Horatio Walters, better known as Venomm (not to be confused with the similarly named Marvel villain Venom), was first introduced in 1973 in a small cameo in a "Black Panther" title called "Jungle Action" Vol 2 #6, which also introduced Killmonger. Walters was scarred for life as a child when another child purposely threw acid in his face. Retreating from society, he started befriending snakes because of their similar outcast status.
Considering that Shuri (Letitia Wright) fought through grief and a desire for vengeance in "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever," Venomm's grief for his own life and his desire for vengeance against the world could mirror the emotional journey that Shuri already went through, perhaps even giving her a way to find common ground with the villain. It would also explore another common theme in the "Black Panther" series, that of legacy and how actions impact other people. It would be difficult for such a minor villain from the comics to carry a blockbuster movie on his own, however, and he might need to be teamed up with someone else.
In an interview with Marvel, Don McGregor, who wrote Venomm's comic debut, explained that he created the character and his frequent collaborator Taku to be gay lovers, but realized that it would be difficult to get audiences to accept such a relationship. Because of this, Venomm and Taku aren't explicitly said to be gay until 2022's "Marvel's Voices: Pride" Vol 2 #1 where it was also revealed that Venomm was once in love with Killmonger.
It would be refreshing to have a gay villain for the third "Black Panther" movie, especially since the MCU has had so few LGBTQ+ characters. But part of the reason is that such characters, until recently, were rarely shown in comics.
