We've known for a long time now that Venom would be heavily inspired by 1993's Lethal Protector arc, going so far as to portray a story with the Life Foundation as the antagonists, but there are more nods in the film to get fans of the comic excited - and they shouldn't be spoiled.
Perhaps even better, however, is the fact the film isn't reliant on fan service. Sony have clearly made an effort to show that Venom can stand on their own two feet without Spider-Man, and while that does remain to be seen (on that note, a crossover between Tom Holland and Tom Hardy has to happen), the film doesn't waste its time with inconsequential callbacks or pointless namedropping.
There isn't that much world-building at all, actually - potentially because Sony have designs to incorporate the character into the MCU - but what is there is worthwhile, including a reference to the Daily Globe (Brock's former paper), and a certain son of one of the Daily Bugle's biggest personalities...
WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well.
In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.
