Like it or not, ‘Venom’ is actually a rom-com
Sorry if you think that Eddie Brock and Venom shouldn’t smooch each other. That must suck for you. But the reality is that the closer we get to Venom: The Last Dance, the more I am hoping that the two finally kiss each other.
When Venom first met Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy), the two had that kind of meet-cute us girlies dream of. Venom fully took over Eddie’s entire body and he rest was history. For me, it is the way they bicker with each other that really just makes everything feel that much more special—a constant back and forth, the two yelling and disagreeing. It really warms my heart and makes me think that love is really possible.
If you watch the Venom movies and think to yourself, “Wow, people are weird for thinking this is a romantic comedy,” think again. The first movie was the start of their love. It wasn’t easy; the two had to really find a balance in their relationship to make it work. Then came Let There Be Carnage. That really tested their relationship, neither knowing if they’d truly be reunited again. What excites me about The Last Dance is that it seems as if Eddie and Venom really found their footing as a couple.
I think there are lots of comic purists who hate this take, probably because, in their eyes, Venom is one of Spider-Man’s greatest villains and isn’t a bumbling symbiote who maybe wants to make out with his host body. Quite frankly, I think people who look at the Venom movies as some serious thing are silly.
Have you not been watching this franchise? They’re unhinged superhero movies; that’s why we love them. So why not let us enjoy it?
Let us have our fun with this.
The song “Wild World” in the most recent trailer for The Last Dance really helps us lean into the idea that these two are lovers. After all, the Cat Stevens song is literally about his lover leaving him. In the trailer, Eddie is literally told, “This world can’t survive if you stay together,” and he responds by saying, “But I need him.” COME ON.
At one point, Eddie and Venom are reaching out their hands to each other to hold them. You cannot tell me that this is a platonic thing. If you think, “Fine, they need each other, but it isn’t a rom-com,” again, you’re wrong! They have meet-cutes, fights, they break up, but ultimately they are made for each other.
Honestly, I love that the final trailer is leaning into that. Because the reason that the Venom movies have always worked is because they amped up the camp and fans reacted to that in kind. We went into that first movie expecting to love Venom and Eddie Brock as a couple and guess what? Three movies in, it seems like we are being gifted with a real romance between them.
So yes, the Venom movies are rom-coms and don’t you forget it.
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