Sony’s Venom trilogy, featuring Tom Hardy in the titular role, was the studio’s first attempt to utilise the Marvel Spider-Man characters they own the film rights without actually using Spider-Man, who they have licensed backed to Marvel Studios. The first film, released in 2018, explores the origin story of Eddie Brock, a journalist who becomes the host for an alien symbiote. Hardy’s portrayal brings a gritty, yet humorous edge to the character, making him both a dangerous anti-hero and a sympathetic figure. While the film was notable for its action-packed sequences and the dynamic between Brock and Venom, the flaw was in the villain which was just another alien symbiote, which made some of the fights incoherent and visually uninteresting.
The first sequel, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, arrived in 2021, further develop the complex relationship between Brock and Venom and introduced Carnage, portrayed by Woody Harrelson, Venom’s main villain from the comics. This sequel delivers a thrilling showdown and dives deeper into the darker tones of the storyline, but again the film suffers from the villain just being another version of the hero. Hardy’s charismatic performance manages to drag the film up in watchability but the sort run-time, barely scraping an hour and a half, hints that the film makers were struggling to make something cohesive.
Sony has just release the trilogy capper, Venom: The Last Dance, which Hardy has stated is his last go round with the character. While it will undoubtable be a commercial succuss, the signs are that is will be another critical failure for the Sony Spider-Man Universe.
Here are our rankings for the Venom trilogy.
3. Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021)
2. Venom (2018)
1. Venom: The Last Dance (2024)
What’s your rankings for the Venom films? Comment below.
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