When comparing a film adaptation to a comic book or novel, there will always be differentiations between the two that will upset fans and critics alike. Venom is one of those cases where the film was received, for the most part, poorly. Although it was extremely high grossing with a rising $800 million income, it was negatively criticized by critics for its creative stray away from the original story in the comics.
The beloved actor Tom Hardy played the role of Venom the best he could, but it wasn't the acting that upset fans. The great strides the filmmakers took away from the origin of the story and the character arc's is what really stood out. Here are the biggest differences between the movie and comics.
10 The Origin Story
In 1984's 12 issue comic series Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars, the origin story differs from the 2018 film in that the alien derived from a different planet entirely called Battleworld. Bustle has the story right in that the Symbiotic bond was carried to planet Earth whilst latched onto the returning Spider-Man.
In the film, the origin of Venom is unclear. The audience is thrown into the story where Venom is already a virus sprawling on Earth.
9 Comic Book Eddie Brock Benefits From The Symbiote
The comics give a deep understanding of how the character Eddie Brock and Venom relate to one another. Eddie Brock in the comics has cancer and Venom actually cures him of it because it eats the cancer for its own strength. It's within the comics that Eddie Brock and Venom as a team form to hate Spider-Man because of his motive to end their Symbiotic bond. The bond between them in the film is much less mutually beneficial.
8 Eddie Brock Wants To Be With Venom
Eddie Brock in Venom has internal struggles of wanting to get rid of the virus. In fact, it goes as far as Eddie Brock being scared of Venom and what it will do to him. As the story unfolds, Eddie Brock changes his state of mind from "he" to "we," but it took a lengthy amount of time for this change to occur.
In the comics, it's not that Eddie Brock believes that Venom has all the right motives and intentions, but it is simply that if he wasn't bonded with Venom, he would die of cancer. As a result, he attempts to adapt to the way he must live and create a version of Venom that is only out for survival.
7 The Comics Have More Philosophical Questions About Good And Evil
The 2018 film adaptation of Venom is a Hollywood version of throwing a famous movie star into the beloved anti-hero's shoes to try to sell tickets. Tom Hardy does a good job in the role, but through the combination of CGI effects and movie star acting, the morals the classic comics brought to the table get lost.
6 Venom: Lethal Protector Comic Is A Completely Different View Of The Anti-Hero
In the comic Venom: Lethal Protector, Eddie Brock and Venom come to the conclusion that the toxic ideals are benefitting neither of them. Instead of leeching society, they attempt to give back and help those in distress. This creates a change of character within the anti-hero making for a more in-depth internal battle between both Venom and Eddie Brock.
In the movie, there is no internal battle considering those around them, but rather what would benefit both of them in a moment of societal change. The story arc follows a closely structured Hollywood screenplay pattern as opposed to in-depth internal struggle and decision making.
5 No Classic Spidey Logo On His Chest
In the film, Venom does not have the classic white spidey logo on his chest. Although this is only a minor wardrobe malfunction, fans were outraged by the switch in costume style. Also, the white spider on his chest in the comics has a clear relationship to Spider-Man which is huge to the entirety of the Venom character. Without the logo, there is no relationship or connection to Spider-Man.
4 The Several Voices In His Head Are Not There
In Venom the film, you hear the voice of the Symbiote throughout, making it a very present co-star to Eddie Brock. There is more of an origin as to how Eddie reacts to the voice in the comics. The voice is not only of Venom but also his own thoughts that have been mixed with the symbiotes.
These thoughts come out as fear, paranoia, and discomfort within the comics while in the film it is as if they are having conversations with each other. There is no connection that their thoughts (and feelings, emotions, etc.) are truly one.
3 A Loving Relationship Between Venom and Eddie Brock
Within the film, Eddie Brock internally accepts Venom as part of his own, but he doesn't go as far as to love him. The comics clearly show a loving relationship between the two because they become a part of each other rather than Symbiote to Man.
This could be because screenwriters just simply couldn't fit this relationship into the story, or simply withdrew this part of the story out of the timeline. Regardless, fans were left empty-handed.
2 Lack Of Control
There is a clear lack of control between Eddie Brock and his villainous Symbiote within the film. In the comics, they have a relationship that is formed together to be one whole while listening to the other.
Within the film, Eddie Brock's character has a difficult time controlling his partner-in-crime which makes for a great loss of character development that the comic series so brilliantly creates.
1 Spider-Man Is Not In The Movie
Referring back to point number 5 and the importance of the Spider-Man logo, how could we forget the main origin of Venom entirely; Spider-Man. In Venom, this was a huge flaw for all audience members, even those who were not necessarily familiar with the comics. How can you have a movie set in the Spider-Man universe without Spider-Man? Well, the answer is simple, Tom Holland was not under contract for the film.
This was seen as a major franchise mistake and some believed it stripped the entire purpose of Venom.