In what’s shaping up to be an incredibly busy week for the Spider-Man spinoff, a suitably epic Japanese poster for Venom has clawed its way online. And this one looks as if it’s been ripped straight from the comics.
First spotted by CBM, this dark and vivid one-sheet is all about the titular symbiote and its immense, gaping jaw – Venom is essentially the human equivalent of a demonic anglerfish, after all – and makes for a nice follow-up act to yesterday’s somewhat divisive trailer reveal.
We say divisive because, while Venom‘s tone and style closely match the source material, hokey dialogue (“like a turd in the wind”) and questionable CGI have left some viewers feeling a little cold about Ruben Fleischer’s standalone movie – a movie that’s seemingly devoid of any real heroes.
To be fair, Hollywood has no shortage of straight-laced crusaders, so it’s about time a major studio devoted resources to a truly dark and gritty origin movie about one of the industry’s greatest anti-heroes. Indeed, not since Blade have we seen a comic book film with a morally questionable character at its core.
Perhaps poorly-timed marketing is to blame for Venom‘s lukewarm reception? It’s no secret that Sony has already unveiled reams of footage for the Ruben Fleischer-directed spinoff, and one can’t help but wonder if there are any surprises left to reveal as we watch Eddie Brock descend into madness. Time will tell.
Like a turd in the wind, Venom swoops into U.S. theaters first on October 5th, before making its Japanese debut four weeks later. It’ll herald the beginning of a new era for Sony-backed superhero movies, too, what with Morbius, Silver & Black, Silk and Nightwatch all waiting in the wings.