On October 5, 2018, the Spider-Man spin-off Venom will be released in RealD 3D, Dolby Cinema and IMAX in the United States. The movie is centered on Eddie Brock, a journalist who becomes bonded to an alien symbiote and given powers. Originally a villain to Spider-Man, Venom branched off in the comics to become an anti-hero and that’s the angle the solo movie will be taking.
You probably have questions about Venom and his big-screen reboot, and we’re here to answer them. Here are the five biggest questions about Venom, and the answers.
1. How is Venom connected to Spider-Man?
The Symbiote was first introduced as a living alien costume for the Web-Slinger in 1984’s The Amazing Spider-Man #252, but Spider-Man separated himself from the creature when he discovered its true evil nature. The symbiote seemed to be gone until it returned with its full first appearance in 1988’s The Amazing Spider-Man #300. At that point, the symbiote had bonded with Eddie Brock, a rival photojournalist who shared the creature’s hatred of Spider-Man. The two became a single entity calling itself Venom and became one of Spider-Man’s archenemies.
In Venom, it’s unclear how much Spider-Man will be mentioned but there’s no indication that he’ll be a part of it at all. Venom’s origin in the movie has changed so it has nothing to do with Spider-Man. In the movie, Eddie Brock is trying to rebuild his career as a journalist by investigating the mysterious Life Foundation. The Foundation has been experimenting on the alien symbiote and he accidentally comes into contact with the creature. When the symbiote bonds with Brock, he’s given superpowers and a shared goal.
2. What is Venom going to be rated?
Many fans have been campaigning for an R-rated Venom movie, based on his brutal and violent tactics in the comics. The success of the R-rated Deadpool also made people hope Venom would follow in its footsteps. However, the studio has officially announced that the movie will be rated PG-13.
While some of Venom’s fans will be disappointed, this is a safe bet for Sony which is already taking a chance by making a superhero movie about an anti-hero. Sony also hopes to one day connect its series with Marvel’s, and an R-rated version might make that more difficult. Yet the director has also insisted that Venom won’t be “kid-friendly” and will still be a lethal protector.
3. Where is the Venom movie taking place?
Spider-Man is all about New York City, so you’d be forgiven for thinking the Venom movie will be set there, too. In fact, Tom Hardy and others have confirmed that Venom will be set in San Francisco. That’s because the movie is partially inspired by the 1993 series Venom: Lethal Protector.
Lethal Protector was the series that set Venom on the path towards being an antihero. In the original comic, Spider-Man and Venom had a truce where they would leave each other alone as long as Venom didn’t commit crimes. To get away from Spider-Man, Venom moved from the East Coast to the West Coast and began fighting crime in San Francisco.
4. Who is Venom fighting in the movie?
If Spider-Man isn’t going to be fighting Venom, then who will? The key to making a villain a hero is to make another villain who’s worse. That’s the angle in the Venom movie.
Another element taken from the Lethal Protector series will be the Life Foundation and its creation Riot. In the movie, Riz Ahmed will be playing the head of the Life Foundation, Dr. Carlton Drake who will become bonded to a symbiote of his own, known as Riot. Riot will be trying to infect everyone on Earth with symbiotes. The movie Riot is unlike the Venom symbiote in that it jumps to different bodies, so we’ll probably see different people attach to Riot in the movie.
5. Why is Venom not in the MCU?
When Spider-Man made an appearance in Captain America: Civil War and later got his own spin-off in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, many fans seem to have gotten the impression that Sony gave its rights to Spider-Man to Marvel. That’s not the case. Sony still owns Spider-Man but has the hero “on loan” to Marvel where the character can make film appearances in the MCU while Sony gets a cut of the merchandising. Sony still owns Spider-Man and any characters or elements related to him.
But Sony isn’t content to just give all its rights to Marvel and walk away. That’s why it’s developing movies based on Spider-Man related characters like Venom and Black Cat. That also means Marvel needs Sony’s permission to use characters like Venom. However, there have been talks over creating a crossover so the two cinematic universes may connect at some point.
Venom is directed by Ruben Fleischer from a screenplay by Scott Rosenberg, Jeff Pinkner, and Kelly Marcel. It stars Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock / Venom, alongside Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed, Scott Haze, and Reid Scott.
What do you think of the Venom movie?
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