The first full-length trailer for Sony’s upcoming Spider-Man-free Spider-Man spinoff Venom dropped this week, giving fans a look at Tom Hardy’s sinister symbiote in all his 1990s nostalgia glory. However, in addition to this highly anticipated reveal, we also learned a whole lot more about the narrative itself, so follow along with us as we break down five things we learned from the new Venom trailer:
Eddie Brock Will Be an Honest Reporter
In Spider-Man 3, Topher Grace’s Eddie Brock was depicted as a sleazebag photographer/rival of Peter Parker, which was a slight deviation from his comic book counterpart, who was a sleazebag reporter/rival of Peter Parker. However, from what we see in the trailer, it appears Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock is actually an honest reporter determined to use the power of the press to expose the Life Foundation for conducting dangerous experiments on innocent people. Still, while this is also a bit of a change from the character in the comics, the end result will ultimately remain the same, as Eddie’s ambitions will seemingly lead to him becoming a disgraced reporter after he rubs Carlton Drake of the Life Foundation the wrong way.
The Origin Story Will Completely Bypass Spider-Man
Despite rumors that Tom Holland’s Peter Parker would make a cameo appearance in the film, it seems as though Venom’s on-screen origin story will completely omit his ties to Spider-Man from the comics, which doesn’t come as too much of a surprise. After all, even in February’s teaser trailer, it was implied that the symbiote would arrive on Earth via a crashed space shuttle. Still, it wasn’t until the full-length trailer that this inevitability became a reality for those still holding out hope that Spidey might somehow be connected to Venom’s origin. (Perhaps a post-credits cameo still isn’t out of the question, though.)
The Pronunciation of Symbiote
Surprisingly, the biggest debate this trailer has sparked isn’t about Venom’s look or if the film will redeem him after his appearance in Spider-Man 3. Instead, it’s about the pronunciation of the word “symbiote.” In the trailer, we hear it pronounced “sym-BYE-ote,” which has countless comic book fans and professionals up in arms, as they believe the proper pronunciation is “sym-BEE-ote.” Admittedly, this is one of the least hostile debates to hit comic book Twitter in quite some time, so that’s something we can all likely agree is a positive.
It Will Borrow More From Lethal Protector Than We Thought
We’ve known for quite some time that Venom would borrow many story elements from the fan-favorite Lethal Protector story, but based on the new trailer, those influences could exceed our original expectations. Obviously, the fact that the film takes place in San Francisco instead of Venom’s usual stomping grounds of New York City is a dead giveaway, but there’s also Hardy’s line about the symbiote only being allowed to hurt “bad people.” In fact, we even see the word “antihero” plastered across the screen at one point, which confirms that this version of Venom won’t be an outright villain. However, these aren’t the only connections to Lethal Protector that we see in the trailer…
There Will Be Multiple Symbiotes
When Riz Ahmed’s Carlton Drake opens the doors to the back of a van, we see that Venom isn’t the only symbiote in the Life Foundation’s custody. This, coupled with the fact that we see a shot of a woman bonding with a symbiote, later on, seems to lend credence to the rumor that the film will introduce Venom’s five “children” -- Scream, Agony, Phage, Lasher, and Riot. In Lethal Protector, Eddie is abducted by the Life Foundation and they harvest his symbiote to produce these five offspring, but in the film, they’ll apparently already have additional symbiotes ready to go. Then, of course, there’s also the rumor that Woody Harrelson will play Cletus Kasady/Carnage, which remains to be seen.
Venom hits theaters October 5.