...and well...
Okay, I'm gonna level with all of you. I am not as big a fan of Venom as many people are. I know he's insanely popular and that's all well and good. I do like him, don't misunderstand me. If there was any villain/anti-villain character in Spider-Man's stable that could hold up their own film, it'd be Venom. Easily. Even I have to acknowledge that. The only problem is that, right there, I acknowledged the one thing that Sony seems to have been unable to do.
"villain/anti-villain character in Spider-Man's stable"
"Spider-Man's stable"
"Spider-Man"
Given that Spider-Man in the MCU is only seventeen at this point (and also dead, spoiler alert), I could see that Marvel would not want to immediately jump to the symbiote storyline despite the widespread popularity of Venom. I do. I get that. So, naturally, you'd expect them to show some restraint and not go out of their way to do something stupid like force out a Venom movie despite the fact it-bahahahahahahaha! I'm just kidding, this is Hollywood we're talking about. They'd make a movie about a damn corn chip if they thought it would make them money.
The only problem is that Venom is just popular enough to peak out into popular consciousness from within the sphere of comics...and that's really it. I'm sure this movie will at least make something of a profit, but this is clearly not a movie for fans of the comics, because it seems to be entirely ignoring the simple fact that Venom isn't Venom without Spider-Man.
Venom is only Venom BECAUSE of Spider-Man.
For those of you who don't know (and are too lazy to open another tab on your browser and check the Marvel wiki), the Venom symbiote first bonded to Peter Parker in the Marvel mini-series Secret Wars, which gave him the black costume that is actually way, way cooler than his normal red and blue costume (change my mind). When he found out it was an alien parasite that was eventually going to consume him, he got rid of it (twice, as I recall) and it bonded with journalist Eddie Brock. Eddie had had his career destroyed by Spider-Man and his hatred, combined with the hatred the symbiote held of Spidey for rejecting it, created a wholly unique being that was committed itself to the total destruction of Peter Parker's life.
A being that would be poison to both Peter Parker and Spider-Man.
Venom.
Or we could just skip that part and go right to Eddie Brock getting the symbiote because of shady X-Files bullshit. That works, too!
Although, apparently, Sony Pictures intends for the film to be at least "adjunct" (to use Amy Pascal's words) to the MCU - particularly to Spider-Man: Homecoming...but since the MCU doesn't acknowledge it, that's pretty much out.
And no, this is not me bickering over a minor bit of minutiae from the comics. This is literally the foundations of the characters. Without this point, Venom isn't Venom...he's some dude in an alien suit. Even more than that, Venom's look and power set (beyond the usual symbiote powers) are supposed to be a dark mirror or corruption of Spidey's.
If Spidey isn't involved in this movie, then why does he look like Spider-Man?!
Again, this isn't a minor point.
Unfortunately, we get no answers from the trailer that I've avoided talking about for several paragraphs by now. We get Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) who appears to have stumbled onto a conspiracy by either the government or some private company (NOscorp, I presume) and is now dealing with an alien symbiote that looks suspiciously like a certain wall-crawler that is ruining his life...sort of.
The tone of the trailer is hilariously uneven, going from PTSD horror to comedy to cutesy comics references (though I admit, I did chuckle at the "Liver, Eyes, Pancreas!" quote being done so well) and back again with no real rhyme or reason to it and extreme mood whiplash with no reprieve as a result. Not that I should be overly surprised at this from Sony Pictures, who the term "consistent tone" is a four letter word to.`
Visually, the trailer is fine. Seeing Venom completely now, it seems that they have touched him up a bit from the initial trailers. He looks better, although a little wonky in some scenes. I had to watch the trailers a few times to catch on to what Venom says, the voice is not exactly how I imagined it in my head (the 90's Spider-Man Animated Series Venom, if you're wondering, is the voice I hear when I read his dialogue in the comics) and it kind of sounds like Tom Hardy drowning with the distortion. Maybe that's just me?
On the whole, the film does not look bad per se. I'm sure it will be at least somewhat enjoyable, apart from the usual problems we've seen in Sony Pictures films. The only problem is my inner comic nerd (really more outer comic nerd) will not be able to overlook the fact that they're pretty much completely ignoring Spider-Man in a Venom film...and you really just can't.
Because Venom without Spider-Man isn't Venom.
He's a dude who found an alien suit.
He's a gritty reboot of The Greatest American Hero who eats people's organs.
Do you want to see William Katt running around eating people's pancreases?
...actually, hell yeah. Fund it. I'd watch the crap out of that movie.
Also, Marvel...just get the rights back. Disney got the X-Men and the FF back. Take your toys back from Sony and just bring everyone home already.
Venom is due to be released on October 5, 2018 by Sony Pictures and Marvel Entertainment.
For the latest from the MadCapMunchkin, be sure to follow him on Twitter @MadCapMunchkin.
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