Venom: Let There Be Carnage has one Venom-lore deep cut at the end of its trailer. Eddie and Venom are shown arguing with Mrs. Chen over chocolate deliveries. It seems that Mrs. Chen has a contract with Venom where, in exchange for chocolate, Venom will defend Mrs. Chen from attack. When the chocolate comes late, Venom considers eating Mrs. Chen instead -- to Eddie's dismissal.
To many fans, the idea of Venom craving chocolate might sound like a strange concept. While the symbiote did seem to hunger for tater tots with chocolate at the end of the last film, the symbiote's craving for chocolate sounds like something made for the films. However, it's actually something deeply rooted in the comic lore.
Venom: The Hunger For Chocolate
Following the events of The Amazing Spider-Man #375, Venom made an attempt to become a lethal protector. This sparked the first of many Venom mini-series, with Venom: Lethal Protector seeing the symbiote relocate to San Francisco to defend a subterranean community of people, fighting a new rogues gallery and trying to be good. This came with growing pains.
During the mini-series Venom: The Hunger, Eddie learns that the Klyntar symbiotes crave phenethylamine, a chemical developed in the brain. Eddie's refusal to let Venom eat brains leads to the symbiote starving and abandoning Eddie. Fortunately, Eddie finds an alternative source for phenethylamine: chocolate. By giving Venom chocolate, Eddie manages to subvert Venom's hunger for brains. However, Venom needs a lot of chocolate in order to satisfy its incredible appetite for phenethylamine, resulting in complications throughout the mini-series.
While Venom has always had a hunger for brains, the symbiote's hunger for chocolate has only seldom been brought up. In contrast, his craving for phenethylamine has been mentioned even during the modern era, with Venom's hunger for chocolate being a memorable attempt to soften Venom's public image from fearsome villain to fun anti-hero.
Venom's Hunger For Chocolate in Let There Be Carnage
It's unclear exactly how Venom's hunger for chocolate will factor into Venom: Let There Be Carnage. Most likely, this will be an alternative means to keep the symbiote fed without Venom needing to feed on Eddie's flesh or the flesh of others. As seen throughout Eddie's apartment, Eddie is trying to curb Venom's need for human flesh and organs. This is, again, an attempt by Eddie to come to a more peaceful, less violent union with his alien symbiote.
It is uncertain, however, if the film will go into the technical, chemical reason why chocolate can satisfy Venom. Instead, it'll probably just show Eddie feeding Venom whatever's available to satisfy its profound hunger. If the film does dig into how Venom's symbiote needs certain compounds in order to survive, then it could factor into the plot in some way as the story goes on. Perhaps starving Carnage's symbiote of that chemical will be how Eddie defeats his foe in the end -- or, at least, tries to stop it.
Regardless, fans will just have to wait until Venom: Let There Be Carnage to see if the film offers much explanation for Venom's hunger for chocolate or if this will just be a fun little addition to Venom's greater lore.
Directed by Andy Serkis, Venom: Let There Be Carnage stars Tom Hardy, Woody Harrelson, Michelle Williams, Naomie Harris, Reid Scott, Stephen Graham, Sean Delaney and Larry Olubamiwo. The film arrives in theaters Sept. 24.