Marvel News Mash-Up

Review: “Venom”: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly

OK, I was not planning to ever see Venom, and I explain why below, but got a free ticket and decided to check it out.

Venom in a nutshell: it’s not bad, but it’s also very forgettable. I was definitely against the idea of a solo Venom movie, especially one that does not even mention Peter Parker or Spider-Man in the movie. And that is probably my biggest problem. This could have been a good Spider-Man movie, if Venom was just the villain.

Tom Hardy playing Eddie Brock and Venom is a huge upgrade over Topher Grace’s version in Spider-Man 3. So that is definitely good but another problem I have is they made Venom a hero in this movie. Yes, there have been times when Venom is portrayed as a hero in the comic books, but you shouldn’t introduce the character as a hero. His origin in the movie wasn’t horrible, but it really has to be tied to Peter Parker and Spider-Man. The only reason why Venom has Spider-Man’s powers in the comics was because the symbiote bonded with him. It makes no sense for Venom to have any spider powers, and I guess in a way he doesn’t in this movie. He just sticks to walls because he is gooey and he extends his symbiote out, which can kind of pass for Spider-Man’s web slinging.

OK, enough about the comics, I’ll talk about the movie. Eddy Brock is an investigating reporter who reveals all of the hidden crime going on throughout San Fransisco. A space craft carrying four symbiotes crashes on Earth and the big baddie in this movie, Carlton Drake, uses those symbiotes to experiment with hopes of creating a higher life form and possibly travel throughout space with the knowledge he retrieves from the alien symbiotes. Eddie breaks into Drakes facility and accidentally bonds with one of the symbiote and eventually becomes Venom. Drake is after Eddie because he wants his symbiote back and Eddie has been the only person to successfully bond with the symbiote. Soon Eddie learns that the symbiote has a mind of its own, and he also learns that the symbiote needs Eddie’s body to survive. So it becomes a constant struggle over who is in charge and whether they will both do good or bad. After the two learn from each other and learn to rely on each other, it becomes a very strange buddy movie.

As a movie, Venom is not horrible but its hard to call it good too. I have seen worse X-Men movies than Venom, in fact, I have seen worse Star Wars movies than Venom. So that’s the kind of movie it is. Don’t expect Infinity War but don’t expect Attack Of The Clones either. It’s somewhere in between and more towards the bottom. The acting is fine, the story is….ok….at times. The CGI is hit or miss. It’s a movie that after seeing it once, I just don’t need to see it again. I just wish Spider-Man was in this!

I give Venom a 4/10.

Why The Success Of “Venom” Is Bad For The MCU

I know that is a pretty obvious statement to most people. With Venom being financially successful, this just opens the door for Sony to make even more Spider-Man spin off movies. With all of the negative reviews for Venom, why was this movie so successful? Because kids (and some adults) love the character.

It’s kind of like Deadpool. Deadpool was a spinoff of the X-Men franchise and kids love Deadpool because he is your typical anti-hero. He is a wisecracking, sometimes humorous hero, who plays by his own rules. And that is what Venom is in the this movie. Plus, he has really big fangs and a sleek black costume and what kid doesn’t like that?

But with the success of Venom, it is going to be even harder for Disney and Marvel to get the movie rights back for the Spider-Man franchise. Now Sony knows that they can make money off of a supporting Spider-Man character and they don’t even need Spider-Man in the movie. Who cares what the critics have to say, it’s all about the box office in the end. So far, Venom has made almost $400 million and had only a $100 million budget. Venom will more than likely get a sequel, and hopefully, or maybe hopefully not, they will bring Spider-Man in for Venom 2. It is almost a definite that they will bring in Carnage. But other than Venom, Sony seems to be moving forward with other Spider-Man spinoffs including Morbious The Living Vampire, staring Jared Leto, A Black Cat Movie, A Silk Movie, A Silver Sable Movie and a Kraven The Hunter movie.

This just sets a bad precedent and if characters sell movie tickets, who cares if they get the character right or waste money on writing a story or getting a good director or cast? So we can be in store with a bunch of very lackluster movies in the near future, and possibly not only from Sony.

Photos From”Spider-Man: Far From Home” Set Reveal Another Spidy Suit

Spider-Man seems like he will be getting a bunch of suits for the sequel to “Spider-Man: Homecoming”, which is called “Spider-Man: Far From Home”. We recently saw his stealth, or Noir, suit and his Stark suit that he wore in Civil War and Homecoming. Now it looks like Spider-Man is going back to black. Well not fully symbiote black, but more like the very classic version from Amazing Fantasy #15, the Superior Spider-Man version and even the Miles Morales version. Kind of a mishmash of all three in a way.

Superior Spider-Man, Amazing Fantasy #15, Ultimate Spider-Man (Miles Morales)

Not sure how I feel about this. Think this will only confuse people with Miles’ costume and I think they should give Miles his own colors of black and red. Come on, they stole Ganke from Miles Morales Spider-Man and made him Ned for “Spider-Man: Homecoming”. Give that kid a break!

To check out even more photos of Spidey on the set for “Far From Home”, check out the Tom Holland Source link below!

Source: Tom Holland Source

Leaked Promo Art For “Avengers 4” Gives Thor And Rocket New Suits

What is this? ComicBookMovie.com is saying that the promo art for Avengers 4 above are space suits. I can see Rocket needing a suit for space, but Thor? I will say that this promo art does look legit and we probably will see these suits in Avengers 4.

Rumor has it that this could actually be a suit that the surviving Avengers use to get into the Quantum Realm as seen in “Ant-Man And The Wasp”. Who knows? Guess we’ll find out in a few months!

Source: ComicBookMovie.com

SideShow Collectible Corner

“Marvel Neon Tech Iron Man Mark IV”

I dont know. This looks like somehow Iron Man and Tron had a baby! But I love it! And it has working LED lights that you can activate!

The designs of Iron Man suits have always fascinated fans all over the world with its incisive geometric forms and innovative designs.

Sideshow and Hot Toys are thrilled to officially introduce the Neon Tech Iron Man Mark IV (Diecast) Sixth Scale Collectible Figure. As a special edition release, Hot Toys has pushed the boundaries of possibility and re-imagines the tech-forward suit of armors in bright neon color with scenes of electro futurism inspired by modern computer technology.

Based on the blueprint of Mark IV, the newly developed Neon Tech Iron Man Sixth Scale Figure demonstrates not only the harmonious interaction between sophisticated devices and advanced weaponry but also the visually striking armor that reflects the passion and craft of neon culture.

Crafted with phenomenal details that astonish fans with its high level of authenticity, the over 32cm tall diecast Neon Tech Iron Man Mark IV Collectible Figure has an array of features including movie-accurate proportion and highly detailed armor design with fully enhanced articulations. This figure features specially applied shiny black and teal colored armor with luminous reflective patterns appearing under a specialized LED light, LED light-up functions on eyes, palms, lower chest and forearms, two sets of interchangeable forearm armor, a pair of attachable lasers, and a specially designed hexagonal figure stand with a graphic card.

Source: SideShow

That’s it for this time!

Joe Hogarty