Tom Hardy’s Venom Trilogy Is Missing the Best Aspect of the Character

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  • Venom’s Origins Are Connected to Spider-Man
  • The Venom Movies Also Diluted Another Key Villain
  • Venom: Let There Be Carnage Needed Spider-Man

As a die-hard comic book enthusiast and longtime fan of Spider-Man and Venom, I must admit that the big screen adaptations have left me wanting more. Growing up, I remember the thrill of reading the comics where these two characters’ paths crossed, their rivalry, and ultimately their uneasy alliance against a common enemy.

Regardless of the box office success of the Venom films, including Venom: The Last Dance, many viewers feel that the movie portrayal of this character has fallen short and represents a missed opportunity. Although Tom Hardy gives an exceptional performance as the character, demonstrating his dedication, the franchise is constrained by certain limitations, some of which are beyond its control.

Generally recognized as a formidable enemy of Spider-Man in comics, Venom is currently bound to Sony’s Spider-Man cinematic universe. This means that, unlike Spider-Man who is jointly owned by Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios, Venom is solely owned by Sony. As a result, the narrative restrictions prevent Venom from directly opposing Spider-Man on screen. Instead, the studio has chosen to portray Venom as an anti-hero rather than a full-blown villain, which deviates slightly from his more sinister comic book origins but doesn’t necessarily diminish his status as one of Marvel’s iconic villains and characters.

Venom’s Origins Are Connected to Spider-Man

For the first time, Spider-Man encountered an extraterrestrial symbiote during the 1985 Secret Wars comic series. In the heat of battle, Spider-Man’s suit was damaged, and he later returned to Earth with a new, black suit. However, it soon became clear that this suit was actually a living organism, eager to merge with him. This symbiote had a detrimental effect on Spider-Man, causing his character to become volatile and stray from his original virtues.

In time, he discovers a method to repel the creature using soundwaves from a church bell tower, exploiting its vulnerabilities. Coincidentally, Eddie Brock, our protagonist, was at the same church, filled with rage and despair over his circumstances, making him an ideal candidate for the symbiote’s next host. Now known as Venom, Eddie has unfinished business with Spider-Man, but it’s not just him – the alien lifeform he discarded also harbors a grudge. Remarkably, since it was once bonded with the web-crawling hero, it now possesses knowledge of his secret identity as Peter Parker. This information is now under the control of a more powerful Eddie Brock.

The initial choice to present Venom as an anti-hero prior to establishing his complex relationship with Spider-Man was a mistake in bringing Venom to the big screen. This is because, in the comics, both Eddie and the symbiote harbor a strong desire for revenge against Spider-Man, making them one of his toughest foes. The issue lies in the fact that Peter Parker, the alter ego of Spider-Man, remains unaware of their existence as they plot against him. In the comics, Venom was able to bypass Spider-Man’s spidey sense by knocking him off a building he was scaling and pushing him in front of a moving subway, actions that wouldn’t typically trigger his spider senses due to their shared symbiote history.

Initially, he appears akin to someone creeping and hiding, tormenting Spider-Man stealthily from the shadows. He even targets Mary Jane, his wife, as a lure for their first significant confrontation. Out in the open, Spider-Man understands that the symbiote has fused with Eddie Brock. He’s equally or more powerful than him, and he knows Spider-Man’s true identity, posing a threat to his loved ones, much like how Norman Osborn’s Green Goblin endangered his friends and family before leading to the demise of his girlfriend, Gwen Stacy. Another challenge in vanquishing Venom is that, once the symbiote has bonded with Brock fully, it can’t be annihilated without also ending Brock’s life.

The comics and “Spider-Man: The Animated Series” on Fox delve deeply into many aspects of the story, including the origin of Venom. Although designed for children, the series successfully conveyed crucial story points, starting with Peter Parker acquiring the symbiote, which later bonds with Eddie to create Venom. The Venom storyline in the animated series doesn’t span many episodes but features multiple appearances by Venom, underscoring his significance as a formidable adversary for Spider-Man – a role that the films haven’t fully captured, leaving a significant chunk of Venom’s backstory and history underdeveloped.

The Venom Movies Also Diluted Another Key Villain

The situation becomes more complicated with the release of the 2021 film sequel “Venom: Let There Be Carnage,” as it introduces the character of Cletus Kasady, also known as Carnage, portrayed by Woody Harrelson. Originally created by David Michelinie and Erik Larsen, this character made his debut in The Amazing Spider-Man issue 344 in 1991, being one of the most notorious figures to host the symbiote, a relation to Venom’s offspring.

As I find myself growing attached to this mysterious entity that’s taken over my life, this ruthless killer named Kasady begins to wreak havoc. Already a menace with his lethal instincts, he encounters the alien force while sharing a cell with me after Spider-Man apprehended us. Transformed into Carnage, he manages to escape from prison and becomes a relentless adversary for both Venom and myself. His brutal nature and extreme danger escalate, leading to a trail of gruesome killings that make life difficult for both of us superheroes.

The Venom movies have both been given a PG-13 rating, which isn’t perfect for the character, but it’s not too problematic when considering the 2018 film. However, this issue becomes more significant with the release of Let There Be Carnage, as the content naturally calls for a level of intensity that exceeds what is permissible under the PG-13 rating.

In the film, the portrayal of Carnage and his reign of terror is merely a glimpse compared to his terrifying depiction in the comics. This character, who was pivotal in a 14-part crossover titled “Maximum Carnage” in 1993 that spanned all Spider-Man titles, was a fan favorite due to his captivating villainy. However, the film version fails to capture even a fraction of the impact he had in Marvel Comics.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage Needed Spider-Man

In the original comics, it became evident that Spider-Man couldn’t stand against Carnage’s madness, leading to an unusual partnership with Venom. Since Venom harbors a deep-seated animosity towards Spider-Man, he isn’t exactly a conventional villain. Instead, his goal is to make life miserable for our friendly neighborhood hero. Inflicting suffering on others, however, doesn’t align with Venom’s nature. If Venom had been introduced through Spider-Man and the storyline had culminated in a showdown against Carnage, it could have provided an excellent platform to depict Venom as the anti-hero envisioned for the films. However, without the connection to Spider-Man, this narrative shift resulted in another opportunity lost.

Adapting comic books into films will never be entirely flawless due to the inherent differences between the two mediums. Some elements that shine in the pages of a comic book might not translate as effectively on the big screen. For instance, Venom’s transformation into somewhat of a hero in the comics begins following his abduction of Spider-Man’s parents, leading to a violent struggle between them. This confrontation eventually ends with Spider-Man rescuing Eddie Brock’s ex-wife, Anne Weying (portrayed by Michelle Williams in the movies), from a plummeting Ferris wheel. This selfless act lays the groundwork for a truce and sets Venom on a path as a protector, eventually leading to their alliance during the Maximum Carnage crossover event where they join forces to vanquish Cletus Kasady and his alien symbiote.

The omission of certain connections has been detrimental to the character’s development, hindering his transformation from a villain into the character we know from the 1993 “Venom: Lethal Protector” comic book story arc.

It remains uncertain when readers can witness Venom’s origins unfold on the silver screen in their full glory, as Sony retains the rights to the character and has no plans to relinquish them. While there have been discussions about Tom Hardy’s portrayal of Venom eventually intersecting with Spider-Man, portrayed by Tom Holland, within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, this union may not deliver the narrative origins that fueled their complex rivalry and eventual alliance, which were so captivating on paper.

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2024-10-16 05:32