Warning: Spoilers for Venom: Let There Be Carnage In Venom: Let There Be Carnage , Venom has a particular desire for chocolate and brains, and there’s a reason behind it. At the end of 2018’s Venom , Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock makes a deal with Venom, the symbiote living […]
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In Venom (2018), the symbiote tells Eddie that he wants to eat chocolate before biting (and likely eating) the head off of the mugger. This is a nod to the comics: the symbiote requires a sufficient amount of phenethylamine to sustain itself, which is found in either chocolate or the human brain. from MovieDetails
Venom: Let There Be Carnage is all about relationships: Eddie and Venom, Venom and Carnage, brains and … chocolate?
It’s a Venom movie through and through — and that means weird, outlandish stakes are introduced to the titular couple’s struggles. Including dinner dates!
[Ed. note: This piece contains spoilers for Venom: Let There Be Carnage.]
Casual and veteran Venom fans alike will no doubt find a lot of silly heart in Venom 2’s story which sees the eponymous Symbiote and its host, disgraced reporter (and lobster aficionado) Eddie Brock, fighting and eventually breaking up over (among other things) dietary restrictions. The Symbiote is sick of eating chocolate instead of brains. Eddie doesn’t see the problem. It’s a tale as old as time.
But does any of this actually take place in the comics? Does the sinister spider ever really munch down on some domes? Is he really a chocoholic? Yes, yes, and it’s complicated! We must look no further than a few laughably obscure solo Venom comics of the 1990s to find out more.
The first, and arguably most famous, instance of Venom’s drastic dietetic desires comes from writer David Michelinie and artist Erik Larsen’s Spider-Man #333, which features Spider-Man fighting off a surprise Venom attack. Venom, still solidly on the villain side of superhero alignments, lunges at Peter Parker while proudly proclaiming “We want to eat your brain!” A line memorable enough to be quoted on action figure packaging, cementing the Symbiote’s signature hungers.
Spider-Man #333 (1990)
Image: David Michelinie, Erik Larsen/Marvel Comics
But it wouldn’t be until 1996’s more absurd but aptly titled spinoff, Venom: The Hunger, that we found out the how and why behind the whole brain thing. In that series, the Venom symbiote, spurred by its insatiable desire to eat brains and scorned by Eddie’s desire to uh…not do that, leaves Brock naked and alone in a desolate part of New York City to go get what it needs.
Hot on the heels of a break-up, and taking the form of a Xenomorph-esque snake, the symbiote set out on its own to feast while Brock found himself confined to a hospital of horrors under the direction of cannibalistic monster Dr. Paine.
Paine, who enjoys a good brain from time to time as well, took it upon himself to explore Eddie’s ailments and discovered that Brock was scarce in a real-life brain chemical called phenylethylamine, more commonly known as PEA. Whether it was because the symbiote had been eating at Brock’s PEA and had run out, or because Eddie never produced enough to begin with, Venom needed more. The most likely source being, of course, other brains.
Venom: The Hunger #3 (1996)
Image: Len Kaminski, Ted Halsted/Marvel Comics
But second most common source of phenylethylamine? Chocolate, naturally. Determined to save their relationship or die trying, Eddie Brock escaped Paine’s clutches and chased after the symbiote with flamethrower, sonic weapons, and candy in tow. The two eventually reconciled in a loving, slimy embrace, and Eddie’s narration notes that the brain makes an abundance of PEA, a governor of emotions, when you’re in love. Aww.
The implication the story ends on is that Eddie is ready to live with and love Venom again, sharing the PEA the Symbiote desperately needs while keeping some chocolates (cheekily tucked away in a Valentine’s Day heart shaped box) on hand for a sweet surprise from time to time — mirroring the movie’s eventual reconciliation.
Neither the comics or Let There Be Carnage’s plot make reference to Aphanizomenon flos-aquae (AFA), a blue green algae that produces more PEA than both chocolate and human brains, but maybe they’ll get to that in the sequel.
Does Venom eat chocolate? As the trailer for Venom 2: Let There Be Carnage has just been released, many fans are wondering if some hints from the first film and the comics mean that the character eats chocolate. It’s become a bit of an Easter egg, you could say!
So, what’s behind Venom’s chocolate craving, and will the new movie feature or expand on this? Let’s investigate.
Why does Venom eat chocolate?
In the first Venom movie, the symbiote tells Eddie Brock he wants to eat chocolate before biting – and eating – the head off of a robber. Fans on Reddit have explained that this is a nod to the comics.
They say it’s because the symbiote needs a good amount of phenethylamine to sustain itself. This chemical is found either in chocolate, or the human brain. Fair enough.
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In the comics, Eddie learned that this craving for phenethylamine could be satisfied by having the symbiote eat copious amounts of chocolate. So, in short, Venom eats chocolate so that he doesn’t have to eat human brains.
What is phenethylamine?
So, we know that Venom needs to get his phenethylamine fix to keep going. But what exactly is this chemical? Is it even real?
Well, yes, phenethylamine does exist. And you’ll never believe it – it really is found in both the human brain and in chocolate.
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venom getting angry bc he didn't get his chocolates 😭🥺
— v (@karazorlls) May 10, 2021
It’s a chemical that’s used for athletic performance, depression, weight loss, and to improve mood and attention.
Will Venom 2: Let There Be Carnage feature chocolate?
One question on the lips of many Venom fans at the minute is whether the newest film will touch on Venom’s obsession with chocolate.
And it seems like it will, as fans have pointed out a specific part of the newly released trailer that suggests so.
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When shop owner Mrs Chen tells Eddie their chocolate delivery hasn’t arrived yet, the symbiote replies: “I am happy to eat Mrs Chen!”
This is a clear nod to the symbiote’s obsession with all things phenethylamine, and suggests we’ll be seeing a lot more of the craving in Let There Be Carnage.
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