letting him join their team but planning to kill him once Venom's taken care of.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: When Eddie learns that Anne has a new fiancé who's everything he's not, he flies into a jealous rage and declares his intent to hunt Allen Hoffman down, tear him apart, and eat his brains... and then stops, lamenting that doing so would just make Anne sad. However, Eddie's jealousy compels him to tail Hoffman, learning that he's corrupt and a drug-dealer on the side. Rather than kill him, Eddie threatens him into cutting off all contact with Anne and leaving New York immediately. Anne figures out what Eddie did, however, and berates him for it.
- Killed Offscreen: Dr. Harwood's death after Venom gets fed up with her insulting him isn't shown, but the narration says her corpse was so horribly mangled that the three security guards who respond to her screams — noted to be hardened individuals — are left scarred for life.
- Lethal Joke Character: Joke villain Humbug being able to replicate and amplify insect noises turns him into a Man of Kryptonite for the sound-weakened Venom.
- "Not So Different" Remark: After hearing why Humbug was after him, Eddie comments that he and Humbug are not so different and leaves him to be arrested by the police.
- Robot Me: To test the effects of her serum, Dr. Harwood has Venom fight a giant android copy of Klaw, complaining about how she wanted to hire the real Klaw.
- Rogues' Gallery Transplant: The one who put the bounty out on Venom is revealed to be none other than Iron Man bad-guy Justin Hammer.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Taskmaster takes off after Venom beats every member of Hammer's Hammers.
- Undying Loyalty: Justin Hammer tells his assistant to remain behind in their Collapsing Lair. When Venom asks why he is actually doing it, the assistant explains, "A gentleman prides himself on loyalty, sir. And betraying one's employer simply isn't done."
- Weaksauce Weakness: Venom beats Hydro-Man by throwing a truck full of laundry supplies at him, causing Hydro-Man to begin bubbling uncontrollably as Venom pops the bubbles with a nailgun.Hydro-Man: This is embarrassing...
- Who's Laughing Now?: Humbug is mocked by the other super-villains for his goofy costume and insect-themed gimmick, but when his sonic attacks let him curb-stomp Venom the other villains are left speechless.
