Sony, who technically owns the rights to Spider-Man films, is in a very unique situation. They own a character that is only appearing in another company’s films, and those films are incredibly popular. Although Marvel continues to have access to Spider-Man, even recently there were confrontations and demands being made by both film studios with poor Tom Holland stuck in the middle. An agreement was clearly arrived at, or we wouldn’t have had Far From Home, but it’s hard to know quite what’s coming next. The answer increasingly seems to be Venom. And that’s caused a lot of fans of the MCU to start panicking.
The Problem with Venom
It’s not that the character of Venom is a bad move for the MCU, and the fact that he’s played by Tom Hardy can only be a good thing for Marvel films. Unfortunately, there’s already been one outing from Hardy’s Venom, and it was lacklustermore than anything. The character’s origin is so closely tied in with that of Spidey that watching a whole version of the story without Peter Parker was immediately off-putting.
Add in the lack of an R-rating and the fact that the film looked like it was made pre-Matrix, and it’s easy to see why fans are worried.
Of course, despite its flaws, it made millions at the box office. It’s the quality that’s the issue, and it seems that Sony is more than happy to squander great characters in the race to cash in on the superhero craze. When The Avengers is one of the films that changed pop culture, could Venom harm it that much?
There’s a Morbius film coming out this year if you weren’t convinced that Sony is just throwing everything at the wall and seeing what works. Of course, fan reaction to the Morbiustrailer was hysterical, and even The Verge has blasted it as ‘ridiculous.’
The Popularity of Venom
According to research carried out by CashLady, Venom is one of the most popular superhero characters in the world. Hero might be stretching it a bit, but it’s easy to see why the alien symbiote has such devoted fans. It’s crazy to think that out of all of Spider-Man’s rogue’s gallery, Venom has appeared twice on the big screen now, and failed to impress on both occasions. Sam Raimi’s finger-gunning Venom/Parker is meta enough to have appeared in Into the Spider-Verse, and Hardy muttering something about turds floating in the wind isn’t exactly the quality writing that we’ve come to expect from the MCU.
Brace Yourselves
With Kevin Feige seemingly boxed into a corner, it now seems inevitable that we’re going to get to see Tom Hardy as Venom in the MCU. Hopefully, Sony will be kept away from the script and any decisions.
It’s clear that they are trying to build their own cinematic universe, with the trailer for Morbius hinting at more Spidey than was expected.
How well Jared Leto can carry another 90s looking film and a character that few outside the comic fanbase have heard of is anyone guess, but it’s not boding well. Could Sony be planning their own version of the Sinister Six? The weirdest Sinister Six lineup ever, but it might be worth it just to watch the madness!
The MCU might have been able to take down Thanos, but even that took a couple of tries. While Venom might not quite kill off the MCU, Sony’s involvement certainly might. Of course, if Morbius is better than the trailer made it out to be, it could be an exciting new direction for the MCU to take.
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