Venom: A Different Kind of Superhero

Venom: A Different Kind of Superhero

It has to be said that the poster for Venom is rather misleading. Judging only from the image of Venom on the poster—baring fangs and looking terrifying (if that can even be called a face)—many people might be put off and miss the film entirely. If I had not been trapped on a long journey with nothing to do, I might have skipped it after only the opening scene. In fact, Venom is nowhere near as scary as the marketing suggests. If anything, he could be described as “not scary at all, just a little cute.” And if the studio had not framed Venom from the very beginning as some kind of savage beast, then both the title and the promotional approach might have been worth reconsidering.

The protagonist of this film is indeed not a superhero in the traditional sense. In the American superhero world, where “the rich rely on technology and the poor rely on mutation,” Venom fits into neither category. He is simply a symbiotic life-form made up of an alien organism and a human being—an anti-heroic superhero formed by two “losers.” And because an alien is involved, Venom’s moral standards are also different from those of a conventional superhero. He does not care much about appearances or public judgment, and can simply bite off a villain’s head—yet the film somehow presents even that in a way that is not especially off-putting.

Of the two parts that make up Venom, the human side arguably has the upper hand. On one hand, this may come from the protagonist’s latent sense of justice—a sense of justice that once overrode his moral judgment, which also foreshadows Venom’s later role. As a journalist driven by righteousness, he looks through legal case files belonging to his lawyer girlfriend. That action itself is morally questionable, and it establishes from the start that this superhero comes with weakened moral boundaries. On the other hand, it may also be because Venom’s alien half is, as he himself says, a failure even on his own planet. His desire to dominate is not as strong as that of his companions. That is why the male lead, unlike other humans possessed by aliens, does not quickly lose his autonomy and become a walking shell, but is instead able to coexist with the alien parasite.

In Venom’s story, the larger backdrop is as unsettling as that of many science-fiction films if you think about it carefully. Aliens with powerful parasitic and controlling abilities arrive on Earth by chance, discover that this place is basically a paradise for them, and immediately want to return to their home planet to bring the rest of their kind over to share in the bounty. But in this story, victory does not come solely from human resistance or from a human superhero fighting back. Instead, Venom himself defects and chooses the side of humanity. And his reason for doing so is very simple: on my own planet, I was just a loser, but here I am godlike and all-powerful. That is why I do not want my companions coming to Earth—otherwise I would once again be forced back into being a failure. The logic is simple and blunt, but it makes perfect sense. Compared with the lofty principles often found in other films, this motivation actually feels more convincing.

And so, an alien who wants to enjoy being a superhero on Earth and a human protagonist with a superhero’s heart who wants to save humanity join forces. Together they defeat the companion who arrived on Earth along with Venom, and also conveniently get rid of the human villain. From then on, they take on the image of a superhero on Earth, delivering justice in their own way, eating the heads of bad people and striking fear into villains everywhere. That is how Venom becomes such a distinctive superhero.

For now, Venom’s world seems to have little connection to that of other superheroes; he exists only within his own universe. But as the character grows more and more popular, perhaps in the future he will cross paths with other superheroes. And when that happens, this morally ambiguous Venom may well become the sort of problem that gives the entire superhero alliance a headache.

All in all, Venom’s story is not scary at all. In fact, if you set aside the superhero backdrop, it can even be viewed as a light romantic comedy. As a popcorn movie, it is definitely worth watching for entertainment.