*looks at username*
*sighs at 2007 self's choices*
*takes deep breath*

Yeah, I suppose I'll weigh in.

The [i]Venom[/i] movie looks like hot garbage (or maybe I should say "a turd in the wind"?). Though, to be fair, I could not be more biased against it if I tried. A Venom solo movie is about the dumbest thing I can think of. A Venom solo film in a universe without Spider-Man? That's like doing a Mister Hyde solo film in a universe without Doctor Jekyll. Like... what? It's such a blatant attempt by Sony at flexing their independence from Marvel Studios and trying to stretch the Spider-Man brand as far as they can before they've poisoned the whole well.

My predisposition against it aside, it just doesn't look good. It looks like really 2000s Ben Affleck [i]Daredevil[/i]-level garbage. Back when studios didn't want to look like nerds, so all comic book movies were as divorced from the source material as they could get away with and shot with the same flat, poorly-lit, blue-tinted "cinematography." I saw a Reddit comment that put it best: "I can't wait to watch two off-color puddles of gasoline fight each other." If you're gonna do symbiotes, at least make them obnoxiously 90s-colored so I know what I'm looking at. The only positive takeaway I have is that it looks like they'll at least give you Venom for the final third (if not entire second half), rather than doing Sick Motorcycle Tricks(tm) all movie and only pulling out the full suit for the final fifteen minutes.

And seriously, what the hell was Tom Hardy thinking? "I'm Eddie Bwock. I'm a weportuh." Sure, you are, little buddy. Lemme know when your front teeth grow back in and you get a speech coach for that lithp.

[i]Now,[/i] on the topic of the Venom character at large. I think Venom's fine in small doses. I've gone on this rant before, but the ideal incarnation of Venom for me is defeated permanently at the end of his debut arc. Venom is the final boss of the Symbiote Saga; he is the literal personification of all Peter Parker's worst traits, a dark mirror showing what happens when great power is absent of great responsibility. Once Peter defeats his demons, that's it. They're defeated. Story arc over, Venom's purpose served.

He makes a fine, if shallow, antagonist to be used sparingly after that. I have no interest in anything where he takes a starring role, especially not where he's portrayed as a "lethal protector" (unless it's someone else in the suit, a la Agent Venom). And I wish my younger self didn't sip the [i]Spider-Man 3[/i] hype Kool-Aid because I've forever tied my online persona to a character I've more or less outgrown. C'est la vie.

/rant