Marveling at the New Movie Universe

Zachary Riddle

Sony has decided to toughen up and take what they rightfully own from the Spider-Man universe. So far from Rotten Tomatoes, Venom has received a harsh 30%, yet the ratings from fans surpass a 4.0. Why is this? The critics say that the movie was entirely disconnected from the Spider-Man plot, and I’d have to agree. But the viewers, including me, like this! Movies have been way too connected to the group of superheroes that always just barely save the world. This had a similar ending, but it was different in terms of characters. In my opinion, the Sony cinematic experience will be a change for the better.

My first point is that time will become more available to Marvel and Sony while separately tag-teaming the fantastical universe. You want a bad movie? Check out Man-Thing. Not only was the plot awful, but it was also just so rushed. Some movies, generally the ones projected to be more popular, have more resources put into them. With Sony’s claim on the Spiderman universe, Marvel will have less movies to create, and more time and money to put into the good ones.

Alternately, Venom’s combination of humor and action is a wonderful addition to the superhero movie collection. They were able to make a supposedly scary villain funny, and that definitely contributed to the movie as a whole. Sai Putumbaka states that “Venom’s humor contrasts with his darkness”. His deep voice contradicted his snide remarks, and was able to characterize Venom very well. His humor’s balance with action fit well with Eddie’s personality. Despite all of the great aspects of Venom, I felt no connection to any other characters besides Eddie, the main character, and the villain, Carlton Drake; it was quite easy to love those two characters.

However many benefits there are to be reaped from Sony’s movies, there will also be the negative side. Spider-Man would probably benefit from the inclusion of Venom, and Venom would definitely benefit from the inclusion of Spider-Man. There are so many possibilities to that combination, but would Sony be willing to include Spider-Man? The rights to Spider-Man and anything pertaining to him are very grey. Sony technically owns the rights to Spiderman and his squad, but they must produce a new Spiderman movie every 5 years to continue the ownership. And Sony’s first attempt to create their own cinematic universe, The Amazing Spider Man, didn’t go well.

Venom is a new future for the superhero genre. It demonstrates that Sony can stand on it’s own two feet and create decent movies without connections to Marvel plotlines. Also, it creates more competition for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, so Marvel will be forced to impress. Nikita Puranik believes that “It’ll create another competitor in the superhero market”. This is important because Marvel has been relatively unrivaled for a while (excluding DC movies) but if Sony can succeed at creating their own cinematic universe, Marvel may have to step it up. The message to send to Sony – Ignore the critics! Keep doing what you’re doing.