One of the most hotly anticipated comic book films to be released this year is the Sony helmed, Marvel film: Venom. With a promising cast and a passable trailer, people are anywhere between cautiously optimistic or hyped for the film which releases in October. However, I have some terrible news, and that is that Venom is probably going to suck.
It's certainly a hard pull to swallow for most people, I have been in numerous discussions about this very topic, and have been labelled a "hater." Well, if having a high standard and expectation for my favorite villain/ anti hero growing up makes me a "hater," than so be it. It still doesn't change the facts, and the facts are that this movie will suck because Sony doesn't understand Venom as a character, and in turn cannot hope to make a successful movie about him.
It must first be stated that this is not Sony's first time at bat with this character. Sam Raimi's third installment of the original Spider-Man trilogy we got to see the character on the silver screen for the first time. However, Spider-Man 3 bombed and one of the chief complaints of the film is the very weak portrayal of Venom in the film. This movie coming out may be the second time Venom makes it to the big screen, but it's technically Sony's third time going at the character. People seem to forget, but Sony had been setting up Venom for the Amazing Spider-Man films, in particular the Flash Thompson, Agent Venom. Luckily, Amazing Spider-Man as a franchise collapsed before it could get to Venom because it just didn't pay the dividends. Now Sony is up at the bat for a third time and right from the start there is trouble. Spider-Man has absolutely no part in this film. The Venom solo movie has no connection to Spider-Man whatsoever and that is a massive problem.
The story of Venom is intertwined with Spider-Man, without that dynamic you lose what makes this character special. Before I go further into this, it's very important to establish how Venom came to be, and this story starts with Spider-Man. While on an intergalactic adventure detailed in the massive crossover event called Secret Wars, Peter becomes bonded to a living organism called a symbiote that manifests as a black and white spider-man costume and is even able to imitate civilian outfits. In addition this suit gave Peter a bit of a boost in his abilities. He was stronger, faster, and could even spin webs on his own without the use of web cartridges. However, when Peter realizes that his aggression has been increased as well, he goes to long time friends the Fantastic Four and Reed Exposes the suit as a living being trying to permanently bond to Peter and take control. Using sonar tech they remove the symbiote from Peter. The symbiote was not pleased being rejected by its host and so it escaped and found a new one.
This is where Eddie Brock comes to play. Eddie is a failed reporter that blames his failures on Spider-Man. Upon losing his job at the Globe, Eddie took up weight lifting to cope, but it didn't help. Eventually he is found by the symbiote, and with Eddie oozing with negative energy, the symbiote chooses him as the new host. The Symbiote reveals Spider-Man to be Peter Parker, and together they will destroy Parker in revenge from what he took from them. Together they are Venom.
The story of Spider-Man and Venom is intimate. Without Spider-Man, Venom CANNOT exist. Even the design of Venom is dependent upon the symbiote's initial bond with Spider-Man. If this is not a part of the story, then you lose the significance of his design. Venom is this warped perversion of Spider-Man, he's everything Spidey isn't: vile, disgusting, brutal, and filled with rage. Without the connection to Spider-Man what reason does the suit have to look the way it does? And it doesn't matter what bullshit the story of this film tries to push to explain this, it will be hollow and will lack the weight that everything down to the design of this character has. Based off of what is shown in the trailer, it's very clear that they are taking away the character's connection to the web head.
All things being said, I'm not omniscient. Venom could be the representation comic fans have been hoping for. If it is, that's great. I would LOVE for this movie to prove me wrong, this film has a great cast and if they can pull off the film I'll be very happy. However, based off what I have read and seen during this nightmare of a production, from a lack of Spider-Man to Sony's HORRIFIC advertising campaign of the film, there's not a lot of hope to be had for this film.
This has been another edition of Comic Relief! I hope you've enjoyed and we will see you next time!
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