As Sony’s Venom creeps closer and closer to theaters, more details have come out. It’s very clear that the studio badly wants to make sure this movie is (at least financially) a success. The trailers have shown a great deal of footage. The film also chickened out of the R-rating it was initially claimed to be going for in favor of a safer PG-13. This is interesting considering that, not long ago, Deadpool proved that an R-rated superhero flick could bring in the money. And then, on top of the possibly too-revealing trailers, Sony released this clip.
It’s just more of Venom in action, which is something the latest trailers have had in abundance. It’s nothing groundbreaking. Clips of title characters beating up peons, cops, or other nameless fodder characters are extremely common. This makes sense in some respect. They obviously don’t want to show off too much of the film. Though it can kill the hype just as easily as build it if the scene isn’t particularly impressive from a comedic standpoint or visual one, either with effects or choreography. That’s ultimately the purpose of these clips. To show off how cool the movie will look or funny the movie will be. So it’s a bit unfortunate that the scene… doesn’t look to really be either. It’s not bad, it’s just fine. But half of it takes place in a smokescreen, hampering visibility. And the other half features some fairly clunky choreography – if one can call it that – of Venom juggling the officers like bowling pins.
Then there’s the elephant in the room. Everything seen so far has led to one question, in particular. Where is Carnage? The only footage of symbiotes so far was of Venom and Riot. The trailers never even mention Cletus Kasady, yet information revealed earlier in the year suggested the character had a role in the film. Based on what we have, this isn’t the case. Some have theories about his appearing, but there’s no evidence to his presence, so far. To a point, this makes sense. Carnage is Venom’s most well-known enemy. So perhaps they intend to save him for a sequel. Sony may have finally learned their lesson about bloating movies related to Spider-Man. Hardy evidently signed a three-picture deal, so Carnage in a later movie is perfectly viable. But if this film doesn’t perform to expectations, it’s possible the franchise could go the way of Amazing Spider-Man.