When Venom was announced, fans immediately started salivating over the prospect of seeing Venom do battle with Carnage. Pitting the two fan-favourite symbiotes against each other was a no-brainer and no matter how good or bad the movie ended up being, it would have been a genuine treat to see them come to blows. So, it makes perfect sense that Eddie Brock ended up facing Riot instead, right?
According to director Ruben Fleischer, yes. In a new interview, the filmmaker bizarrely admits to knowing that fans wanted to see Carnage here and then says that was the reason he wasn't included!
"I think, you know, there’s a certain symbiote spawn that I think fans are most excited to see. So that one was off the table," Fleischer said. "Hopefully at some point in the future they will. Um, so we wanted to save kind of the most anticipated one for the future. And not just that, but because we really wanted this movie to be about Venom." Honestly, that really doesn't make much sense.
Carlton Drake and Riot probably have more screentime in Venom than the titular character, and Fleischer than went on to say that one of the main reasons he was chosen was because...he looks cool.
"And so, it was just honestly kind of like, who’s the coolest looking spawn who isn’t that one? The most badass, you know? That’s where Riot came from. He’s the biggest of the Life Foundation symbiotes, he’s got that gun metal grey. I don’t want to say it was purely an aesthetic decision, but the aesthetics definitely played a big part." What are your thoughts on these strange remarks?