Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Venom: Let There Be Carnage.
The symbiotic sequel Venom: Let There Be Carnage is clearly designed to “fix” its first installment by leaning into the strange qualities that made the film a success with domestic audiences. Venom has long been one of the most popular villains in Marvel Comics canon, but his luck on the big screen has at times been sub-par. The alien symbiote made his cinematic debut in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 3, played by Topher Grace, with this version of Venom failing to strike a chord in the Marvel community.
Venom’s second bite of the cherry in 2018 bore much sweeter fruit, with Venom wielding a high audience rating despite the split critical consensus it continues to engender. Venom‘s success, to this day, is driven primarily through the odd-couple comedy dynamic between Eddie and Venom, which is something the Venom creative team did not initially anticipate as they strove for a darker tone to the symbiote drama….