Venom is a terrible movie from start to finish so I think it's fair to say that no one will blame you for giving it a miss this Friday. In fact, that's probably the most sensible thing you can do because watching it is honestly about as enjoyable as sitting through Catwoman or 2015's Fantastic Four reboot again.
Regardless of whether you've decided to give it a miss or simply want to know what to expect, what you'll find below is a breakdown of the movie's biggest (and dumbest) moments; not to mention answers to many of the questions you may have had, including whether certain characters make cameo appearances and how things like the symbiote and those after-credits scenes are handled.
So, to check out this spoilery list in its entirety, simply click on the "View List" button down below.
There Are No Other Symbiotes In The Movie
Despite the trailers teasing a number of symbiotes (many of whom factored into both of the comic book storylines this movie is supposed to be based on), all we see here are Riot and Venom. There's no sign of Carnage - we'll tell you a little more about him later - and absolutely nothing from the likes of Scream, Agony, and Lasher. Instead, the other symbiotes just shrivel up and die quickly upon arrival.
It's an underwhelming way to handle them and while it was probably a smart move not to fill Venom with too many of these aliens, even Riot barely ends up getting a significant amount of screentime.
How Eddie Brock Becomes Venom
In the comic books, Eddie Brock becomes Venom during a truly atmospheric and memorable chain of events which sees him contemplating suicide in a church before the symbiote drops down onto him and then transforms the unhinged former journalist into one of Spider-Man's greatest enemies.
Here, Eddie is stumbling through the Life Foundation, breaks out a homeless woman he's befriended and then immediately becomes infected by the symbiote. That's it. The whole thing just happens by chance and is pretty underwhelming. It's also never explained how or why Eddie - and Carlton - are able to achieve symbiosis when so many other test subjects quickly die upon being bonded with them.
They Spoiled The Ending In The Trailers...Again!
Do you remember when Sony showed the final scene from The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (the wall-crawler's battle with Rhino) in the sequel's trailers? Well, the same thing happens again in Venom as that "turd in the wind" and "We are Venom!" sequence from the final preview is how the movie ends! This takes away the impact the scene is supposed to have and is such a typical move by the studio.
There is all of twenty seconds of additional footage as Eddie walks down the street chatting to the symbiote about being a parasite but it's hard to believe Sony could repeat such a criticised mistake.
She-Venom
There's not much you can say about Venom which is good, but the movie does hold one surprise and it's actually pretty cool. That's the moment when an unsuspecting Ann Weying ends up delivering the symbiote to Eddie, becoming She-Venom in the process!
Looking like she's stepped straight out of the comic books, it's an undeniable treat to see the character on screen...and then it's ruined by She-Venom making out with Eddie. Why doesn't she end up dying after bonding with it?!
How Carlton Drake Becomes Riot
Venom isn't the only one who gets an origin story here as we also witness Carlton Drake become Riot. While his plan is never fully explained, he basically wants to bring the symbiotes to Earth in a bid to save it and when he's paired up with Riot, that plan is taken to the next level (the symbiote wants to use his fellow aliens to take over the planet for reasons which are, once again, unexplained).
In a series of scenes which feel like they were edited in just to bring the movie to the 90-minute mark, we follow Riot as he jumps from host to host in a bid to finally travel to America where he immediately takes over Carlton Drake. The whole thing is pretty lame and neither character is fleshed out well.
The Violence Is Extreme(ly Tame)
From day one, those involved with Venom have promised an R-Rated spectacle. Then, when the movie was released, they all claimed that the plan was always to make it PG-13 and that it would push the boundaries of that rating. It doesn't. Aside from an F-Bomb, there's nothing here which will please fans looking for blood and guts. In fact, there's not so much as a single scene here featuring any of that.
Heads are devoured offscreen and it all happens so quick, you'd be hard pressed to know it had happened if it wasn't for Venom saying so. In fact, everyone seems pretty non-plussed by all the headless corpses which are lying around the place! There's nothing here which is even close to an R.
Carnage
As expected, the mid-credits scene introduces Cletus Kasady. Played by Woody Harrelson, the actor has been given a curly red wig and looks kind of ridiculous as he spouts the cliched lines of what is clearly a stereotypical serial killer.
After writing "Welcome Eddie" in his own blood inside his cell (despite not having any visible wounds while wearing a straight jacket), he promises that there will be "carnage" when he finally gets out of prison. Do you see what they did there? Honestly, this sucks big time.
Stan Lee Makes A Cameo Appearance
In a pretty unexpected move (particularly as he didn't create the character) Stan Lee makes a cameo appearance when he tells Eddie that both he and Venom shouldn't give up trying to win Ann back.
You see, she's shacked up with a doctor - who is actually a really nice guy that tries to help Eddie at numerous points throughout the movie - but of course we should root for Eddie to hook up with her again, especially after he invaded her privacy by hacking into her emails and cost her her job. On the plus side, Venom's response to meeting Lee is fairly amusing and one of the few funny moments.
The Way The Symbiotes Are Used Makes No Sense
Venom is a movie crammed full of lazy plot holes so if you're hoping that the script is even remotely cohesive, then you'll be disappointed. Most of these come with the symbiotes.
Carlton Drake uses one to murder Life Foundation scientist Dora Skirth but when he's bonded with Riot, it works first time. Near the end of the movie, Venom is destroyed in a fiery explosion but by the final scene, they're back together with no explanation as to how the symbiote managed to survive his apparent demise.
A New Dynamic With The Symbiotes
In the comics, the human is always in control of the symbiote and while they have been shown to have their own personalities and even talk to their hosts, the dynamic is changed in a big way. Venom is completely in charge of Eddie who is only along for the ride when he's in action. During these times, Eddie talks to Venom and when Eddie is just Eddie, Venom talks to him; they're two separate people.
This means that Venom isn't really the symbiote and Eddie combined to make, well, Venom. Instead, Eddie is just an unwilling host who tries to guide the symbiote down the right path. It's just plain lame.
The After-Credits Scene Is Spoiled Before It's Even Shown
Need further proof that Sony is just flat out dumb? Well, while you're patiently waiting for the after-credits scene - which features a scene from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse which is better than the entire movie - the music credits for Venom come on screen, one of which mentions (you guessed it) Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
Yes, Sony spoiled the fact that we'd be getting a sneak peek of that before it's even shown and then, for some reason, the credits keep playing once the preview is over.
They Actually Changed How Symbiote Is Pronounced
Remember when the Venom trailer came out and everyone was quick to point out that Jenny Slate was pronouncing "symbiote" incorrectly? Well, Sony clearly realised they screwed up because regardless of whether it's of reshoots or ADR, she now says it the right way throughout, as does everyone else.
It's a small thing but also unintentionally hilarious that the movie somehow got it wrong in the first place. How much do you want to bet that's the way Avi Arad pronounces it and no one corrected him?
Eddie Brock Has History In New York
There aren't a lot of Easter Eggs in Venom but we do learn that Eddie used to live in New York City and wrote for the Globe. Unfortunately, there's no mention of the Sin-Eater debacle or The Daily Bugle but we do learn that he did something wrong there which led to him moving to San Francisco with Ann.
In the movie, Eddie is actually a reporter who posts videos online for a news agency but by the time the story wraps up, he's back to being a regular reporter. That's sort of a step in the right direction.
There's No Mention Of Spider-Man
Despite rumours to the contrary, there's no mention of Spider-Man here and Tom Holland's Peter Parker most definitely doesn't make a cameo appearance. This was to be expected but we do at least get to see Miles Morales and Peter in the after-credits scene...during that Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse preview.
Honestly, that animated feature looks somewhere around 100x better than Venom and it's just a shame the symbiote isn't appearing in the film as he probably would have been done justice.
Eddie Brock's Weird Behaviour
Here's a list of things Tom Hardy does as Eddie Brock throughout this cringe-worthy excuse of a movie:
- Jumps in a lobster tank and starts eating them alive
- Responds "Aches and pains, aches and pains" when a storekeeper asks how he is
- Eats raw chicken and tater tots and then throws up
- Knocks himself out in the shower
- Wimps out of asking his neighbour to turn down his music by shaking furiously
- Makes out with the symbiote
Venom's New Powers
Because Spider-Man is nowhere to be seen in Venom, the symbiote gets some new powers. He no longer sticks to walls and instead just uses his claws to smash into them, similar to The Hulk. He also doesn't have webbing so there's no swinging and he frequently uses tentacles to attack enemies. However, he is still vulnerable to fire and sound but makes a point of telling everyone for some reason.
Are you guys still planning to see Venom or do you not have much interest in Sony's spinoff? As always, be sure to let us know your thoughts on that in the comments section down below.