Sony"s Venom Replacement Explained: Who Is Agony From Marvel Comics?

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Warning: this article contains spoilers for Venom: The Last Dance
Sony"s Spider-Man Universe may have just replaced Venom with Agony from Marvel Comics following Venom: The Last Dance. Venom: The Last Dance is now in theaters, drawing a close to Venom"s live-action trilogy with an explosive final outing. The movie treads a fine line between high-octane action sequences and heartfelt moments between Venom and Eddie Brock while introducing a slew of original and adapted characters from Marvel Comics. The most significant of these is Knull, the clandestine arch-villain of Venom: The Last Dance who has been set up to impact more Spider-Man movies down the line.
While Knull"s scenes were few and far between, his Xenophage army posed a near-insurmountable challenge in their pursuit of the codex attached to Venom. After several failed attempts to quell the Xenophage threat, Venom upends Area 51 and enlists the help of the symbiotes trapped there, who begin bonding with the facility"s various staff members and teaming up to overcome the Xenophages. This culminates with Venom"s death and the death of all but one symbiote.
Juno Temple's Dr. Payne Bonds With A Symbiote That's Likely Agony Dr. Payne Releases A Familiar-Looking Symbiote To Bond With Close Juno Temple"s Dr. Payne is an original character loosely based on Marvel Comics" Dr. Paine, a sadistic doctor with a penchant for questionable experiments. While Temple"s Payne isn"t overtly villainous, she shows an affinity for symbiotes above humanity that can appear somewhat obsessive. During the tumultuous final sequence of Venom: The Last Dance, Dr. Payne grabs hold of a symbiote to rescue it from the chaos. Before clearing the facility entirely Dr. Payne willingly bonds with the symbiote inside to escape to safety before Chiwetel Ejiofor"s Rex Strickland blows the facility up.
Dr. Payne"s brother is credited as "Thaddeus," making it clear that the two characters were inspired by Dr. Thaddeus Paine from the comics.
Thankfully for Dr. Payne and Sadie, Dr. Payne"s new symbiote is capable of covering a significant distance thanks to some unique lightning-based powers. These powers are implied to have spawned from the sparks of electricity surrounding the symbiote"s vial and Payne"s experience of being struck by lightning. Based on the pink/violet color of Dr. Payne"s new symbiote, however, and its long head of symbiotic "hair," it"s safe to assume that this new symbiote is Agony from Marvel Comics.
Agony Marvel Comics History And Powers Explained Agony Is Typically Depicted As The Villainous Offspring Of Venom Close Agony was forcibly created out of the Venom symbiote by the Life Foundation, the organization that made its live-action debut in Venom. This purple-hued symbiote was one of five that included Riot, the arch-villainous symbiote in Venom. These symbiotes were created as enforcers of the Life Foundation, which was attempting to look out for the interests of its shareholders in the event of a global catastrophe, becoming the Guardian Symbiotes.

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Agony and her siblings would cycle through a cavalcade of hosts throughout their Marvel Comics history, even bonding together to become Hybrid on multiple occasions, with one instance being with Deadpool as their host. Agony and her siblings would also become thralls of Knull during his assault on Earth and Eddie Brock"s family. Agony was last seen comprising part of Wilson Fisk"s team of Thunderbolts in Marvel Comics, though was yet again defeated.
The two symbiotes that bonded in the final sequence of Venom: The Last Dance is likely a nod to the Guardian Symbiotes" Hybrid.
Agony"s powers are similar to other symbiotes. Agony was, however, afforded an extra dose of strength by the US government. Like her siblings, Agony boasts a minor unique power in the form of acid generation, allowing her to spit corrosive acid - similar to the acid eventually used to dissolve Venom and the Xenophages he wrangled in Area 51. The MCU"s Agony, meanwhile, did not immediately demonstrate these powers and instead seems to boast an entirely unique power set.
Venom 3's Agony Powers Explained Venom: The Last Dance Seems To Give Agony Electrical Powers

Image via Sony Pictures When Agony breaks free from her vial and bonds with Dr. Payne, it appears as though the two carry electrical-based powers. This was hinted at as Agony"s containment vial crackled with electricity and was foreshadowed by Payne"s lightning scars. Upon bonding, this electricity seemed to form a unique power for the new symbiotic relationship.
Agony"s electric-based powers and purple/pink coloration is also evocative of Marvel"s Scorn symbiote, though this symbiote is more closely tied to technology and does not boast a head of long symbiotic hair.
While the Agony symbiote did not deploy these powers offensively. Dr. Payne only freed the symbiote at the last minute as Venom, Eddie, and Rex Strickland hung back to deal with the Xenophages. This scene did, however, show that Agony can move at a lightning-quick pace, allowing the symbiote, Dr. Payne, and Sadie to clear Area 51 in enough time to avoid the catastrophic explosion caused by Strickland"s and Venom"s self-sacrifice.
Venom 3's Agony Comics Changes Explained Agony's Powers Differ Substantially From The Comics

Evidently, there are some stark differences between the Agony of Marvel Comics and the Agony of Sony"s Spider-Man Universe. The hair, color, and arrival alongside other Guardian Symbiotes like Lasher and Hybrid are convincing signs that this is the symbiote that Sony is supposed to be adapting with Dr. Payne, but that is where the similarities end. While Venom"s unwitting children aren"t always villainous in Marvel Comics, instead being driven to their villainy in most cases, the fact that Agony rescued Sadie as her final act flies in the face of her Marvel Comics characterization.

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1 Furthermore, the electrical powers and super-speed are new additions to the symbiote"s power set. The fact that Agony"s live-action debut came in such close proximity to a corrosive acid that became a significant MacGuffin is also difficult to ignore and feels like a nod from Sony to Agony"s more comic-accurate powers. Given Agony was only afforded a few minutes of screen time, only time will tell if Sony will make changes to the character to better fit her comic-book counterpart. Where that may be, however, remains to be seen.
Is Sony Planning An Agony Spinoff Movie? It Would Be In Keeping With Sony's Current Habits Close The fact that Agony was the only surviving symbiote to emerge from Area 51 is difficult to ignore. Tom Hardy has stated that this will be his final movie with Venom, and Venom"s death underscores this point. With that in mind, it certainly looks as though Venom: Let There Be Carnage specifically set up a spin-off movie for Agony, potentially as Venom"s chosen successor within Sony"s Spider-Man Universe.
Pieces of Venom"s symbiote remain in the MCU and possibly Sony"s Spider-Man Universe, suggesting that this not necessarily the end for the character.
Agony is a relatively minor character in Marvel Comics, mostly comprising one part of a more prominent group in the form of the Guardian Symbiotes, with her most prominent solo outing being as part of Carnage"s hive mind. Still, having a spin-off movie featuring Agony alone would be in keeping with Sony"s current MO when it comes to adapting peripheral characters from Spider-Man"s lore, like Madame Web. Furthermore, the threat of Knull still looms as the mid-credits scene confirms that the eldritch god still intends to wreak havoc on the now Venom-deprived universe.
Still, Knull"s inherent ties to symbiotes means that there should be a symbiote champion to lead the charge.
This could mean that other antiheroes from Sony"s Spider-Man Universe (and perhaps Spider-Man himself) will pick up the slack in facing the arch-villain typically associated with Venom. Still, Knull"s inherent ties to symbiotes mean that there should be a symbiote champion to lead the charge. Dr. Payne is an interesting character who fits the antihero bill, as she demonstrates a certain disregard for human life in the service of scientific discovery. Short of an announcement by Sony that Venom: The Last Dance did, in fact, debut Venom"s replacement, the possibility of Agony"s return is purely up for speculation.

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7/10 9.6/10 Venom: The Last Dance Venom 3 is the third and final installment in Sony's symbiote trilogy starring Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock. It follows the events of Let There Be Carnage, where the anti-hero fought serial killer Cletus Kasady, and Spider-Man: No Way Home, where Brock was briefly transported to the MCU through the multiverse.
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