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My guess is that it bonded to Spider-Man long enough to permanently copy his powers, but hasn’t bonded to anyone else with different powers to enough of a degree that it would happen again.
A given symbiote has to be with a host for a considerable length of time to copy their powers and abilities. Just a casual interaction (4-issue story arc, for example) isn’t enough. Peter wore the Symbiote costume for about 6 months of publication time, call it 6 months Marvel in-universe time. He started wearing a cloth version of the black suit after that. Also, the Symbiote would cover him while he slept sometimes, because that’s not creepy at all.
the symbiote didn’t actually copy Peter’s powers, it only mimicked them using it’s physiology. For instance, it can’t produce webs, but it’s naturally gooey and stringy, so it can stretch itself thin enough to look and act like webs. It can’t stick to surfaces the way Peter can, but it can make hard claws, allowing it to climb walls. Most symbiotes actually don’t have a spider sense at all, though they can sense other symbiotes.
The more interesting question is why some characters only use the symbiote to mimic Spiderman, and that varies from character to character- typically, it’s some variation on wanting to be Spiderman to some degree. Those who don’t care, like for instance Cletus Kasady, display a pretty wildly different power set from Spiderman.
When Peter first found the Symbiote, the Symbiote had not yet “truly been born”, as per Venom (2016) issue 155. So, when he bonded with the Symbiote, his fully developed genetic code and the Symbiote’s undeveloped genetic code merged, thus imprinting his powers onto the Symbiote. By the time Eddie Brock bonded with the Symbiote and became Venom, the Symbiote was fully matured, thanks to Peter’s influence, and, thus, did not copy the powers of other superpowered being (i.e., Ben Reilly, Carol Danvers, Thaddeus Ross, Malekith the Accursed, the Guardians of the Galaxy, Mercurio the 4-D Man) after being bonded to their genetic codes.
It can if it wants. It can absorb strength by sapping it from the host and leaving them a withered husk, that was their whole deal before Venom wiped out that particular colony with a psychic wail. As for powers, it decides what to copy and when. Two What if stories showed how the symbiote can do this, in what if the alien costume possessed Spider-man, it drained Peter’s strength which killed him, then it absorbed Hulk’s and was about to absorb Thor’s before Black Cat killed it with a sonic gun. In what if Venom possessed the Punisher, Frank hated that it mimicked webbing when he wanted bullets, so it mimicked bullets for him.
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Reminders for Commenters:
All responses must be A) sincere, B) polite, and C) strictly watsonian in nature. If “watsonian” or “doylist” is new to you, please review the full rules here.
No edition wars or gripings about creators/owners of works. Doylist griping about Star Wars in particular is subject to permanent ban on first offense.
We are not here to discuss or complain about the real world.
Questions about who would prevail in a conflict/competition (not just combat) fit better on r/whowouldwin. Questions about very open-ended hypotheticals fit better on r/whatiffiction.
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My guess is that it bonded to Spider-Man long enough to permanently copy his powers, but hasn’t bonded to anyone else with different powers to enough of a degree that it would happen again.
A given symbiote has to be with a host for a considerable length of time to copy their powers and abilities. Just a casual interaction (4-issue story arc, for example) isn’t enough. Peter wore the Symbiote costume for about 6 months of publication time, call it 6 months Marvel in-universe time. He started wearing a cloth version of the black suit after that. Also, the Symbiote would cover him while he slept sometimes, because that’s not creepy at all.
Yeah it doesn’t work like that.
The Venom symbiote hasn’t really bonded with any other people with powers that I can think of, at least not long enough for it to gain extra powers.
the symbiote didn’t actually copy Peter’s powers, it only mimicked them using it’s physiology. For instance, it can’t produce webs, but it’s naturally gooey and stringy, so it can stretch itself thin enough to look and act like webs. It can’t stick to surfaces the way Peter can, but it can make hard claws, allowing it to climb walls. Most symbiotes actually don’t have a spider sense at all, though they can sense other symbiotes.
The more interesting question is why some characters only use the symbiote to mimic Spiderman, and that varies from character to character- typically, it’s some variation on wanting to be Spiderman to some degree. Those who don’t care, like for instance Cletus Kasady, display a pretty wildly different power set from Spiderman.
When Peter first found the Symbiote, the Symbiote had not yet “truly been born”, as per Venom (2016) issue 155. So, when he bonded with the Symbiote, his fully developed genetic code and the Symbiote’s undeveloped genetic code merged, thus imprinting his powers onto the Symbiote. By the time Eddie Brock bonded with the Symbiote and became Venom, the Symbiote was fully matured, thanks to Peter’s influence, and, thus, did not copy the powers of other superpowered being (i.e., Ben Reilly, Carol Danvers, Thaddeus Ross, Malekith the Accursed, the Guardians of the Galaxy, Mercurio the 4-D Man) after being bonded to their genetic codes.
Short answer, the symbiote is a toxic ex holding on to spidermans stuff.
It can if it wants. It can absorb strength by sapping it from the host and leaving them a withered husk, that was their whole deal before Venom wiped out that particular colony with a psychic wail. As for powers, it decides what to copy and when. Two What if stories showed how the symbiote can do this, in what if the alien costume possessed Spider-man, it drained Peter’s strength which killed him, then it absorbed Hulk’s and was about to absorb Thor’s before Black Cat killed it with a sonic gun. In what if Venom possessed the Punisher, Frank hated that it mimicked webbing when he wanted bullets, so it mimicked bullets for him.