Can Sony's Venom Movie Work Without a True Hero?

The marketing for the upcoming Venom, directed by Ruben Fleischer, has made one thing very clear: this will not be your typical superhero film. Venom is not a heroic character. The trailers have indicated that Venom will eat his victims -- which he does fairly often in the comics -- and that he won't exactly be driven by a desire to do good.

As you'd expect from an antihero, Venom is an extremely violent creature and far from your typical virtue-driven hero. Fleischer said as much in interviews and added that his film "feels distinctive from a lot of the other superhero movies, in part because there's no real hero in it." That's what we'll be exploring here. Will Venom bring something new to the genre as Fleischer says it will, or is this somewhat of an exaggeration to get fans excited?

Unsurprisingly, there are a multitude of similar characters from comic books or classic literature to ancient folklore. At his core, Venom is a creature comprised of two conflicting beings: Eddie Brock and the symbiote. One represents the flawed and reserved human, while the other embodies the more primitive and unrestrained aspects of humanity, such as desire and rage.

Comparisons have been made between Venom and werewolves, for example, which stem from ancient European folklore and heavily influenced gothic literature, which gave us classic characters of dual nature such as Robert Louis Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, another character that shares undeniable similarities to Venom. But we're talking about superheroes, here, and Fleischer said that he was bringing something new to the genre, presumably referring to comic book films. Which raises the question, can Venom truly offer something we haven't already seen?

Venom will be far from the first mainstream antihero to grace cinema screens, even if we limit ourselves to looking at Marvel characters. In 2004, we had The Punisher and the character was adapted in 2008 with Punisher: War Zone. Frank Castle as a character is quite similar to Venom and not just because they seem to share the same sense of style when it comes to mixing colors. For example, more often than not, neither of them differentiate between the severity of the crime when it comes to punishing criminals. So let's take a look at how the Punisher fared as a film character.

Both films were poorly received by critics due to similar reasons. They focused on violence and gore as opposed to any true exploration of the character, making the films somewhat difficult to sit through. The difference is The Punisher was almost devoid of any humor and Punisher: War Zone learned its lesson, in a way, by being completely absurd about its violence. Ask almost any fan, and they'll tell you that those films were enjoyable regardless. Whether Venom will be as dark as either of the Punisher films remains to be seen, but if it's to compete with the current quality of mainstream superhero films, it has to offer something more than humor and violence.

Page 2: [valnet-url-page page=2 paginated=0 text='For%20Venom%20To%20Succeed%2C%20Sony%20Should%20Take%20a%20Page%20From%20the%20MCU%27s%20Hulk%20Playbook']

In order for Venom to succeed, there needs to be some amount of depth, but is that possible for an antihero whose major traits are ferociousness and a stifled sense of morality? Luckily, there is at least one other popular superhero who can provide us with an answer, and that is the Incredible Hulk.

There have been several adaptations of the angry green giant over the past few decades but it seems filmmakers have only recently mastered the Hulk as a film character.

Make no mistake, it's no easy feat. The Hulk as a character is quite restrictive when it comes to storytelling. Bruce Banner is a fully functioning human being who can communicate his thoughts and feelings, while the Hulk is often pretty much limited to enraged roars and the eloquence of a toddler.

With 2003's Hulk (directed by Ang Lee) came Hollywood's first serious adaptation of the character and while it was far from a failure, its generally lukewarm reception made studios nervous about giving the Hulk more screen time. Critics found the film to be lacking in gamma fuelled action and far too ponderous about its characters, particularly Bruce Banner. It wasn't until the Marvel Cinematic Universe began that the Hulk was given his second chance with his solo film, The Incredible Hulk (directed by Louis Leterrier), which came close but still missed the mark, resulting in a hollow, action-filled experience.

The MCU, however, has learned how to deal with the Hulk. The character works better as part of an ensemble; it's why he worked in The Avengers and Thor: Ragnarok, even though he failed when required to hold up a solo film.

Luckily for Sony, Venom does not present nearly as many constraints. Eddie Brock and the symbiote are completely capable of having a discussion between themselves, which we briefly see in the recent trailer. What that shows us is that it may be easier for Venom to find the kind of balance that the Hulk films never could, which, if executed correctly, would be fantastic.

So what should we be looking in a film like Venom, assuming the screenwriters and the director have learned from the mistakes of past films? Balance is key. Venom is a violent character, and comic book fans will be expecting some amount of animalistic rage but that shouldn't be a reason to ignore the potential for character exploration.

The whole point of the stories on which the upcoming film is based -- Venom: Lethal Protector and Planet of the Symbiotes -- is the development of Eddie Brock as he comes to terms with who he is in relation to the symbiote. His story isn't simply about a crime-fighting monster, because he's not a hero. He's someone trying to keep his evil nature in check, choosing to unleash it on those who are perhaps more evil than himself. It's made clear with the union of a character like Eddie Brock and the alien symbiote. If Venom can show us that, then it will truly bring something new to the genre, while presenting fans with a faithful adapation of a beloved character.

So if Fleischer isn't just exaggerating for the sake of marketing, we should see equal parts of character growth and conflict and action, in such a way that Venom as a character will end up feeling like a truly multifaceted creature as opposed to another gimmick of two characters sharing one body lacking believable conflict. Marketing for the film thus far hasn't given us any reason to believe this will be a particularly meaningful depiction of Venom -- even if it is ultimately enjoyable -- but of course, it's impossible to know for sure until the film is released. So we're still hopeful that, much like Fleischer has promised, Venom will bring something new to the table.

Directed by Ruben Fleischer, Venom stars Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Jenny Slate, Scott Haze, Reid Scott and Riz Ahmed. In theaters October 5th.