Sandman Vs. Venom: Who Would Win in a Fight?

Two of the most popular Spider-Man villains are Sandman and Venom. The two have worked together on numerous occasions to take down our Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man. But, who would win in a fight between these two villains, Sandman or Venom?
Venom is definitely the more powerful of these two characters. While both Venom and Sandman are shapeshifters and that is the essence of their powers, Venom has much more potential than Sandman; where Venom’s powers are nigh-infinite, Sandman’s are much more limited.
Now that you have the short version of the answer, we are going to compare Sandman and Venom in more detail. Through several categories, you are going to see exactly who the stronger of the two is and why our answer is like it is.
Powers
Sandman’s body is an amorphous mass of animated sand. He originally possessed the ability to mold sand into a shape that appeared to be completely human, and from that shape convert his body (or parts of it) into the sand at will. How much control he has over this form and how similar it functions to his former state is not yet known.
Since Marko’s original body is dead, he is able to give control of his sand form to another body. He once used this ability with Spider-Man. Sandman is immortal in the sense that he no longer ages. A possible future version of him had lived for billions of years. Sandman also no longer needs food, air, or rest.
Even without a host, the Venom symbiote is able to freely spread its biomass in tentacles and tendrils, and often manifests a fanged mouth and large white eye points. It can also manifest a humanoid head, torso, and arms, and is capable of assuming a humanoid form without a host for brief periods.
When attached to a host, he can shapeshift to mimic any type of clothing, as well as blend Venom with his surroundings, rendering him invisible. The symbiote has increased all of its host’s physical abilities to superhuman levels equal to, and in some cases superior to, Spider-Man’s.
In this aspect, Sandman’s and Venom’s powers are quite similar. They’re both shapeshifters with an almost endless array of possible forms and shapes, which makes them quite special. Since Venom depends more on the host than Sandman, in this category, we have to give the points to the latter.
Points: Sandman 1, Venom 0
Abilities
Sandman has the ability to transform into a sand-like substance that can harden, disperse, or take any shape he wishes. He can also mold her gritty body after his way. The Sandman also has above-average knowledge of science, even if he is self-taught.
As far as Venom and his abilities are concerned, the Symbiote itself is highly intelligent, but a lot of the other elements actually depend on the host, which is why we cannot give a simple analysis here. The Venom symbiote has had several hosts over the years and analyzing each and every one of them would take too much time, so we won’t be doing it here.
Although dependent on the host, the Venom symbiote has a much wider array of potential abilities and is more adaptable than Sandman. Venom’s cosmic origins definitely give him the edge here, which is why he gets this point.
Points: Sandman 1, Venom 1
Physical Strength
The Sandman is a superhuman being capable of lifting (pushing) up to 85 tons under standard conditions.
The symbiote has allowed its hosts to lift up to 70 tons at normal size in the past, this was not its true limit as its strength increases with its variable muscle mass. With progressive mutation and variable host changes adding to Venom’s power, a host’s current strength level is unknown.
Although Sandman is more powerful when their base forms are concerned, Venom has so much additional potential that his level is certainly higher than Sandman’s, not even counting the possibly unlimited potential that Venom has. That is why Venom wins this point.
Points: Sandman 1, Venom 2
Equipment
The Sandman briefly wore a suit made from Reed Richards’ stolen gear, which he used to mix chemicals with his sand to create new effects.
Some of the chemicals could turn its sand into a slippery puddle, a sandstorm, solidify it into a brick-like shape, adhere it to vertical walls, and coat it with a substance that would turn into poisonous dust if heated by the Human Torch’s flame.
The Venom symbiote can manifest fangs, claws, blades, and tendrils of its constituent living abyss. Upon connecting to the Symbiote Hive on Earth-1051, he was able to transform part of himself into a powerful energy cannon by partially deploying the extradimensional tesseract from his body, similar to his counterpart on Earth-23203.
It is quite obvious that Venom’s powers are much more diverse and have more potential than those of the Sandman, when the equipment is concerned. Sure, Sandman can also manifest some weapons with his skills, but that’s nowhere near Venom’s potential, which is why Venom gets this point as well.
Points: Sandman 1, Venom 3
Sandman Vs. Venom: Who Wins?
Although Sandman and Venom have a lot of similarities, the difference is ultimately quite obvious. Venom is a creature of cosmic origin and has nigh infinite potential (we still haven’t seen all of his powers, for sure), whereas Sandman is much more limited in that aspect. That is why the absolutely clear winner here is the Venom symbiote.