- —Tagline
Venom VS Bane is the 74th episode of Death Battle, featuring Venom from Marvel Comics and Bane from DC Comics in a battle between dark venomous supervillains. Venom was voiced by Adam Wennick and Bane was voiced by Christopher Guerrero.
Interlude
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Wiz: Every champion of justice inspires others, whether they mean to or not.
Boomstick: And sometimes, that "inspiration" creates your worst nightmare.
Wiz: Venom, the ultimate antithesis to Spider-Man.
Boomstick: And Bane, the burly genius who broke the Bat. He's Wiz and I'm Boomstick.
Wiz: And it's our job to analyze their weapons, armor, and skills to find out who would win... a Death Battle.
Venom
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Wiz: The word "symbiosis" refers to two organisms living in beneficial harmony, such as when two beings bond over an obsessive, psychotic desire to kill Spider-Man.
Boomstick: Eddie Brock was an up and coming journalist on the brink of national success when life decided to just shit all over him.
Wiz: One day, Eddie published an article incriminating a man he thought was a serial killer. However, that very same day, Spider-Man caught the real killer, publicly shaming Eddie. As a result, Eddie's company fired him, his father disowned him, and his wife left him. Also, he had cancer.
Boomstick: Damn, talk about a bad day. Understandably pretty upset about it, Eddie blamed Spider-Man for ruining his life.
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Boomstick: This led to his fateful meeting with a weird, black, gooey alien. Remember Gak from the '90s? It's just like that, except alive and... evil...
Venom lets out a roar, lunging towards the screen.
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Wiz: This was a symbiote from the planet Klyntar, an alien species with one goal: to grow stronger by fusing with a living host. I know that sounds intimidating and almost parasitic, but the Klyntar people are naturally a peaceful race. However, they often inherit their host's traits and personality. This symbiote, in particular, had previously bonded with a violent alien bent on genocide, and a costumed superhero everybody knows as... Deadpool!
Boomstick: That crazy lunatic?! Oh, there's no way this symbiote is sane after that!
Wiz: It wasn't. Afterward, it bonded with Spider-Man, who experienced this rage and lunacy firsthand. Horrified by this, Spider-Man eventually discarded the symbiote, unaware the alien had determined Spidey was its ideal host and became obsessed with him.
Boomstick: Much like Bar Trash Cindy that sometimes you go home with, but never really wanna see her again. So, what do you get when you combine an angry man and a black goo monster both hatefully obsessed with the same guy? Most just call him... "Venom."
Wiz: Did you know? Eddie came up with the name "Venom" because he felt he was "spewing venom from the tabloids he worked at."
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Boomstick: Seriously? Ugh, I give that origin a 3 out of 10. Thank God the name's cool at least, and Venom's abilities are even cooler. He's insanely strong, ridiculously agile, and has a fast-paced healing factor. He can power through bullets with no problem at all. Plus, the symbiote carries some of the abilities of its previous owners, including Spidey. That means he can climb on walls and shoot webbing strong enough that Spidey himself can't break through.
Wiz: Technically speaking, Venom simply reproduces the webbing effects via one of his more useful powers: shapeshifting. The symbiote can act as a liquid, allowing it to increase Venom's size for intimidation, or even mimic Eddie's everyday clothing for discretion.
Boomstick: Not to mention, Venom can morph into a wingsuit to glide through the air, isolate and purge toxins from its host's body, straight up turn invisible, or even just sprout spikes for simple stabbing weapons.
Wiz: With these abilities seemingly limited only by his twisted imagination, Venom has tangled with many of his world's heavy hitters. He's defeated Spider-Man without having a host, resisted Ghost Rider's Penance Stare, and shaken off the Hulk's infamous thunderclap. That's right, he's even taken blows from the Juggernaut and the Hulk.
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Boomstick: Even if Venom does get injured, the symbiote can rapidly heal its host, from broken bones, impalement through the chest, or even blasts from an anti-tank rocket. He's also so speedy that he can catch up to bullets in mid-flight, but if he doesn't feel like it, he'll just take the shot and spit it back with deadly force.
Wiz: He's strong enough to bust down metal doors with his fist, tear apart large military trucks, or throw cars several blocks away.
Boomstick: I mean, part of that's gotta be Brock. Have you seen how much that dude can lift?
Wiz: Most impressively, Venom once held up a giant carnival ride similar to a Ferris wheel even after getting struck by one of his worst weaknesses: a sound gun.
Boomstick: A sound gun? That's pretty lame. So I can just beat him if I scream really loud?
Wiz: With enough sound or literal firepower, yes, you could force the symbiote to expose the vulnerable host underneath, though I should note that repeated exposure has helped Venom build up some tolerance. Also, while the symbiote is highly versatile, Venom is not exactly a strategist. Unsurprising, given his apparent insanity.
Venom: I like being bad, it makes me happy.
Venom prepares to stab Spider-Man with a metal blade as the former looks in horror.
Wiz: The symbiote also requires a diet containing the chemical phenethylamine.
Boomstick: Phene-what? Does he like, buy that at the store, or...?
Wiz: No, it's found in certain fungi, chocolate, and brain matter, which the symbiote greatly hungers for.
Boomstick: Oh great, now it eats brains! God, this guy is literally a living nightmare!
Ashley Kafka: Eddie, is that you?
Venom: There's no more Eddie, and no more symbiote! Only... Venom!
Venom destroys the wall right behind him with a punch.
Bane
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Wiz: In his personal mission to drive crime from Gotham City, Batman has faced dozens of foes, each more vile and cunning than the last, but none challenged his sheer willpower more than the monstrous man called Bane.
Boomstick: Bane's life was screwed from the start. He was born into prison and made to carry out his dead dad's life sentence. Talk about carrying the sins of your father. I mean, who puts a baby in jail? Couldn't it just like, crawl through the bars? Did they make a baby jail? So many questions.
Wiz: The child spent his dawning years in captivity, forced to fend for himself against the cruel and unforgiving world. Then one day, a fateful accident caused something to snap inside him.
Boomstick: I'm guessing his neck.
Wiz: No. Well, it should have. Instead, the boy slipped into a coma, where he saw a vision of his future self, a man standing above all other men.
Boomstick: Future self told him he would be second to none, so long as he could conquer the power of fear. Which is apparently shaped like a bat. Huh, would you look at that. What're the odds?
Wiz: When the child awoke, he began his journey to conquer that fear through the power of bloody murder.
Boomstick: Hell yeah! That's also when the prison warden called him "a bane to everything holy."
Wiz: And that's why he's named "Bane."
Boomstick: Ugh, 2 out of 10.
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Boomstick: Anyway, it wasn't long before Bane caught wind of a certain bat ruling Gotham City by fear, but he got to work trying to become the ridiculously jacked guy he saw in his dream so he could take down Batman once and for all.
Wiz: As he grew up, Bane entered an intense daily workout regimen. Not just of his body, but his mind as well. He educated himself in 10 languages, escapology, combat tactics, and several martial arts, including a few he created himself.
Boomstick: Bane pretty much became a legend across the prison, so to remind everybody who was in charge, the warden decided to make an example of him.
Wiz: See, this place wasn't just a prison. The army of Santa Prisca was conducting tests on human subjects with an experimental formula called "Venom".
Boomstick: Because super-soldier formulas are all the rage.
Wiz: The procedure had killed every previous test subject, but Bane proved heartier than expected.
Boomstick: And after he had a taste, Bane wanted Venom for himself. So he faked his own death, punched a few sharks to death, and liberated the whole prison single-handed. The inmates joined his cause, and he took his new Super-Soldier serum to Gotham City.
Wiz: Using a special apparatus on his wrist, Bane can administer a dosage of Venom directly into his brain at will. Doing so dramatically increases his muscle mass, turning him into Gotham City's most ferocious physical threats.
Bane knocks Batman and Commissioner Gordon down by punching down a wall and roars.
Wiz: He's destroyed the Batmobile with his bare hands, jumped off skyscrapers without injury, and lifted loaded armored trucks which weighed tens of thousands of pounds. And then there's the feat he's most famous for...
A loud crack is heard.
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Wiz: Breaking the back of Batman. But Bane didn't just break bone, he literally put poor Batman into a coma.
Boomstick: Well, years later, Batman did get his revenge. After swapping powers with Superman, he paid Bane a visit and broke his everything.
Wiz: And somehow, this didn't kill him.
Boomstick: He's one tough son of a bitch, and if he needs it, Bane can crank up his Venom for more strength and faster healing, but when he first tried this, it came at a cost.
Wiz: Turns out an overdose of Venom can temporarily deteriorate one's mind, turning Bane into a mindless, muscle-bound beast.
Bane screams in agony.
Boomstick: And it's also surprisingly addictive, so eventually, Bane swore off the stuff for some time.
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Wiz: But this let Bane prove he's just as dangerous even without the performance-enhancing drug. He's been pelted by dozens of bricks at once, and taken countless stabbings and bullets without even reacting. He once cauterized his own wound with a blow torch, and even got thrown hundreds of yards by Elasti-Woman and got right back up ready to fight.
Boomstick: Still off the juice, Bane is strong enough to tear down a stone prison wall, casually rip off an armored guy's limbs, and take out dozens of members of the League of Assassins, solo! But if he really needs to, he can just fall off the wagon and get back on the Venom.
Wiz: Bane's absurd power is only matched by his intelligent mind. He possesses a photographic memory, rivals Ra's Al Ghul in chess, and deduced the identity of Batman in one year when nobody else could figure it out.
Boomstick: Yeah, Bane's pretty ridiculous, but it's no secret he's at his best when he's got that Venom juice pumping through his veins. Luckily for him, he eventually developed a form of Venom that didn't turn his brain into mush, and then he soon got addicted to that stuff all over again.
Wiz: Still, Bane has proven over and over again that with or without Venom, anyone who crosses him will beg for mercy, and receive none.
Bane beats up Bruce Wayne at his parents' empty graves.
Bane: When we fought before, I broke the Bat. Today, I break the man.
He then stomps on Bruce.
Prelude
Wiz: Alright, the combatants are set. Let's end this debate once and for all!
Boomstick: But all this strength talk has reminded me I gotta bulk, up and the best way to do it is with a delicious home-cooked meal!
Wiz and Boomstick read out an advertisement for Blue Apron.
Boomstick: But right now, IT'S TIME FOR A DEATH BATTLEEE!!!
Wiz: Alright, the combatants are set. Let's end this debate once and for all!
Boomstick: IT'S TIME FOR A DEATH BATTLEEE!!!(The transcript below is exclusive to the YouTube version of the episode.)
Wiz: Alright, the combatants are set. Let's end this debate once and for all!
Boomstick: But all this strength talk has reminded me I gotta bulk, up and the best way to do it is with a delicious home-cooked meal!
Wiz and Boomstick read out an advertisement for Blue Apron.
Boomstick: But right now, IT'S TIME FOR A DEATH BATTLEEE!!!
(The transcript below is exclusive to the Rooster Teeth version of the episode.)
Wiz: Alright, the combatants are set. Let's end this debate once and for all!
Boomstick: IT'S TIME FOR A DEATH BATTLEEE!!!Death Battle
In an abandoned weaponry warehouse at night, two thugs start lifting the boxes down together.
Bane: Step aside, niños.
Their boss, Bane, activates his Venom and speeds up the process by lifting some of the boxes down himself. They hear a growl and a dark figure speed past them and one of the light fixtures.
Thug: It's the Bat!
Bane: No... it's something... else...
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Two large black webbings emerge from the shadows and grab two of the thugs. The two criminals are dragged into the darkness, emitting echoing screams as the mysterious figure mauls them and starts laughing maniacally. Bane looks for his opponent while the figure keeps circling him and laughing. A pair of white eyes come from the dark as Bane finally notices the intruder in the corner, who is none other than the Lethal Protector himself, Venom.
Venom: You're mine!
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The psychotic symbiote leaps forward to attack, but Bane grabs his leg and tosses him backward. He then picks up an AK-47 from the crate and shoots at the creature, but Venom absorbs all of the bullets with ease.
Venom: Mmmm, yummy!
Venom contorts his body, deflecting the incoming bullets and sending them hurtling back at Bane, though the massive luchador barely flinches as he charges forward. Quick to adapt, Venom fires a webline, intending to pull Bane closer, but the moment he does, Bane shoulders through the web with force. Venom grabs the edge of a nearby barge container, using it to steady himself before launching back at his opponent. He narrowly blocks a powerful blow from Bane, forming a makeshift shield with his arms. The two exchange a flurry of strikes, but Venom's shapeshifting abilities give him the edge. Though Bane lands a few hits, Venom retaliates with a lethal slash to his throat, sending a spray of blood into the air.
Venom: Oh, your blood's spicy! Delicious...
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Venom webs Bane towards him and uses his shapeshifting to get some heavy blows and knock Bane on the ground. He tries to use his webbing on the ground to pounce on the villain, but Bane manages to evade it in time. Bane uses the opening to his advantage and combos Venom into a heavy punch, which knocks him back into one of the larger crates.
Venom: Oh, big daddy can punch!
Bane seizes Venom and charges, driving him through a series of massive crates before slamming the symbiote's head into one with a bone-crushing impact. The luchador attempts to pounce on Venom's head, but Venom narrowly evades the attack, slipping into the shadows just in time. From his hidden position, he lets out a dark, mocking laugh, savoring the moment.
Bane: So, you fall back on cheap magic tricks, trying to disappear, yet you don't know how to be truly invisible.
Bane catches Venom just as he's about to sneak up on him, grabbing the symbiote by the tongue and hurling him forward with brutal force.
Bane: Now, I give you permission to die.
Venom crashes onto the hood of a truck, leaving a deep dent in the metal. Meanwhile, Bane pulls a rocket launcher from a nearby crate, loads it, and aims it at the injured symbiote, firing a deadly shot. The resulting explosion causes Venom to dissolve into a puddle before regenerating off-screen. As the explosion rocks the area, Bane lands on the ground and injects himself with a larger dose of Venom, rapidly growing in size and strength. With his newfound power, he grabs the battered Venom by the head, lifting him effortlessly.
Bane: You're just like all the others... broken!
Bane smashes Venom into the ground, creating a crater in the process, and lifts him into the air, aiming to snap his back with a crushing knee strike, but as he brings his knee down, a tendril from Venom shoots out, lashing into Bane's leg. The attack backfires, causing Bane to injure his own knee as the tendril wraps around it, sending a shock of pain through his body
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Teloelogy of Death - Death Note by [hhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenji_Kawai Kenji Kawai]
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Venom: We're... unbreakable!
The symbiote creates spikes which pierce him through Bane's arms, legs, and chest, while also puncturing his Venom apparatus and leaving him in intense pain.
Bane: No! What's happening?!
Venom leaps up and punches Bane into one of the flaming crates. He then shoots multiple web balls at the villain to trap him in place.
Venom: Now for what we came for!
Venom grabs Bane's head and pumps most of the symbiote into it, causing it to explode and putting the luchador down for good. The symbiote briefly uncovers a stern-looking Eddie's face before covering it again.
Venom: Pop goes the weasel!
Venom leaves and takes the deceased Bane's brain with him, while Batman arrives on the scene and recoils in horror at the sight of Bane's headless corpse.
Results
Boomstick: Ewwww, that can't taste good.
Wiz: Both fighters were intense physical threats, but only one wielded the superior Venom.
Boomstick: Venom had many advantages over Bane: speed, durability, versatility, and even strength.
Wiz: Bane's peak strength was at most just enough to lift a 27-ton car. Meanwhile, Venom was strong enough to stop a falling carnival ride and hold it up by himself, even while in a weakened state. Comparing it to similar carnival rides, my very conservative estimate would place this thing weighing around 200 tons.
Boomstick: Way more impressive than anything Bane ever lifted!
Wiz: Of course, Bane was smarter; however, even if he had deduced Venom's key weaknesses to fire and sound, he wasn't really equipped to take advantage of them.
Boomstick: As for speed, Venom could catch bullets. Even better, he could catch up to bullets, in mid-air! He had to move over 1,500 miles per hour to do that.
Wiz: Ironically enough, almost twice the speed of sound.[Note 1]
Boomstick: Surprisingly, their durability levels were pretty even. Both have taken hits from Superman-level beings and lived to fight another day.
Wiz: The big difference being Venom's healing factor was far superior. He could fight on par with Juggernaut, who can make 4.8 magnitude earthquakes with his bare hands!
Boomstick: But it's not like Batman ever needed super strength to knock Bane out cold.
Wiz: In time, Venom's superior strength, speed, durability, and versatility simply overwhelmed Bane.
Boomstick: Looks like Venom was the real Bane of this fight.
We cut to the "Winner" card.
Wiz: The winner is Venom.
Trivia
Production
- The core connections between Venom and Bane are that they are both comic book supervillains who are one of the greatest adversaries of a superhero (Spider-Man and Batman, respectively), being a dark reflection of them and having mentally and physically overcome them. Both are also powered by a substance called "Venom" (the Venom Symbiote and the Venom serum, respectively), have a large physical build, and are traditionally designed with dark color schemes. In addition:
- Both have names that are synonymous with "poison".
- After this episode aired, Tom Hardy, who portrayed Bane in The Dark Knight Rises, ended up portraying Venom in the live-action Venom film trilogy.
- The entire fight animation was completed in a single night.[citation needed]
- Due to criticisms about the fight animation, the fight was edited to be cut differently and slightly brightened so the sprites could be more visible. The animator, Kayas, claims that the YouTube version is the definitive version and thanked the crew for the edits.[citation needed]
- The original version of the fight can be viewed on the RT Archive.
- Footage of the original version can still be seen in the post-analysis, particularly the cut moment where Bane beats down on Venom before attempting to break his back.
- Due to criticisms about the fight animation, the fight was edited to be cut differently and slightly brightened so the sprites could be more visible. The animator, Kayas, claims that the YouTube version is the definitive version and thanked the crew for the edits.[citation needed]
- The DBX episode Batman VS Scorpion takes place after this fight, following on from this episode's post-fight animation of Batman discovering Bane's corpse. However, his sprite in the DBX is different from the one in the post-fight animation.
- This is the first episode to receive a commentary track.
Easter Eggs
- During Bane's "Background" slide, one of the bullet points is "Is a big guy... for you". This is a reference to one of Bane's lines as part of the infamously awkward dialogue in the opening scene of The Dark Knight Rises, which became a popular internet meme known as "Baneposting."
- Bane's "Now, I give you permission to die," line is a reference to a similar quote he makes in The Dark Knight Rises.
- According to the commentary for this episode, the method in which Venom kills Bane is a reference to how Chad James originally wanted Batman to die in Batman VS Spider-Man.
- This makes it the second episode to pay homage to that original death idea, after Pokémon Battle Royale.
- Venom's final line, "Pop goes the weasel!", is likely a reference to the same line he sings after killing someone in Amazing Spider-Man #373.
Errors
- Various renders throughout the episode (such as the one in the episode's interlude, the shopping aisles gag, the credits on the Rooster Teeth version, etc.) feature Mac Gargan as Venom, despite Eddie Brock being the actual focus of the episode.
- Additionally, Venom's analysis preview uses a render of Harry Osborn as Venom from the Ultimate Spider-Man animated series, even though Eddie never appeared in said show.
Other
- This is the ninth Marvel VS DC-themed episode, after Rogue VS Wonder Woman, Batman VS Spider-Man, Batman VS Captain America, Deadpool VS Deathstroke, Iron Man VS Lex Luthor, Green Arrow VS Hawkeye, Flash VS Quicksilver, and Hulk VS Doomsday, with the next 20 being Thor VS Wonder Woman, Batman Beyond VS Spider-Man 2099, Black Panther VS Batman, Doctor Strange VS Doctor Fate, Nightwing VS Daredevil, Thanos VS Darkseid, Aquaman VS Namor, Captain Marvel VS Shazam, Ghost Rider VS Lobo, Miles Morales VS Static, Cable VS Booster Gold, Winter Soldier VS Red Hood, Batgirl VS Spider-Gwen, Lex Luthor VS Doctor Doom, Batman VS Iron Man, Scarlet Witch VS Zatanna, Black Adam VS Apocalypse, Ant-Man VS Atom, Phoenix VS Raven, and Martian Manhunter VS Silver Surfer.
- This is the sixth time Marvel wins, after Rogue VS Wonder Woman, Batman VS Spider-Man, Deadpool VS Deathstroke, Iron Man VS Lex Luthor, and Green Arrow VS Hawkeye, with the next nine being Black Panther VS Batman, Ghost Rider VS Lobo, Winter Soldier VS Red Hood, Batgirl VS Spider-Gwen, Lex Luthor VS Doctor Doom, Batman VS Iron Man, Black Adam VS Apocalypse, Ant-Man VS Atom, and Martian Manhunter VS Silver Surfer.
- This is the second Batman VS Spider-Man-themed episode, after Batman VS Spider-Man, with the next two being Batman Beyond VS Spider-Man 2099 and Batgirl VS Spider-Gwen.
- This is the second time that the Spider-Man character wins, after Batman VS Spider-Man, with the next one being Batgirl VS Spider-Gwen.
Notes
- ↑ Venom's Speed: 1,500 mph
2x Speed Of Sound (767.269 mph)