Venom, hitting theaters October 5th, is the alien symbiote’s first proper cinematic appearance apart from 2007’s Spider-Man 3… So, it’s entirely possible that this will be the first time it shows up in a good movie. And that’s an occasion worth celebrating because the character has a long, entertaining history in the comics, and it’s about time Hollywood did Venom justice.
It helps that Tom Hardy is playing both the gloop and its host, Eddie Brock, and in accordance with his acting method, he seems to have devised wonderfully silly voices for both characters.
Venom is an Anti-hero
The movie is based on the “Lethal Protector” comic series, which reimagined the traditionally villainous Venom as an anti-hero. This means that he’ll be busier threatening and maiming muggers than trying to kill Spider-Man, with whom he has a troubled history.
Eddie Brock is an Investigative Journalist
Brock is a journalist in both the comics and this movie. In print, he’s traditionally a photojournalist, which puts him in direct rivalry with Peter Parker. But Movie Eddie is more of an investigative journalist — which could put him in the path of some less-than-wholesome characters.
In the books, Venom is the first of its kind to visit Earth, and other freaky alien characters, like Carnage, are spawned by it — the thing has “seeds” inside of it for reproduction. We know from the trailers that Venom is going to fight other symbiotes in the movie. But whether these are its “children” or just unrelated isn’t yet clear.
A Doomsday Cult
We also know that the film’s story involves The Life Foundation. Infamous in the pages of Marvel Comics, they’re basically a doomsday cult with a lot of resources. They think the end of the world is coming, so they’re doing things like building a bunch of underground shelters like the ones in Fallout. Like the movie version, they’re interested in Venom’s species, so much so that they take five Venom “seeds” to make their own gooey, half-alien security force.
The Other Symbiotes
Their names are Agony, Phage, Scream, Lasher, and Riot, because even if you’re a terrifying alien parasite with shapeshifting superpowers, nobody’s going to take you seriously if your name is Steve.
So, will they make an appearance in the movie? We’ve seen what looks like Riot in the trailers, but that doesn’t rule out a huge CG battle royale between six gloop monsters at the end of the movie.
You can find out for sure when Venom gloops into theaters October 5th.
