Venom is getting a standalone film, which is coming out this fall and with that, there have been many questions raised about this Marvel Universe anti-hero.
Tom Hardy is taking on the role of Venom, but the character he plays might not be the one you expect. Venom is an interesting character who most love, but there are two main Venom versions. One is Eddie Brock, the most common and well-known version of the character. Brock happens to work with Peter Parker and was a bully of his in high school.
Flash Thompson is the other version, who also was a bully of Peter’s and happens to be a massive fan of Spider-Man.
In the Venom film that we will be seeing in October, we’re getting Eddie Brock…the original. This is the version of Venom that is considered to not be a hero or villain, but rather an anti-hero.
He struggles with the Venom character, which makes many assume that the symbiote itself is bad. In reality, that is not the case.
What We Know From The Venom Movie Trailer
One of the most common assumptions about any symbiote, and there are a lot of them in Marvel Comics, is that they are evil. They are not usually.
Typically, they are whatever their host happens to be. So if their host is a good person they will also typically be good. If they are a bad person, they will typically be bad. This is the main difference between the two Venom versions we know.
Flash wants to be a hero thus usually can control the symbiote and use it in heroic ways. Eddie has trouble with this as he’s not exactly known for being a good guy.
This is why Venom starts off being a bad guy that Spidey has to take down. The issue is that this Venom is technically not in the same universe as the current-gen Spider-Man used as part of Disney’s MCU.
The Venom movie trailer shows an actual set-up with Venom cannot be done with this version, so they have to go with another origin that was brought about years ago. One of which is not only the worst version but a sad one that does not actually work well inside the normal universe.
Sony is planning to ignore the normal Marvel history just to do a Venom movie and that is terrible. While the Venom Movie Trailer clearly is showing a lot of good, it’s hiding the storyline’s main base. It isn’t going to show much.
Symbiotes like Carnage come along after Eddie finds himself in jail for crimes committed while being Venom. Overall, Brock has to be a bad guy yet the Venom trailer proves that they are clearly planning to use him as the hero of the film.
Other symbiotes are seen in the Marvel Universe after this storyline and every single one is affected by the host. There isn’t a real alteration. Sony is simply keeping their awful version of Venom from Spider-Man 3 in their canon.
Sony’s Version Of Venom Won’t Be What You Expect
As previously mentioned, symbiotes take on the host’s true self. Eddie Brock is an investigative reporter in this installment and seems to be a good dude.
He is investigating an organization called the Life Foundation and happens to come across a symbiote we will know later as Venom. We do not have a Peter Parker here for him to bully and Tom Hardy would clearly not be used if they’re planning to go back to high school.
Right here, we’re ignoring the original Eddie Brock and having to ignore a lot just to manage without Spider-Man, which is odd considering Sony owns the Spider-Man universe. They could have simply used Miles Morales but chose against all of this for whatever reason.
Overall, Venom has to be altered to work and has to be used outside the Spider-Man universe. This is kind of odd and only serves to make the character a one-off type. Venom clearly deserves better than that.
Yet Sony wants to make it a franchise, and they have yet to even make a compelling storyline that fans will enjoy and love to follow. It breaks every rule in the Marvel Universe and gives no real expectation that we’ll see the Venom we’ve come to know over the years.
They’re opening a synopsis that says Venom affects Brock’s personality, which is a load of BS when Venom merely takes over the host’s true self. Brock would simply be a bad guy due to being a bad guy, not due to Venom.
The Venom Movie Will Overlook All Common Knowledge On Symbiotes
In versions of Spider-Man where he has the Venom symbiote, he too sees a personality change. However, it is not nearly as destructive and drastic as we see with Eddie Brock.
We usually see Spidey affected by the symbiote connecting to the real powers Peter Parker has and makes him see he’s better than others. Although Spidey is affected by the symbiote, he does not become a villain.
Venom merely took to the host, he did not affect his personality. Venom can, however, make suggestions.
That was what he pretty much did with Peter Parker. Venom saw the true power he possessed and the personality was sort of changed by the idea of suggestion.
Venom did not have to do much with Brock to get Eddie to see he had power. Eddie saw this as a way to get back at Spider-Man, which is why Venom is known for hating Spidey.
This is due to Spider-Man always getting the spotlight and Parker always has the scoop. It is also why Venom did not like Parker for a while.
He took the host’s already hidden hatred and desires and allowed him a way to reach them. That is the biggest difference between the real story and the perverted one for the Venom movie is that Sony version we’ll see messed up.
They did get something partially right, as Venom does have the power to speak to the host and can make suggestions. However, this is where the similarities tend to end from the Venom movie and the real story of Venom we all know and love.
If Sony can make Eddie Brock into a hero with the Venom movie, they first have to start him out as a bad guy who needs a reason to be good. Without a reason, there is no point.
The expected villain is Carnage, whom they are also bringing about far different than how the original comic version claimed. This will likely be what Sony could use to turn Venom good, just as it did in the original story.
The Venom Movie Release Date And Sony Expectations
People are somewhat excited about this film despite the clear issues with it. They did not even pronounce “Symbiote” correctly.
It’s not as Sony could not talk to literally anyone to know how, they could have. They also are clearly using Venom in another universe away from the MCU, yet they used similar music in the trailer to Marvel’s Infinity War to try and psychologically link the two.
This is a marketing tactic often referred to as “snake oil marketing” in that they give you something that seems like something else you know, but instead happens to be nothing you really thought it was.
Overall, however, fans did love the trailers and praised the great look of Venom. This part was clearly good to see and due to Tom Hardy being in the movie, fans found themselves intrigued.
The Venom movie could turn out to be a good stand alone but with Sony’s idea to make it a franchise, one has to wonder how they plan on doing this. Especially considering Disney is using Spider-Man and would need to use all his villains, meaning Sony could not just randomly use people Disney planned to use.
This is due to the deal the two made over the use of Spidey years ago. Sony is now trying to capitalize on the success they have had due to Disney and try to launch Venom in a counter.
The only problem is that it may not work as they planned it out. However, the overall story does bring people to a character that they may not know as well as your common comic book nerd.
As a result, many people will enjoy the Venom movie and will like Sony’s take on the character due to not knowing better. However, we cannot be upset by this as that is what the studio is supposed to do…create movies fans want to see and will like.
The Venom movie is rated PG-13 and its release date is currently set worldwide for October 5.