Venomized Colossus Marks the Most Badass Symbiote Form in Marvel Lore

With his organic steel skin, incredible strength, and rich history, Colossus ranks high on the list of fan-favorite X-Men and one version of him also stands out among the most powerful characters to ever host the Venom-like symbiote. One Marvel event introduced a whole new side to the mutant giant by giving him his own symbiote. Venomized Colossus was a short-lived phenomenon, but it’s worth revisiting the idea’s incredible potential.

Venomized #1 – by writer Cullen Bunn and artist Iban Coello – saw a massive group of heroes bonded with Venom-like symbiotes at the hands of the deadly Poisons, who intended to assimilate the symbiotes and their hosts to grow in power. Among several other X-Men and familiar faces, Colossus ended up with his own symbiote, completely changing the character’s look.

With so much action during the Venomized event, Piotr didn’t pull in a lot of attention for himself, but with the mutant powerhouse’s strength and durability, Venomized Colossus would doubtlessly be one of Marvel’s strongest symbiote hosts with the right spotlight.

Colossus Has One Of Marvel’s Best Symbiote Designs, Even If It Only Saw Limited Action

Venomized #1 – Writen By Cullen Bunn; Art By Iban Coello; Color By Matt Yackey; Lettering By Joe Caramagna

Marvel has unveiled several different iterations of Colossus in the mutant’s long comic tenure. While he’ll always be primarily known for his recognizable metallic skin and massive stature, Piotr’s Venomized design proved that there’s plenty of room for variation. After being forcibly bonded with a symbiote, which the Poisons engineered to be more difficult to remove than the standard fare, Colossus’ whole look changed. Rather than a glint of organic steel, his body took on the inky black color of the symbiote, with only the top of his head giving a real hint of who he was before being converted.

Venomized Colossus only really appeared within larger groups, but the concept of Piotr taking on a symbiote is worth exploring further. On his own, he has the strength to defeat or put up a good fight against Marvel’s other powerhouses like Juggernaut, Hulk, and The Thing, but that would be heightened even further with a symbiote. Likewise, the incredible durability granted by his steel skin would have a further layer of protection in that form. All told, Venomized Colossus turned out to be close to unstoppable, with the symbiote taking Piotr’s numerous abilities to new heights. Piotr is far from a regular human host.

Marvel Should Bring Back Venomized Colossus In A Future Storyline, And Let The Character Really Do Some Damage

An Underutilized Popular Design

While the Venomized event stretched on for several issues, Venomized Colossus didn’t take a major role with so many players on the board, but it’s too compelling a concept to discard forever. Although the Venom War event just ended, and Piotr has been through plenty of rough times himself in the last few years, bonding Colossus with a symbiote again is worth considering. The sheer potential of his already considerable mutant gifts housed in a symbiote is impressive, and the design itself was a memorable spin on his usual look. Venomized Colossus combined the best of both beings, and fans deserve more of him.

Venomized #1 is available now from Marvel Comics.