Venom's Thicc Anniversary Lewk Is Giving Gay Icon Energy: How 'Marvel Rivals' Candy-Coated Villain Became the Queer Fandom's Unexpected Muse

On November 26, 2025, the official "Marvel Rivals" account posted a teaser for what would become the internet's most delightfully chaotic gaming moment. The announcement was simple enough: two new anniversary skins were coming to the game—one for Venom and one for Blade. But what followed was something the gaming world wasn't quite prepared for.

The copy read: "Revenge is best served sweet. Sweet dreams and sweet treats join forces on the battlefield with Venom's Gummy Surprise and Blade's Restful Recovery costumes." Innocent enough, right? Wrong. What the developers had actually created was a candy-coated, tutu-wearing version of one of Marvel's most menacing villains—complete with an MVP celebration animation that can only be described as a full twerk. And the internet, particularly the queer corners of it, absolutely lost its collective mind.

"Damn, he's thicc," became the rallying cry of gamers everywhere. Players flooded social media with reactions ranging from stunned appreciation to outright thirst. One commenter summed up the vibe perfectly: "I love the promo pic that's just Venom's ass cheeks." Another user joked that Venom was "now more caked up than a bakery," seemingly inspiring the developers to lean even harder into the bit.

This wasn't the first time "Marvel Rivals" had given Venom the proportional treatment. Last year, the villain's winter event skin similarly caught the fandom's attention for its generous silhouette, leading fans to joke that "the developers love them some venom cake." But this anniversary moment felt different—it felt intentional, almost like the development team was winking directly at the community that had embraced their chaotic creation.

The Gummy Surprise skin didn't emerge in a vacuum. It arrived as part of "Marvel Rivals"' massive first-anniversary celebration, which kicked off on November 27, 2025. The game, which originally launched on December 6, 2024, was turning one year old, and NetEase wasn't holding back on the festivities.

Here's where the story gets interesting for queer audiences. The gaming industry has long struggled with authentic LGBTQ+ representation. While some games have made genuine strides—from "The Last of Us Part II"'s nuanced portrayal of queer characters to "Baldur's Gate 3"'s expansive gender and sexuality options—many titles still treat queer content as an afterthought or a marketing gimmick.

"Marvel Rivals'" approach with the Gummy Surprise skin isn't necessarily groundbreaking representation in the traditional sense. Venom isn't canonically queer, and the skin doesn't pretend to be a statement about LGBTQ+ inclusion. Instead, it's something arguably more valuable to many in the community: it's camp. It's excessive, it's playful, it's unapologetically over-the-top, and it's given to a character who would normally be portrayed as menacing and serious.

Camp has always been central to queer culture. From the intentional artificiality of drag performances to the ironic appreciation of "bad"art, camp represents a kind of freedom—the freedom to be ridiculous, to embrace contradiction, and to find joy in the absurd. When a Spider-Man villain gets a candy-themed outfit complete with a twerking animation, that's camp. And when queer players see themselves reflected in that kind of playful excess, it matters.

The Venom skin also taps into something else that resonates deeply with marginalized communities: the reclamation of the body. For decades, queer people have been told their bodies are wrong, inappropriate, or shameful. The deliberate emphasis on Venom's proportions—the "caked up"aesthetic that became the meme—represents a kind of joyful defiance. It's saying: bodies that don't conform to conventional standards can be celebrated, desired, and made into the center of attention.

The reaction to the Gummy Surprise skin revealed something important about gaming communities in 2025. While gaming spaces have historically been hostile to LGBTQ+ people, younger players and increasingly diverse communities are reshaping what gaming culture can be. The enthusiastic, sex-positive response to Venom's anniversary look wasn't met with the vitriol that might have characterized gaming discourse a decade ago. Instead, it was celebrated, memed, and made into a cultural moment.

Instagram became a hub for sharing MVP screen footage of the twerking animation. Players weren't just enjoying the skin—they were creating community around it, sharing their appreciation in ways that felt distinctly queer: through humor, through thirst, through the kind of collective joy that comes from finding representation in unexpected places.

One Instagram user captured the sentiment perfectly: "Them developers love them some venom cake…" It was a recognition that the development team had heard the community's enthusiasm and leaned into it deliberately. Whether that was intentional or happy accident, the effect was the same—queer players felt seen, even if only in this delightfully ridiculous way.

For queer players logging into Marvel Rivals over the next few weeks, Venom's thicc anniversary look will be more than just a cosmetic. It'll be a small act of defiance, a celebration of camp, and a signal that even in the most unexpected places—even in a Spider-Man villain skin—we can find moments of joy, community, and belonging.