The Spider-Man spinoff for Venom has a release date, but please do it right.
With Spider-Man getting his third try, the studios now have their sights set on one of his greatest adversaries, Venom. With a release date set for October 5, 2018, we don’t know what to expect other than this spinoff will be a solo film leaving us questioning how much involvement we’ll get from Spider-Man. But for now, we can only hope that the studios take this popular nemesis and do him justice. With that said, I only hope that they pull from the right source material and steer clear of the Ultimate version of the character. Let me tell you why.
“The Marvel universe is expanding yet again, but this time in an unexpected way. It seems the Spider-Man universe will spawn a new solo Venom film, which has now been slated for October 5, 2018.”
Many fans complain about the Ultimate comics universe and I may be an outlier since I appreciated it more than the majority. “Ultimate Spider-Man” did a lot of things right and some things were better than the original. Peter’s relationship with Mary Jane was one of the most honest and fulfilling storylines I’ve ever read about the couple. They also created some unique reimaginings of other characters that drove a consistent storyline like Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus. However the worst part of the “Ultimate Spider-Man” run would have to be their version of Eddie Brock and his transformation into Venom. The character was simple, annoying, whiny, and not intimidating in the least. Much of what we disliked about Topher Grace in “Spider-Man 3” seemed to originate from this Ultimate version of the character. The story seemed rushed and lacked substance with about a 3 issue run, and came nowhere close to capturing what we fans loved about the original character.
The original comic book Eddie Brock/Venom was written as a near perfect villain for Spider-Man. Historically heroes and villains are the polar opposites of one another and while Spider-Man and Venom had similar powers, that was a mechanism to level playing field and show where the true battle began. Spider-Man met his match with his powers and no longer had the advantage of his precognitive spider sense since Venom was immune. Eddie Brock (Venom) towered over Peter Parker (Spider-Man) as a muscle-bound gym rat. When the symbiote turned Brock into Venom, it enhanced that strength while also mimicking Spider-Man’s powers. Peter on the other hand was more slender and toned making him more agile and quick. The essential battle was one of speed versus strength and this made for some suspenseful, engaging battles. It’s fair to say that since the initial Amazing Spider-Man run, the battle between Spider-Man and Venom has not been the same.
There have been a few different Venom hosts since Eddie Brock with the most prominent and successful being Flash Thompson. With “Spider-Man Homecoming’s” version of Flash being played by Tony Revolori, I hope that this 5’6″ actor is not expected to be the “venomous” powerhouse standing next to the 5’8″ Tom Holland. While appearance is negotiable in many roles, physical attributes are key in establishing the foundation of these two opposing characters. For this reason, I worry that we’ll see the same mistakes made with Venom that we’ve seen before and I also see the potential for infusing the Ultimate version of the character whether it be Brock or Thompson.
With a release date set for October 5, 2018, I hope that this second go at Venom is done properly so he isn’t misjudged and locked away in a vault like some other characters have been. Do the origin right and create proper opposition for Spider-Man from his personality, to his build, to the rivalry between the two characters.
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Source: ComicBook.com