New Brevoort Formspring

I think this is a good question.

And the answer in this instance revolves as much around the usefulness of the character to the core of the series as anything.

In the case of Rick Jones, he’s integral to the origin of the Hulk, so he’s a character that the series always comes back to–it was Bruce’s sacrifice to save him that turned him into the Hulk in the first place. So if Rick is suddenly himself a Hulk, that sacrifice rings a little bit hollow.

On the other hand, Flash’s role in Spider-Man was to be Peter Parker’s high School tormentor, his Reggie Mantle, the guy who gave him crap, while simultaneously being Spider-Man’s biggest fan. And that’s not a role that’s really been needed in Spider-man for decades. So people have come up with other ways and other places to use Flash.

But making Flash into Venom still taps into those ideas, but in a different way–and with a character who is closer to Spidey and better developed than Eddie Brock is. So Flash finally gets to live his dream and be Spider-Man, but a Spider-Man with a particular set of problems and difficulties different from those faced by Peter. Additionally, it makes Venom somebody that much of the readership is already invested in and comfortable with–when Mac Gargan was Venom, that really wasn’t much of an improvement, in that nobody really cares about Mac more than they do Eddie. But Flash is a different story.

And the transition and growth of Flash from bully to soldier to wounded veteran to conflicted hero feels natural and earned.