Venom first apeared in "The Alien Costume":The Amazing Spider-Man #252 that came out in May of 1984. He was first called Venom as a cameo in The Amazing Spider-Man #299 in April of 1988. Venom was created as the "Alien Cosutume" by Randy Schueller, Roger Stern, Tom DeFalco, Mike Zeck, and Ron Frenz. David Michelinie and Todd McFarlane later developed him into Venom.

Carnage's first appearance in the comics was the February 1992 issue of The Amazing Spider-Man #359. Carnage was created by David Michelinie and Mark Bagley to be the archenemy of Venom. Venom: Let there be Carnage, was inspired by the comic "Maximum Carnage" that come out in 1993 as well as the 1996 animated series, The Venom Saga. Andy Serkis, the film's director, was excited to bring the comic book version of Carnage onto the screen as the symbiote relfects the host. Serkis was able to differentiate the symbiotes, Venom and Carnage, by mirroring Brock and Kasady’s characters and also througj their design, abilities and movements.