Despite never winning critics over across all three films in the series, Tom Hardy’s Venom trilogy has been a box office bonanza for Sony, and the third film maintained its #1 spot for three weeks after its premiere. (Read our Venom: The Last Dance review.) Part of the consistent appeal is the high-octane CGI-infused action sequences, while another major draw is the hilariously conflicted relationship between Hardy’s Eddie Brock and his inner symbiote, resulting in some truly bonkers sequences.
Whether or not the alien anti-hero will make an eventual debut in the MCU — or if anyone wants to go forward with my idea for a follow-up project, feel free — I can’t imagine Kevin Feige & Co. will give fans the same wacky, off-the-wall shit that franchise screenwriter and third-film director Kelly Marcel and others embedded into all three blockbusters. So let’s celebrate the totally unpredictable moments and scenes that I still can’t fully believe were utilized in the Venom movies. SPOILERS BELOW FOR ALL THREE MOVIES, SO BE WARNED!
Hi-Ho, Venom Horse!
Is it still called a “jump the shark” moment whenever you’re talking about an alien being taking control of a horse’s body? Even if you think Venom Horse is the dumbest thing that’s ever happened in a superhero movie, and I know there are plenty with that mindset out there, I think we can at least all agree that this would be the scariest fucking creature to run across randomly in the wild. Or in a zoo. Or in a public bathroom.
The movie wisely limits Venom Horse’s screentime rather than trying to make it a recurring part of the story, which definitely helps it maintain the lunacy. If there’s ever another Red Dead Redemption game, Venom Horse 100% needs to be an unlockable.
Eddie Eating Chicken Out Of The Garbage
Throughout all three films, Venom’s insatiable appetite is a constant sticking point, and while the creature is usually focused entirely on chomping down on other people’s heads, one of the first things we see him go for after taking over Eddie’s body in the 2018 film is…half-eaten fried chicken pieces from the garbage. Just thinking about it makes my throat tighten and my stomach lurch.
What other movie protagonist’s introduction scene includes them eating out of the garbage? It’s a move that set up one of Seinfeld’s funniest food moments, but I think we can all agree that Venom isn’t quite as deplorable as George Costanza.
DJ Venom
Venom: Let There Be Carnage hinges largely on the evolving relationship between Eddie and Venom and all of its nuances, and one of the wildest moments during its runtime involves Venom attempting to raise his spirits via a costume-heavy rave at a night club. It makes sense to give the character a setting where his natural appearance wouldn’t raise too many eyebrows, but it all gleefully turns to complete nonsense when the alien steps up to the DJ booth to get the partiers pumped.
Ridiculous as it might be, this was presumably far better than if we’d have watched Venom playing loneliness-infused classic country songs at a hole in the wall.
The She-Venom Kiss
While Eddie and Venom’s relationship is the one most key to the story, Eddie’s history with Michelle Williams’ Anne is obviously just as vital to the first two films, to say nothing of Reed Scott as her surprisingly enjoyable current beau Dan. Thankfully, the films don’t go hard on causing inner conflict between those characters, and everyone mostly gets along, even when things get weird.
Case in point: the symbiote takes over Anne’s body — She-Venom for the win! — and saves Eddie from some trouble in the woods, following that heroism up with a big sloppy kiss. Even beyond the conversation about non-consensual cheating, I’m wholly confused about how Venom can make out with anybody without its tongue causing the other person’s head to explode.
Venom Trying To Make Breakfast
Easily the silliest sequence of any Venom movie, perhaps of any superhero movie in recent memory, Let There Be Carnage's breakfast scene is pure absurdity. It's like the breakfast-oriented scenes from Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and Pee-Wee's Big Adventure mashed together, and then thrown into a blender.
All of the messy chaos kind of gives the obsessive-compulsive parts of my brain hyper-anxiety, but I could easily sweep all that under the rug along with the dulcet tones of Venom singing Ella Fitzgerald's "Let's Call The Whole Thing Off." You say "potato," I say "hashbrowns, Eddiiiieeee."
Venom And Mrs. Chen Dancing To Abba
Similar to Venom Horse being one of the more polarizing elements from this cinematic universe, Venom: The Last Dance's fancy footwork between the titular character and Peggy Lu's Mrs. Chen is the kind of sequence that will make certain fans laugh and cheer as loudly as other fans are groaning and griping.
Personally, I love this goofy shit, and I honestly wish there was a franchise soundtrack that featured Tom Hardy performing full-length song covers with the Venom voice. I'll never hear ABBA's "Dancing Queen" again without this scene worming its way through my mind, and that's perfectly fine with me.
Venom Controlling A Motorcycle Better Than Anyone Ever
One of the elements about Venom films that consistently makes me chuckle is whenever he experiences something for the first time, such as his immediate grasp of gambling's addictive nature after playing a slot machine for 10 seconds. But it's showcased best during the first movie's big chase scene, in which Venom-as-Eddie is able to pull off an endless amount of hair-raising maneuvers on San Francisco's hilly streets.
I like that later on, Venom won't be able to fry an egg with any kind of precision, but seemed to know everything possible about momentum, acceleration, torque, etc. when traveling at 60+ miles per hour. Too bad there weren't any rollerblading scenes in the other two movies.
Venom Learning About Spider-Man
Another wildly polarizing sequence from this franchise involves the second film's mid-credits scene, in which Eddie/Venom's attempt at relaxation is interrupted by a jaunt to an alternate universe. There, Venom sees a news report read by J.K. Simmons' J. Jonah Jameson in which he points out that Tom Holland's Peter Parker has been outed as Spider-Man.
In the Marvel-minded scheme of things, mid-credits scenes like this often set up future projects, and aren't all that unexpected at all. In this universe's case, however, the unbelievable aspect is wholly tied to the fact that Venom: The Last Dance didn't pay off on that multiverse tease AT ALL. CinemaBlend's own Sean O'Connell thinks this franchise's biggest sin was never introducing Spider-Man in any legitimate capacity, with this credits tag exacerbating that feeling quite a bit.
Eddie Cooling Off In A Lobster Tank
When Eddie still only has a vague idea of how to function properly with Venom out in public, he interrupts a lunch date between Anne and Dan to share some vital information. But it's safe to say he lost a bit of his credibility when he chomped through a lobster shell, and then jettisoned the rest of it off by taking a dip in the cool waters of the restaurant's lobster tank.
I would have loved to see a follow-up scene that laid out how much money that restaurant lost that day through refunds, comped meals and having to throw out everything in the tank.
The "Space Oddity" Singalong
Rhys Ifan's Martin Moon is a lovable dorkus of a husband and father whose interests in aliens spark a family road trip filled with pop culture stereotypes. The epitome of the Moon family's arc is, of course, the van-set singalong to David Bowie's "Space Oddity." I loved every bit of it, from the daughter relunctantly joining in to Tom Hardy's discomfort to Venom going all out with his vocal stylings. I would love to know how he knows all the words to all these songs, too.
We've already discussed my endless appreciation for Venom's crooning talents, this was perhaps the best sequence of all, at least when we're only talking vocal performances, since the dance with Mrs. Chen does win out for pure spectacle. "Blast off!"
Of course, there were plenty of other eye-popping moments throughout the three Venom films that weren't included on this list, but Knull's Xenophages are after me, so I'll have to wrap this up here. Farewell for now, Venom, you beautiful, slimy bastard.
