Toxin is a
fiction
Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a tradi ...
al character appearing in
American comic book
An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, on average 32 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of ''Action Comics'' ...
s published by
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Comics'' in ...
. He has been depicted as a
superhero
A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...
and at times a
supervillain
A supervillain or supercriminal is a variant of the villainous stock character that is commonly found in American comic books, usually possessing superhuman abilities. A supervillain is the antithesis of a superhero.
Supervillains are of ...
. The character is the offspring of
Carnage, the third major
symbiote in the
Marvel Universe
The Marvel Universe is a fictional shared universe where the stories in most American comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Comics take place. Super-teams such as the Avengers, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, the Guardians o ...
, the ninth known to have appeared in the comics outside of the
Planet of the Symbiotes
"Planet of the Symbiotes" is a five-issue comic book story arc written by David Michelinie and published by Marvel Comics in 1995. The arc spanned the five "Super Special #1" editions of the Spider-Man titles available at the time: ''The Amazing ...
storyline, and the first symbiote that
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in the Si ...
considers an ally, despite several temporary alliances with
Venom
Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a st ...
in the past. The Toxin symbiote's various hosts are former
NYPD
The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...
police officer Patrick Mulligan,
Eddie Brock
Edward Charles Allan "Eddie" Brock is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by David Michelinie and Todd McFarlane, making a cameo appearance in ''Web of Spider-Man'' #18 (Se ...
, and teenager Bren Waters.
Stephen Graham
Stephen Joseph Graham (born 3 August 1973) is a British actor. He is best known for playing Andrew "Combo" Gascoigne in the film ''This Is England'' (2006) and its television sequels ''This Is England '86'' (2010), '' This Is England '88'' ( ...
portrayed Detective Mulligan in the
Sony's Spider-Man Universe
Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Columbia Pictures in association with Marvel Entertainment. Distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing, the f ...
film ''
Venom: Let There Be Carnage''.
Fictional character biography
Carnage produced an offspring: a third
symbiote. Carnage felt only dislike and hatred towards this new spawn, even before giving "birth" to it, both fearing that it could become much stronger, and being generally disgusted at the thought of giving birth. At the same time,
Venom
Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...
became aware that Carnage was "pregnant" and sought out Carnage to talk about this new symbiote. Carnage had resolved to kill this spawn as soon as it was born. Venom was doing the best to protect the new symbiote, with the intention of raising it to become a new partner. Venom was also concerned that, as the 1,000th symbiote of their line, the new symbiote could potentially become psychotic and violent because of genetic breakdown.
Patrick Mulligan
Patrick Mulligan was one of
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
's finest cops, yet troubled with various personal problems. His stressful job, along with the strain of his new family (his wife Gina was pregnant with their first son Edward) were taking their toll. One night while on duty, he came across the site where Carnage was giving birth to the new symbiote. Carnage, needing a host to hide the symbiote to keep it from Venom, bonded it to Mulligan. Carnage resolved to kill both Mulligan and the symbiote since they were not yet strong enough to manifest a super-powered costume like the Venom and Carnage symbiotes. Venom still hoped to use this new symbiote as a partner, and fought Carnage to a standstill to protect Mulligan and the symbiote, whom he christened Toxin, after himself.
At first, Mulligan did not realize what had happened to him. Before long, the Toxin symbiote had matured enough to gain both conscious thought and the strength to form a symbiote costume on Mulligan's body. After Carnage attacked Gina and Edward at their home, Mulligan realized the Toxin symbiote was a danger to both himself and his family. During a subsequent confrontation between Venom, Carnage, and Toxin, Venom realized Mulligan was dedicated to a life of virtue, or as close as he could come under the symbiote's influence. When it became clear that Toxin was easily as strong as either of his predecessors, and was still growing, Venom and Carnage formed a temporary pact to destroy Toxin.
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book ''Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in the Si ...
stumbled into the final confrontation among the symbiote trio, and helped Toxin. After they fended off Venom and Carnage, Toxin had a conversation with Spider-Man, filling the latter in on what had happened. Spider-Man encouraged him, and Toxin resigned himself to a life of battling his base symbiote urges while trying to harness his power for good. He left his wife and child, and the police force, to try to come to terms with his new life.
In 2005, after Spider-Man joined the
New Avengers, Marvel introduced a six-issue ''Toxin''
limited series Limited series may refer to:
*Limited series, individual storylines within an anthology series
*Limited series, a particular run of collectables, usually individually numbered
*Limited series (comics), a comics series with a predetermined number of ...
, which followed Toxin's battles with various supervillains escaped from the
Raft
A raft is any flat structure for support or transportation over water. It is usually of basic design, characterized by the absence of a hull. Rafts are usually kept afloat by using any combination of buoyant materials such as wood, sealed barrel ...
as a result of events at the beginning of ''The New Avengers'' series. The series also portrayed Mulligan's constant battle to keep the Toxin symbiote under control; as the host and symbiote minds had conversations and arguments with each other. Throughout the miniseries, he battled
King Cobra, the
Wrecker,
Piledriver, and
Razor Fist
Razor Fist is the name of three fictional supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The original Razor Fist was killed off in the comic books many years ago. The next two characters to take the title were brothe ...
. At one point, trying to live with the Toxin symbiote became too much for Mulligan, who attempted suicide by throwing himself in front of a train. The Toxin symbiote intervened at the last moment, saving Mulligan and claiming that Mulligan did not really want to die. When Mulligan pressed the issue, it became clear that, unlike the Venom and Carnage symbiotes, Toxin is not sure it could survive on its own and find a new host. In the limited series, Razor Fist murdered Mulligan's father, but Toxin begins to show signs of a heroic behavior; he tracked Razor Fist down, but rather than slaughtering (as both the Toxin symbiote and Razor Fist himself urge), Toxin controls himself and turns Razor Fist over to the police. Mulligan reconciled with Gina by 'introducing' his estranged wife to the Toxin symbiote as a way of explaining why he walked out on his family. Mulligan and the Toxin symbiote co-operate peacefully with an agreement: Mulligan will be in complete control, if he allows Toxin two hours of "playtime" each night. But in those two hours, Toxin is not allowed to commit any acts of grand theft, arson, or homicide.
Mulligan is killed by
Blackheart
Blackheart is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is usually depicted as an adversary to the superhero Ghost Rider. Created by writer Ann Nocenti and artist John Romita Jr., Blackhear ...
, resulting in the Toxin symbiote appearing in an underground lab in Las Vegas.
[''Venom'' vol. 2 #11 (December 2011)]
Eddie Brock
Afterwards, the
Crime Master
The Crime Master is a fictional character, a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is depicted as an example of the professional-criminal type, and an enemy of Spider-Man. Created and designed by a ...
's underling
Jack O'Lantern
A jack-o'-lantern (or jack o'lantern) is a carved lantern, most commonly made from a pumpkin or a root vegetable such as a rutabaga or turnip. Jack-o'-lanterns are associated with the Halloween holiday. Its name comes from the reported phen ...
blackmails
Venom
Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...
into retrieving the Toxin symbiote. A fight with security personnel results in Jack O'Lantern taking the Toxin symbiote and fleeing.
Blackheart is revealed to have bound pieces of the Toxin symbiote to clones of
X-23
Laura Kinney (born X-23; codename Wolverine) is a fictional superhero appearing in media published by Marvel Entertainment, most commonly in association with the X-Men. The character was created by writer Craig Kyle for the '' X-Men: Evolution' ...
, and also retained a small sample of the Toxin symbiote in a test tube because of needing an "alien's flesh" as an ingredient in a ritual to bring hell to Earth.
Along with Venom,
Anti-Venom
Anti-Venom is a fictional antihero appearing in Comic books published by Marvel Comics. It first appeared in '' The Amazing Spider-Man'' #569 (August 2008), and was created by Dan Slott and John Romita Jr. The creature belongs to a race of amorp ...
,
Hybrid
Hybrid may refer to:
Science
* Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding
** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species
** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two dif ...
and his sister
Scorn, Toxin is mentioned as being the next option to stop
Carnage's rampage in the Midwest after the
Avengers
Avenger, Avengers, The Avenger, or The Avengers may refer to:
Arts and entertainment In the Marvel Comics universe
* Avengers (comics), a team of superheroes
**Avengers (Marvel Cinematic Universe), a central team of protagonist superheroes of ...
are defeated. However, the US military is unable to find Toxin, leaving it up to the hybrid symbiotes and Scorn to stop Carnage.
After killing Hybrid and
Scream
Scream may refer to:
*Screaming, a loud vocalization
Amusement rides
* Scream (Heide Park), a gyro drop tower in Soltau, Germany
* Scream! (ride), a tower ride at Six Flags Fiesta Texas and Six Flags New England
* Scream! (roller coaster), at ...
,
Eddie Brock
Edward Charles Allan "Eddie" Brock is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by David Michelinie and Todd McFarlane, making a cameo appearance in ''Web of Spider-Man'' #18 (Se ...
follows Venom into Crime Master's headquarters as part of his plan to destroy all symbiotes. During the ensuing fight between Venom and Crime Master's underlings, Crime Master locks Brock up and forcibly bonds him to the Toxin symbiote, making him the new Toxin. Brock joins the
Savage Six
The Savage Six is the name of two different supervillain groups appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.
Publication history
The Earth-982 version of the Savage Six first appeared in '' Spider-Girl'' #25 and was created by Tom ...
to fight Venom, but is severely burned in the fight.
Eddie and the Toxin symbiote eventually track down Venom and discover a group of creatures called the "symbiote slayers" that are determined to destroy the symbiotes. Venom and Toxin have to team up to fight the "slayers". After this, Toxin agrees to leave Venom alone, and Brock as Toxin reclaims his title as the "
lethal protector
''Venom: Lethal Protector'' is a six-issue comic book limited series featuring the Eddie Brock Venom, published by Marvel Comics from February 1993 to July 1993. It was written by David Michelinie and illustrated mostly by Mark Bagley, although R ...
".
Brock and the Toxin symbiote appear once more in the
All-New, All-Different Marvel
All-New, All-Different Marvel (ANADM) is a 2015–2019 branding for Marvel Comics' entire main line of comics. Taking place after the crossover storyline "Secret Wars", it details the new Marvel Universe, with nearly 60–65 titles relaunched w ...
miniseries ''Carnage'', where Brock serves in a task force led by
John Jameson, in hopes to entrap Carnage who was hidden in a mine-shaft. Toxin is considered "Plan B" to the force, and Brock's transformation into Toxin is manually controlled through a button. The Toxin symbiote's look has changed into resembling Agent Venom's, in which he sports red body armor. But at the end, Brock loses the suit.
Carnage has taken hold of the book known as the Darkhold, to resurrect Chthon, Eddie Brock ultimately sacrifices the Toxin symbiote in the final issue against Chthon.
Bren Waters
Toxin returns during the ''
King in Black
''King in Black'' is a comic book event written by Donny Cates with art by Ryan Stegman, and was published from 2020 to 2021 by Marvel Comics. It is a continuation to 2019's ''Absolute Carnage'', also containing fallout from 2020's ''Empyre''. In ...
'' tie-in miniseries ''Planet of the Symbiotes''. Toxin has now bonded with a new host, teenager Bren Waters, the son of the new
Guardsman
Guardsman is a rank used instead of private in some military units that serve as the official bodyguard of a sovereign or head of state. It is also used as a generic term for any member of a guards unit of any rank.
Canada
In the Canadian Force ...
(Ozkar Waters); the two have a brief scuffle.
Powers and abilities
The Toxin symbiote possessed the special abilities of his two symbiote predecessors: he can stick to walls (which originally came from when Spider-Man was a host of the Venom symbiote), can change his identity to that of a completely different person, and also has unlimited webbing. With Patrick Mulligan as the host, Toxin is red from the abdomen up and black from the abdomen down.
With Eddie Brock as the host, Toxin resembles a combination of Venom and Carnage but with the entire body red—light on the chest, and dark on the arms and lower body. Toxin can also blend in with his surroundings and become undetectable, an ability he gained from his grandfather Venom, and he can form solid weapons from his limbs, an ability first seen in his father Carnage. Toxin also seems to have some sort of quick-healing ability like his predecessors, as his wounds from his first battle with Razor Fist healed remarkably quickly. Unlike the others, Toxin can track anyone—not just other symbiotes or symbiote host—within the entire city of New York and possibly farther, as long as he has something to begin from.
Unlike many of the other symbiotes, Toxin did not try to take over the mind of his human host. Instead, the Toxin symbiote actually thinks and voices its opinions to the human host (as evidenced in Toxin's "Cut to the Chase" storyline). The Toxin symbiote usually speaks when the host is in his "human form", and acts very immature and childlike because of its nascent existence, once refusing to aid Pat in battle until he apologized for an earlier argument. In addition, he seems to have a stronger resistance to sonics and intense heat compared to Carnage, though this does not mean that Toxin is more resistant to violent urges: it can get carried away with violence and fighting crime, even if it is a petty crime. When he is not angry or fighting, Toxin is slim and smooth-lined, although still well muscled, closely resembling Carnage or Spider-Man's symbiote costume. When he becomes upset or aggressive, he grows into his much bigger and stronger form like Venom, with vicious fangs and long curving claws. The Toxin symbiote recently developed a venomous bite after bonding to Eddie.
In other media
Film
A variation of Patrick Mulligan appears in the live-action
Sony's Spider-Man Universe
Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Columbia Pictures in association with Marvel Entertainment. Distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing, the f ...
film ''
Venom: Let There Be Carnage'', portrayed by
Stephen Graham
Stephen Joseph Graham (born 3 August 1973) is a British actor. He is best known for playing Andrew "Combo" Gascoigne in the film ''This Is England'' (2006) and its television sequels ''This Is England '86'' (2010), '' This Is England '88'' ( ...
. This version is a detective for the
San Francisco Police Department who wears a hearing aid due to a past encounter with
Frances Barrison while working as an officer. In the present, he attempts to use
Eddie Brock
Edward Charles Allan "Eddie" Brock is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by David Michelinie and Todd McFarlane, making a cameo appearance in ''Web of Spider-Man'' #18 (Se ...
to investigate
Cletus Kasady
Cletus Cortland Kasady is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer David Michelinie and artist Erik Larsen, the character first appeared in ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' #344 (March 1991) as the ...
, but gets caught in a battle between the
Venom
Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...
and
Carnage symbiotes and Barrison. During the fight, Mulligan is apparently killed by Barrison, but absorbs a piece of one of the symbiotes, which later revives him and causes his eyes to glow blue.
Video games
* The Patrick Mulligan incarnation of Toxin appears in ''Marvel: War of Heroes''.
* The Eddie Brock incarnation of Toxin appears as an alternate costume for Eddie Brock / Venom in ''
Marvel Heroes''.
* A variation of the Toxin symbiote dubbed Carnom appears as a playable character and boss in ''
Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2
''Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2'' is a Lego-themed action-adventure video game developed by Traveller's Tales and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and Xbox One on 14 November 2 ...
''. This version is the result of the
Green Goblin 2099 using a shard of the Nexus of All Realities to fuse the
Venom
Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a st ...
and Carnage symbiotes. Carnom is initially controlled by the Goblin, but he is defeated and freed by the heroes and starts chasing the Goblin in retaliation for his abuse.
* The Patrick Mulligan and Eddie Brock incarnations of Toxin appear as playable characters in ''
Spider-Man Unlimited
''Spider-Man Unlimited'' is an American animated series by Saban Entertainment which features the Marvel comic book superhero Spider-Man, intended as a loose sequel series to the previous '' Spider-Man: The Animated Series'', which ran from 199 ...
''.
* The Bren Waters incarnation of Toxin appears as a playable character in ''
Marvel: Future Fight''.
Merchandise
* Two
action figure
An action figure is a poseable character (arts), character model figure made most commonly of plastic, and often based upon characters from a film, comic book, military, video game or television program; fictional or historical. These figures are ...
s of Toxin have been produced. The first, in the final series of the
Spider-Man Classics line, represents the Patrick Mulligan incarnation of the character. The second, released as part of the 2014 "Spider-Man Legends" series, depicts the Eddie Brock incarnation.
* The Patrick Mulligan incarnation of Toxin appears as a Marvel
Heroclix
HeroClix is a collectible miniatures game that uses the Clix system that centers on the world of superhero comic books, especially the DC Comics and Marvel universes like Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk, the X-Men, ...
figure as a part of the "Web of Spider-Man" line.
* Both the head and an arm of the Toxin symbiote appear alongside the
Ultron
Ultron () is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Roy Thomas and artist John Buscema, and initially made his debut as an unnamed character in '' The Avengers'' #54 (July ...
figure in
Hasbro
Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational conglomerate holding company incorporated and headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Hasbro owns the trademarks and products of ...
's "Marvel Mashers" line of figures.
* A 6-inch deluxe Marvel Fan Channel exclusive
Marvel Legends
Marvel Legends is an action figure line based on the characters of Marvel Comics, initially produced by Toy Biz, then by Hasbro. This line is in the scale, with spin-off lines in the , , and scale.
The line initially began as a spin-off of ...
figure of the Patrick Mulligan incarnation of Toxin was released.
* Several accessories of Toxin have been produced, including a T-shirt.
* Blankets and hats have also been produced, displaying the Patrick Mulligan incarnation of Toxin, but were mistakenly labelled as Carnage.
Collected editions
References
External links
*
Toxin's profileat Spiderfan.org
*
Toxin's comicsat TheVenomSite.com
{{Portal bar, Speculative fiction, Comics
Characters created by Peter Milligan
Comics characters introduced in 2004
Fictional amorphous creatures
Fictional characters from New York City
Fictional parasites and parasitoids
Marvel Comics aliens
Marvel Comics characters who are shapeshifters
Marvel Comics characters who can move at superhuman speeds
Marvel Comics characters with accelerated healing
Marvel Comics characters with superhuman strength
Marvel Comics extraterrestrial superheroes
Marvel Comics male superheroes
Marvel Comics male supervillains
Marvel Comics police officers
Merged fictional characters
Vigilante characters in comics
Articles about multiple fictional characters