Toxin the Antihero Symbiote
Venom: Let There Be Carnage had the internet shook with the first look of Carnage. Amidst the entire buzz, one very important detail slipped right under their noses: the appearance of Patrick Mulligan portrayed by Stephen Graham who has appeared in movies like Pirates of the Caribbean and The Irishman.
Who is Patrick Mulligan and why is he important?
“I’m a decent guy. Used to be a cop. Now I’ve got a crazy symbiote using me as a host. However hard I try to educate it, whatever I do to bring it up properly, it misbehaves. And it brings out the worst in me. It’s destroying me. What do I do? What’s the answer?” ~ Pat Mulligan
Patrick Mulligan is the host of the most powerful symbiote aka Toxin. Created by Peter Milligan and Clayton Crain, Toxin is a fairly new character in Marvel Universe making his debut in Venom Vs Carnage issue 2 in 2004. As in the lifecycle of all the symbiotes, Carnage becomes pregnant, asexually of course, but felt only hate and fear for his newborn because of its potential to become stronger than him and his own parent, Venom. When Venom came to know about Carnage’s symbiote-pregnancy, he tracked him down to discuss his upcoming spawn. As expected, Carnage didn’t receive this well which results in a fight between the two.
Carnage was ready to kill his powerful child as soon as he was born but felt too weak to go ahead with his plans. He eventually gave his symbiote spawn to a New York Police Officer Patrick Mulligan, who becomes the host for Toxin later. Carnage hoped to destroy the symbiote later when he regained his strength. Like Carnage said, he attempted to kill Toxin again but was prevented from doing so by Black Cat and later, Venom.
Isn’t Venom a villain in the comics? Why is he suddenly trying to save lives?
Yes, but Venom had his own reasons. Venom wanted to train Toxin against Spider-Man and possibly Carnage himself. When Venom fought and defeated Carnage, he named the new symbiote, Toxin.
Who names their child ‘Toxin’? And why?
Well, symbiotes do and probably toxic parents. According to Venom, Toxin smells like poison to other symbiotes, so it makes sense they gave him a toxic name. If you think his name is horrific, you should see what Toxin look like. He has tendrils like Carnage and a body similar to Venom.After Carnage attacked Patrick Mulligan’s wife while Spider-Man tried to fend him off, Mulligan’s wife went into labor and had a little boy named Edward Mulligan.
Realizing what a danger he would be to them if he stayed, Pat Mulligan left. Later in the comics, Venom has a realization that Toxin has a sense of morality since Toxin refused to kill Carnage when he had the chance. Venom expresses his fears to Carnage that Toxin could likely become a good guy and align himself with Spider-Man which is bad news for both of them. Hence, Venom and Carnage team up to kill Toxin.
Venom and Carnage team up to kill Toxin? Wow! How powerful is Toxin?
The toxin is said to be the most powerful of all the symbiotes. During the final confrontation between the three symbiotes, Spider-Man stumbled into the battle and aids Toxin. After the unlikely duo fended off Venom and Carnage, Toxin had a conversation with Spider-Man filling him in on what happened to him. Spider-Man gave him a superhero heart-to-heart and passed on Uncle Ben’s message:
“With great power, comes great responsibility.”
It struck a chord within him and Toxin resigned himself to a life of battling his base symbiote urges of venomous carnage while trying to harness his abilities for a genuine cause. Unlike Venom and Carnage, who embraced the power and gave into their primal instincts, Patrick Mulligan always has to keep Toxin under control. Probably because Toxin is still a child Pat is trying to teach a symbiote how to be good.
Venom: Let There Be Carnage is set to be released in September 2021. For more on Symbiotes and Venom, make sure to check our website.
