'Venom' is a complex character

This weekend is surely going to be exciting as one of Marvel’s greatest and most complex characters takes center stage in ‘Venom’ which releases today. The movie has Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) hosting the alien symbiote Venom.

There’s a reason why Venom is one of the most popular characters in Marvel history, says Shivanni Khanna, an IT professional and die-hard fan of the Marvel series.

“His dark wit is matched only by his predilection for violence — and it’s all wrapped up in a package with huge, white eyes, a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth, and a long, writhing, muscular tongue. There’s something unpredictable about his character which is why I can’t wait to watch him,” he explains.

There are two anti-heroes in one body, observes Suhas, an aerospace engineer, who is all set to watch the movie over the weekend.

“Venom as a character is a bit of an anti-hero. He’s usually the nemesis for Spider-Man, but that is mostly because Eddie Brock believes he was put down by Spider-Man. And hence, his hatred for him,” he says.

“But occasionally Venom has been the good guy too, and he has the ability to listen to reason most of the time. A very complex character and a very unique one as well, in terms of his origin and how Marvel has portrayed him,” Suhas says.

Nakul Shenoy, a mentalist, says that he has taken his three kids to all the Marvel movies and is looking forward to watching ‘Venom’ as well.

“With this movie coming right after Infinity Wars, there’s a chance that Venom may give some hints to what will happen next in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We’ve grown up on a diet of Spider-Man comics
and cartoons; so watching these movies on the big screen is always an exciting proposition,”says Nakul.

MK Raghavendra
FILM SCHOLAR, POLITICAL COMMENTATOR TALKS ABOUT ‘VENOM

Why do you think movies like ‘Spider-Man’ and ‘Venom’ have a huge fan following despite the violence shown in them?

Violence itself is hardly a deterrent to viewership but if you compare the violence in the superhero film to a kind of violence intended to be real, like the series ‘Narcos’ on television or the police procedural which usually deals with violent crime, you will find that the violence is not real. I think this make-believe aspect of superhero violence is even reassuring because it’s so unreal.

Have the themes of superhero films become predictable?

The formula in these films seems to be popular and there is no sign of it failing. I think the formula as in X-Men with something aberrant and brutal becoming a saviour of some sort is morally reassuring. It’s like bitter medicine where the bitterness becomes reassurance of its curative powers.

What do you think is the clinching point of ‘Venom’?

The combination of horror and the superhero is unusual.

Why do people like to watch larger-than-life characters?

The superhero genre arose in the 1930s in the aftermath of the
Depression. I think in times when people feel powerless, there is a need for a mythical hero who relieves them of life’s burdens, at least for an hour or two. I think technology has created a large understanding gap today and people don’t understand aspects of the things they encounter every day and the milieu they are placed in. The superhero movies, like fantasy films, provide mythical solutions for big problems.

Superheroes have an iconic status. Do you agree?

Yes, superheroes have a poster or iconic value and people root for them as they do with film stars. Spider-Man’s design, for instance, is deliberately eye-catching.