Venom launched back in October 2018, which for many seems like a lifetime ago. However, some fans will remember that critics didn’t take kindly to Sony’s latest attempt at bringing the character to the big screen, despite fans voicing their support for Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock.
Speaking on the Phase Zero podcast, Fleischer shared that he was surprised by the reactions to the Marvel blockbuster, but at least he knew audiences were a lot more receptive to the symbiotic superhero story.
“The critical reaction, I’m not going to lie, is a bummer just because you work so hard on something and I know, having watched it with audiences, how much they enjoyed it. So, it was a little surprising to me how negative they were. And I do think it’s unwarranted because the audiences, as you said, really loved the film. Otherwise, I don’t think it would’ve been quite the success it was.
So, it was disheartening, for sure, that it has this kind of association. Hopefully, over time, people will… There’s plenty of movies that are beloved that, when they came out, were panned by critics. It’s just unfortunate that RottenTomatoes exists as this aggregate that then, forever, will have an assigned rating to a thing. That being said, it is what it is.”
Venom garnered just a 30% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, which was dwarfed by an extremely positive 81% user rating. Despite the film earning over $850 million at the box office, Fleischer didn’t return for Venom: Let There Be Carnage, but he did re-team with Sony immediately afterward on Uncharted, so there’s clearly no hard feelings.