7 Things You Should Love About VENOM

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By Marc Butterfield

The movie VENOM has been getting a lot of hate, despite its respectable numbers at the box office. (Global numbers to date are $461.2M)

One of Marvel’s greatest and most complex characters takes center stage as Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) becomes the host for the alien symbiote Venom. As a journalist, Eddie has been trying to take down the notorious founder of the Life Foundation, genius Carlton Drake (Riz Ahmed) – and that obsession ruined his career and his relationship with his girlfriend, Anne Weying (Michelle Williams). Upon investigating one of Drake’s experiments, the alien Venom merges with Eddie’s body, and he suddenly has incredible new superpowers, as well as the chance to do just about whatever he wants. Twisted, dark, unpredictable, and fueled by rage, Venom leaves Eddie wrestling to control dangerous abilities that he also finds empowering and intoxicating. As Eddie and Venom need each other to get what they’re looking for, they become more and more intertwined — where does Eddie end and Venom begin?

Marvel Comics Fundamentalists say it strays too far from the original material, or just generally hate that it’s still being held captive outside of the mainstream MCU. My personal take is that Venom as a character wouldn’t function as a hero in the MCU (can you imagine Cap condoning the casual murder and cannibalism of anyone, even bad guys?).

So here is a list of 7 things that you should love about the Character and director Ruben Fleischer’s VENOM.

1. It has a good sense of humor about itself.  The symbiote even admitting that what it and Eddie Brock have in common is that they are both losers.

2. It crammed in a LOT of Venom’s past in a short time, without leaving the non-comic book fan too confused.

3. Interesting use of the characters powers…without adding powers that never existed in the comics.

4. Exploring how having two beings sharing a rather fluid new physical form might fight for dominance.

5. Eddie Brock was a self-righteous jerk, and the Symbiote was just here to help take over. Both grew beyond their original template.

6. Tom Hardy was mostly coherent, occasionally even enunciating. Perhaps an alien bonding was all he really needed.

7. An absolutely ruthless disposal of extras. The aliens ate you from the inside out if they didn’t bond. How delicious.

Photo Credit: Courtesy Sony Pictures © 2017

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