Venom Trailer 2 Reactions: 2 Ups & 7 Downs
4. Riz Ahmed's Unconvincing Villain
Riz Ahmed is one hell of an actor, no question, but he does seem rather miscast here as Carlton Drake, the businessman who gains custody of the symbiote and plans to use it to advance the next stage of human evolution.
There's just nothing that seems remotely interesting about Drake: he's got the whiff of another generic stuffed shirt Marvel baddie, complete with an over-familiar plan to alter humanity's future and an hilarious Bond villain-esque hideout next to the Golden Gate Bridge.
That moustache-twirling Bond villain vibe is only furthered by him testing out the symbiote on an unsuspecting scientist. It seems extremely likely that Drake will end up becoming a reimagined version of Carnage by the end of the movie, which at least should be more interesting than the dullard we're presented with here.