13 Comic Book Villains That Movies Ruined Worse Than Dr Doom

5. Venom (Spider-Man 3)

It was totally unsurprising when details emerged that director Sam Raimi was forced to include Venom in Spider-Man 3 at the studio's demand, given how the character is thoroughly mis-handled every step of the way. For starters, Topher Grace is wildly miscast as Eddie Brock, who is ultimately depicted as a cardboard bad guy (doctoring pictures and praying for Peter's death) before he's transformed into Venom in the final half-hour of the movie. Plus, the visual effects team made the ridiculous decision to keep having Venom's face recede back to show Brock's visage underneath (complete with some very ridiculous-looking teeth), as though the character couldn't possibly function without a recognisable human mouthpiece. The film then railroads Venom's arc along far too quickly, resulting him being quickly killed in an underwhelming final battle with Spidey, destroying the enormous hope that fans the world over had for the character. Spider-Man 3 was full of problems and featured too many villains, but while Sandman and Green Goblin Mk. 2's arcs basically worked well enough, Venom felt pretty much like an afterthought, far from the credible threat that the marketing suggested. Hell, the Venom pictured above, face and all, actually has less screen time than Doom in Fantastic Four.