I did not like the first Venom film. And as much as me even bringing that up again is just adding more fuel to the underlying “critics hate movies that audiences actually like” conversation… fucking hell, that entire line of thinking, predicated on insisting that film critics might as well be a completely different species than every other kind of filmgoer, is one of the most annoying parts of the larger conversation regarding cinema. I mean, it’s a superhero film made by one of the biggest studios working today; it doesn’t need to be defended like it’s this groundbreaking indie underdog. At any rate, we now have a sequel, and what is being presented here is not only a lot more likeable than what came before, it’s honestly a comic book idea that hasn’t really been done before on the big screen.
With neither Jeff Pinker nor Scott Rosenberg returning as writers, Kelly Marcel is going it alone, working off a story idea she and Tom Hardy conceived of together. That might be why this film’s tone is a lot more consistent. Don’t get me wrong, there’s some undeniably cornball lines in this thing (it even rips off a joke from Full freaking House at one point), but there’s also a distinct lack of the try-hard edgelordisms that bugged me so much from the previous film. It strikes a nice balance between the dark appetite of the symbiote and healthy human emotion, something that every actor here is more than capable of working with.
Tom Hardy feels a lot more comfortable in his role here, both as Eddie Brock and as Venom, and he seems to know just how to play the Odd Couple energy of their relationship. Michelle Williams returning as Eddie’s ex adds some texture to the film’s central theme, Stephen Graham as a detective works alright for the largely-tangential role he’s been given, and the main villains are perfectly cast. Woody Harrelson is basically playing Cletus Kasady/Carnage as a superpowered version of Mickey Knox, albeit with more of a wilfully poetic edge to his dialogue, and Naomie Harris has that same wild look in her eyes as she did back in the Pirates Of The Caribbean sequels as Cletus’ lover Shriek. Not only are they dynamite on their own, their chemistry with each other is one of the linchpins for that central theme I hinted at before.
Said central theme basically takes one of the more intriguing ideas buried in the first Venom film, and bringing it right into the foreground: Eddie Brock and Venom not just as crime-fighting partners, but as… well, domestic, possibly even romantic partners. The entire film is basically a subversive and melodramatic rom-com, with Eddie and Venom bickering with each other like an old married couple and, when they briefly separate (thankfully not just before the third act), Venom declares that he is “out of the Eddie closet”. There is zero subtlety to this, and with Eddie depicted as the one still in the closet, Williams’ Anne as his former beard, and Cletus/Carnage and Shriek showing the darker side of that relationship dynamic, what was a minor point before has become the only point of this new film.
And quite frankly, even for how singular the writing gets and how, despite the fresh coat of symbiotic paint, the plot beats themselves aren’t that fresh, I really like this idea. The whole conceit of a superhero’s secret identity has always had this queer dimension to it, all about hiding your true self for fear of how your loved ones and the rest of the world will treat you, yet it hasn’t been looked at while we are currently being dominated by studios wanting a piece of the MCU pie. And hell, Marvel themselves have been treating the idea of genuine queer representation with such kid gloves for so many years (something blessedly changed with Eternals), it’s almost like the industry is ashamed of the idea.
As a result, rather than using Venom as a vehicle for grimdark shenanigans, he is instead shown as an example of the Other, the alternative, the thing that scares because no one else understands it. My favourite scene of the whole film has nothing to do with Carnage and Venom clobbering each other, but right after Eddie briefly sees Anne for dinner. Venom basically exists to eat brains (or chocolate if such things aren’t available), but when Eddie is hurt by the unrequited love, he cares about him. And with that, it shows that their relationship to be truly symbiotic, where they both benefit from their connection to each other. It’s quite beautiful, in its own murky way.
Director Andy Serkis, having spent decades getting audiences to truly feel for motion-capture creations on the big screen, has now turned that ability towards humanising Venom, turning him and Eddie into unironic relationship goals with just how well they work together in all aspects of life. I may have my reservations about how plain some of the romantic beats get here, and I still maintain that the writing isn’t amazing or anything, but as a properly queer-coded superhero flick (well, if such on-the-nose messaging even counts as ‘coded’), I’m already in love with this thing existing at all, let alone being this entertaining. It’s a love story for those with darker appetites.
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