Venom Review: 5 Ups & 5 Downs

3. The Deadpool Vibes (and The Promise Of A Better Future)

The biggest problem with Deadpool's first film is the same one that threatens to destabilise Venom a little too much: when it's not focused tightly on the titular character (or in this case Eddie Brock also), it flags a little. No other characters can really hope to compete with the central two and none of the story is as interesting as the evolution of their dynamic.

Having said that, the parallel to Deadpool also works positively for Venom too, because Deadpool made a lot of money despite how limited the supporting elements were. That has a lot to do with what marks Venom out as great too - the humour, the charm of the character and most of all the promise of how much more we could get out of a sequel that runs with the better parts of the original.

The marketing of Venom has done it a disservice, because it seems to be suggesting a body shock horror film that made everyone wish it was R-rated, when it should have been focusing on the fact that Venom is actually a cinematic cousin of Deadpool - outrageous, funny, ridiculous, rewarding... That's where Sony should have pitched this at audiences and they would have made more money out of it.

Now, let's just hope we can SOMEHOW get a movie where Spider-Man, Venom and Deadpool all get together. Marvel need to do the right thing.