Will Rick Remender Ruin Venom?

I read this interview with Rick Remender a few weeks ago on Newsarama and I've been letting it stew in my head for awhile. Writer Remender and artist Tony Moore are bringing back Venom in an ongoing series in March. This will involve a new host for the symbiote, as Mac Gargan is going back to the old Scorpion look. The new hook will be Venom as a military black-ops specialist. I have mixed feelings about this announcement. I don't really have a problem with the idea itself, I had a similar idea a few years ago I never did anything with, but knowing the controversy surrounding Remender's run on Punisher I'm just not sure what to expect.

I've decided to break down the interview and hit the points of interest one at a time.

RR: I immediately started having all this imagery — there isn’t really a globetrotting character in the Marvel Universe right now. In terms of a character who could 007 it up...As soon as you hear the idea, you’re like, “That’s actually great. That’s a really great idea.” For this character, those guys nailed it, in terms of the way to deal with making him fresh and new and exciting, and still stay true to who the character is.

Like I said, I actually like the idea overall. The scary thing is "fresh and new and exciting" in Remender-speak may mean, oh, I don't know, turning the Punisher into a Frankenstein monster. I'm still cautiously optimistic.

Nrama: And obviously the identity of Venom’s new host is still a closely guarded secret at this point, but it is a character who is familiar to readers, right?

Remender: Yep. Familiar to readers, but somebody who's been prowling around the Spidey-verse for years and makes a lot of sense for the job.

I honestly have no idea who it could be. Does Spidey know any globe-trotting 007 types? I actually hope it is somebody we don't really know very well, or some random D-lister.

RR: "...Wow. I guess I have to sit down and remember what excited me about the character.”

I did the same thing with the Punisher. That first Punisher miniseries, the one Mike Zeck drew with [Steven] Grant, was such a big deal to me, I loved it so much when I was a kid, that when I took on the Punisher job, I had to sit down to remember, “Why? What did you love about it?” So I did that a lot with Venom.

Uh-oh. Now I get the red flags going up in my brain. I wonder how much of this is just interview BS, because if you have to sit and remember what it is that got you excited about characters you supposedly loved as a kid, maybe you shouldn't be writing them. And please, don't do the same thing as you did with the Punisher.

RR: I love monsters to begin with, and there’s sort of a Jekyl and Hyde aspect to Venom, and a number of other very interesting angles to the character.

No, the Eddie Brock Venom was not Jekyl and Hyde. The Hulk is Jekyl and Hyde. Venom is the story of Faust; the symbiote can give you great power, but will corrupt you over time. All the themes of temptation and revenge are there. Jekyl and Hyde is about the monster that's inside us, Venom is about making a deal with the devil. This is a big difference. Bonding with the symbiote is the deal you make, and eventually leads to being consumed by the symbiote. There is a definite outside force in the story of Venom.

RR: In the book that we’re doing, the military won’t let our host wear the suit for more than two days in a row. There’s all kinds of rules, because that thing bonds with you so quickly.

Why would these rules work? The symbiote is not dumb. Lest we forget Angelo Fortunato, who was abandoned mid-swing by the symbiote, and fell to his death. If the symbiote doesn't like the 'rules', wouldn't it just leave mid-mission?

You get the idea. Plus, Remender says early in the interview that Venom hadn't changed, then says he was always on board with the changes to the character, then says he wants to stay true to the character, then says he is going to do something unique, blah, blah, blah...

Let's face it, I'm going to read this. I like the overall concept and it doesn't seem as stupid as turning the Punisher into a Frankenstein monster. I want it to be good, but I'm also sad Marvel is giving up on the arc they had going with Gargan being absolutely terrified by the symbiote. I thought that still had potential.

I don't want to be That Guy. But I know what happened with Punisher, so just prove me wrong, Remender. I beg you.