Comic book movie fans know better. A director or producer feeds us some line about a new, updated version of a character. We're supposed to get super excited about a "realistic" depiction of a hero or villain, when actually, all we want to see is something close to the source material that we know and love.
The folks over at Sony are still trying to figure out some magical formula for success. They ruined Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy because they insisted on too many villains in Spider-Man 3. Then, in Amazing Spider-Man 2, they made the exact. same. mistake.
Basically, Sony is looking for ways to make profitable films without sharing with Marvel in financial or creative ways, like they will have to do with upcoming Spider-Man films. Their solution is apparently this Venom film…unconnected to Spidey…which would be a disaster. Look, I get it, they want to make money. I’m sure they have all sorts of analysts trying to predict the next big trend. Those analysts are probably busy saying they can make millions on an R-rated Venom film because Deadpool was so successful. But Deadpool wasn’t successful because it was rated R, it was successful because Deadpool is an amazingly popular character and Ryan Reynolds made sure they stuck to the source material.
Doctor Doom (twice), Bane (from Batman and Robin), Galactus, Parallax, the list goes on. What will it take to actually make a good cinematic version of these characters? Just pick up a blasted comic book and stop trying to reinvent the wheel. So there’s the big “secret.” Make a quality film that respects the source material. People will come to watch. It really is that simple. So, that being said, here’s how to do that with Spider-Man, Venom, and all the symbiotes.
1. Space!
The Venom symbiote needs to come from outer space. Not from a lab. When Spidey is stuck on Earth, like in Spider-Man 3, sure, a crash landing of sorts is fine, but with this new MCU Spider-Man, we’re not stuck on Earth.
In the comics, Spider-Man gets his black symbiote suit while fighting in the Secret Wars. Since the suit doesn’t really come into play in that storyline, its a pretty easy switch to have him discover it in the MCU’s next Avengers films, which will involve the Infinity Wars. With the amount of characters they will be needing, I’m sure Spider-Man is a strong possibility for appearing in those films. Let him find the suit there. Oh, and it better not be just a black version of his usual suit. Make sure the spider is the big, white one, no webbing needed.
2. Back in Black
Give Spider-Man a full movie with his black suit.
Everything seems so rushed when you try to have Spider-Man discover the symbiote and get rid of it in the same film. Spidey could find the suit near the end of Infinity Wars Part 1, and have it for the remainder of the second film. That way there’s some time to see the slow decay of the symbiote getting into Peter’s brain and you don’t need to have an entire solo Spider-Man film to set up Venom.
3. Introduce Eddie Brock Early
We need to buy into Eddie’s hatred of Spider-Man. Put him on the Bugle staff when Parker shows up. Let him get jealous because Parker is the new kid who folks like, and let him hate Spidey because he’s “in the way of a good story,” but make us care about him. He should be a foil to Peter, who wants to do the right thing the right way. Brock sees that the ends justify the means. We need to feel sorry for him, because it would be some great cinema to have Eddie try to commit suicide, but be saved by a recently cast off symbiote, drawn to Eddie’s emotional state and desire for revenge against Parker and Spider-Man, the “two” men who destroyed his career.
4. A Trilogy of Sorts
After Infinity Wars, Spidey should battle Venom in a solo film. There’s plenty of ways to do this, but the key would be the ending, where the symbiote is removed from Brock, and he is sent off to share a cell with Cletus Kassady in prison. That’s film one, with Spider-Man in the lead roll and Venom as villain.
Film two would be a solo Venom film: Lethal Protector. The symbiote returns and breaks Eddie out of jail. Rather than fighting Spider-Man, he takes off to make a new name for himself as a “Lethal Protector” of the innocent. Much to Eddie's suprise (remember, he has next to no idea how the symbiote works), the symbiote reproduces, creating Scream, Phage, Riot, Lasher, and Agony, who run amok in the city’s homeless population. Venom battles the new symbiotes and destroys them. In a post-credits scene, we get a glimpse of one final symbiote offspring, left behind in Cletus Kasady’s cell.
Film three could be another Spider-Man film, (or an Avengers film). In it, the final Venom offspring bonds with Kasady, creating Carnage. Carnage breaks out of jail, leaving a trail of bodies. Spider-Man shows up, and nearly killed as well. Later, Carnage sees footage of Venom fighting crime in San Francisco. Wanting to kill his “father,” Carnage sets out for California, leaving a trail of corpses in his wake as he makes his way across America. In a final showdown, Spider-Man and Venom converge and defeat Carnage. To make it an Avengers film, add more super-villains that end up teaming with Carnage, or add a symbiote army.
Another wrinkle could have Carnage framing Venom for some murders, which would give Brock enough incentive to team up with Spidey. Basically, adapt the Maximum Carnage storyline, or the Carnage U.S.A. one.
I’m pretty flexible with these options, but they do a good job of hitting all the main points. People want to see a good version of Venom on the big screen, and it will be too bad if Sony mucks it up.
Any suggestions?
Original article here.