“This Is Cinema!” – ‘Venom: The Last Dance’ Trailer Features Symbiote Horse, Alien Invasion & Fans Are Loving It

Matt Fitzgerald·
CULTURE
·
Venom
Marvel

The Venom franchise is one of the weirdest in the history of movies. Tom Hardy has said that his Eddie Brock/Venom was inspired by the neurotic comedic energy of Woody Allen and UFC superstar/fledgling actor Conor McGregor among other seemingly unrelated sources.

Neither of the first two flicks in this bizzaro trilogy were critically acclaimed, yet thanks to Hardy’s star power and the power of Marvel, they’ve been massive box office hits. Yup, Venom and Venom: Let There Be Carnage grossed a combined $1.36 billion against (approximately) a $226 million budget. Hold onto your butts, because on October 25, the world is about to get more Hardy dual role madness in Venom: The Last Dance.

This looks appropriately, positively cooky. Tom Hardy strolling around with his intentionally higher-register voice. Funny banter with his parasitic alter ego. Devouring of criminals that the camera doesn’t show because otherwise that PG-13 rating ain’t happening. Possibly a retcon of the post-credits scene from Spider-Man: No Way Home. Zero sign of any connection to Peter Parker/Spidey, despite Venom being one of the web-slinger’s greatest villains.

I mean, it’s cool that excellent actors like Chiwetel Ejiofor and Juno Temple signed on for this sequel, but I hope they have enough to do. Let There Be Carnage really leaned into the Eddie/Venom buddy comedy dynamic, and that definitely works. If the trailer is anything to go by — they gave away a little too much with over three minutes of footage — the filmmakers are doubling down. It still tickles me that Hardy has gotten a “story by” credit for the last two Venom movies, too. I still can’t tell if he’s in on the joke. Nor can I tell if the fan excitement is genuine or more of a “looks so bad it looks good” type of situation. The first poster looks dope, by the way.

Numbers don’t lie, and whether or not fans are indeed amped up to see Venom: The Last Dance, the theaters should be full if the first two outings are any indication. With Joker: Folie à Deux set to release on October 4, there should be just enough time for The Last Dance to avoid any competition-based setback in the comic book movie space.

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