10 Marvel Characters the Venomverse Ruined

Beginning with 2018’s Venom, Sony’s Spider-Man Universe (SSU) isn’t exactly known for its loving adaptation of classic Marvel characters. Often criticized for producing soulless origin stories for supporting characters who don’t need their solo films, Sony has built a tedious cinematic universe in hopes of replicating the success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Venom: The Last Dance marks the fifth installment of the franchise, with a sixth film, Kraven the Hunter, set to hit theaters on December 13.

In its short but turbulent history, the SSU has struggled to produce any likable characters for viewers to identify with. While certain characters, notably Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock/Venom, have landed well with audiences, such are few and far between. There are far more Marvel characters that Sony has utterly ruined, soiling their reputation among the comic fandom.

10 Knull Was Wasted in Venom: The Last Dance

The Symbiote God Doesn’t Do Anything in His Live-Action Debut

Knull makes his debut in Venom: The Last Dance, bringing the symbiote god to live-action for the first time. Before the events of the film, Knull, the “king in black,” was betrayed and imprisoned by his symbiotes, forcing him to endure eons held captive on Klyntar with little hope of escape. However, after detecting a special Codex on Earth in the symbiote Venom, Knull sends an army of Xenophages to obtain the key that will finally free him from his prison.

Andy Serkis voices Knull in Venom: The Last Dance.

Despite a terrific setup that could have paid off nicely, Knull is utterly wasted in Venom: The Last Dance. The character was used heavily in marketing material for the film, yet only appears for a few minutes therein. Many fans criticized The Last Dance for teasing a main villain who never actually showed up for the final fight. Although the SSU plans to use Knull for future movies, it will be difficult for the franchise to move past its horrific misstep with the character’s first appearance.

9 Morbius the Living Vampire Is a Laughingstock in His Solo Film

Michael Morbius Is Let Down By a Terrible Movie

Dr. Michael Morbius was a brilliant physician suffering from a degenerative condition that threatened to end his young life. Desperate to cure himself and others with the same disease, Morbius conducted a dangerous experiment that fused his DNA with that of bats. In so doing, Morbius turned himself into a living vampire. Now forced to combat a bloodlust that grows by the day, Morbius also finds himself protecting his city from other vampires who aren’t as resistant to draining human victims.

Jared Leto plays Morbius the Living Vampire in Morbius.

Morbius was a trainwreck from beginning to end, telling an uninspired story that was more likely put together by producers in a board room rather than passionate writers. Nevertheless, one of the worst parts of the film was its uncompelling protagonist, who never should have gotten a solo movie to begin with. The character of Morbius the Living Vampire only connected with fans on a meme level–something that studios should want to avoid at any cost. Now, a character who once could have made a unique and intriguing villain has become a weak and ineffective protagonist in a dead franchise.

8 Rex Strickland Could Have Been Much More Interesting

Chiwetel Ejiofor’s Soldier Could Have Been a Recurring Antagonist

Rex Strickland is a character appearing in Venom: The Last Dance who serves at the behest of a mysterious organization that runs Area 55. He protects the symbiote experiments occurring under the watch of Dr. Teddy Payne, but prefers to destroy the alien species rather than invite another incident–and he is proven right. Strickland eventually dies during the battle with the Xenophages in The Last Dance‘s finale.

Chiwetel Ejiofor plays Rex Strickland in Venom: The Last Dance.

With the legendary Chiwetel Ejiofor playing Strickland, the SSU had a chance to craft a compelling recurring character who could have had a major role in future films. In the comics, Strickland bonds with the Tyrannosaurus symbiote after his death, creating a unique bond between the alien and the human body it puppets around. This could have been an intriguing storyline to explore in future films, but The Last Dance instead chose to kill Strickland off in an explosion, seemingly destroying any chances of his bonding with the Tyrannosaurus symbiote.

7 John Jameson Was Killed Off Immediately in Venom

J. Jonah Jameson’s Son Was a Far More Interesting Character in the Comics

John Jameson III is a recurring character in Marvel Comics. The son of Daily Bugle publisher J. Jonah Jameson, John is an astronaut who has a penchant for getting himself into otherworldly predicaments that usually require Spider-Man to save him. The character appears only briefly in the first Venom film as the astronaut who accidentally bonded with the Riot symbiote, bringing it to Earth. Puppeting Jameson, Riot escaped capture and left his first host to die.

Chris O’Hara plays John Jameson III in Venom.

John Jameson is a character with endless possibilities in live-action. The astronaut has one of the longest resumes of any supporting character in Marvel Comics, having taken on several superhuman alter-egos including Man-Wolf, Stargod, and Colonel Jupiter. He has fought alongside such heroes as Spider-Man, She-Hulk, and Captain America, and has even briefly been the host of the Carnage symbiote. Venom could have done much more with the character of John Jameson but instead chose to kill him off after only one scene.

6 Toxin is Killed Off Immediately in Venom: The Last Dance

Venom 3’s New Symbiote Adds Nothing to the Film

Detective Patrick Mulligan is introduced in Venom: Let There Be Carnage, where he gets caught up in the chaotic battle between Venom and Carnage. In the final battle, Mulligan is killed and subsequently resurrected by the Toxin symbiote. Mulligan returns in Venom: The Last Dance, where he warns the scientists at Area 55 of Knull’s impending invasion.

Stephen Graham plays Detective Patrick Mulligan/Toxin in Venom: Let There Be Carnage and Venom: The Last Dance.

Fans were excited to see the debut of Toxin in the SSU and, while the film does deliver on this introduction, the symbiote doesn’t last long. After a few exposition-heavy scenes, Toxin is immediately killed by a Xenophage without ever getting the chance to show what he is capable of in a combat scenario. The Last Dance includes Toxin merely out of obligation, killing off an interesting character without doing anything of importance with him.

5 Luxias Crown Was Swapped Out for Milo Morbius

Hunger Was Supposed to be the Main Villain of Morbius

Before Morbius was released, there was endless speculation regarding Matt Smith’s character, who would be the main antagonist of the film. Eventually, it was announced that Smith would be playing Loxias Crown, a.k.a. Hunger, Morbius the Living Vampire’s archnemesis (aside from Spider-Man) in the comics. However, by the time Morbius hit theaters, rewrites had changed Smith’s character to someone else entirely.

Matt Smith played Milo Morbius in Morbius.

In Morbius‘s final cut, Matt Smith plays Milo, Michael Morbius’s adoptive brother who also becomes a living vampire. While Smith is undoubtedly the best part of the film, it is still disappointing that producers chose to cut his original character. Sony likely felt that Hunger could be explored in a sequel but, given Morbius‘s abysmal box office performance, no such film will ever happen.

4 Madame Web Is an Unlikeable Character in the SSU

Cassandra Web Doesn’t Like People–and They Don’t Like Her

Madame Web is the fourth entry in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, following Cassandra Web as she gains the ability to see the future. Cassie is forced to fight the villainous businessman Ezekiel Sims, who plans to murder three young women who he believes will kill him at some point in the future. By the end of the film, Cassie has fully become the Madame Web that fans know from the comics after losing her vision and ending up in a wheelchair.

Dakota Johnson plays Cassandra Web/Madame Web in Madame Web.

While Madame Web could have been an interesting character, Dakota Johnson’s superhero is undercut by a truly unlikable personality. The film makes it a point to establish that Cassandra Web doesn’t like people and is even outright rude at times. As a natural result, audiences don’t like her and find it difficult to empathize with her as the film goes on. Furthermore, the movie strangely chooses to blend the Cassandra Web and Julia Carpenter renditions of the character from the comics, yet fails to do justice to either.

Sony Utterly Botches an Interesting Supervillain

Ezekiel Sims is the main villain of Madame Web and the first individual in the Sony Spider-Man Universe to gain spider-related superpowers. Donning an eerily familiar suit, Sims attempts to murder three young women whom visions have shown him will kill him at some point in the future. Unfortunately for him, Sims is foiled by Cassandra Web, who defeats him and ensures that his visions come true.

Tahar Rahim plays Ezekiel Sims in Madame Web.

Ezekiel Sims is undoubtedly one of Marvel’s worst live-action villains ever. Not only does Madame Web botch the character’s intriguing storyline from the comics, but it also manages to make Sims the most distracting part of an already chaotic movie. For inexplicable reasons, almost every single one of Ezekiel’s lines is poorly dubbed over, with the actor mouthing lines that are different than what ended up in the movie. Rather than undergoing reshoots, the filmmakers behind Madame Web lazily dubbed over the villain’s lines, muddying any impact he might have had on the film.

2 The Vulture Didn’t Deserve to be Dragged Into the SSU

Adrian Toomes Was a More Interesting Villain in the MCU

Michael Keaton’s Adrian Toomes, a.k.a. the Vulture, was one of the most compelling villains of the MCU. Appearing in Spider-Man: Homecoming, the Vulture used alien technology to power a flight suit that allowed him to pull off difficult heists. He was eventually foiled by Spider-Man, who sent him to prison. However, Toomes’s sentence proved shorter than expected when the effects of Doctor Strange’s final spell in Spider-Man: No Way Home accidentally sent him to the Sony Spider-Man Universe.

Michael Keaton plays Adrian Toomes/the Vulture in Spider-Man: Homecoming and Morbius.

Toomes was a terrific villain in Homecoming, challenging Spider-Man’s ideals and nearly killing the young hero in their epic battle. However, Sony immediately demonstrated that it had no business utilizing such a complicated character. Morbius manages to ruin Toomes with only a pair of quick scenes, wherein Keaton does his best to spruce up a half-hearted dialogue that tediously builds to a forced team-up. The Vulture deserves far better than what Sony can offer him.

1 Carnage Doesn’t Live Up to the Hype in Venom 2

The Carnage Symbiote Isn’t Very Interesting in the SSU

The second Venom movie introduced Carnage, one of Spider-Man’s strongest villains of all time. In the film, a remnant of the Venom symbiote bonds with serial killer Cletus Kasady, who uses his newfound powers to break out of prison and unleash chaos in an unsuspecting world. This leads to a bloody battle with Eddie Brock/Venom, who eventually kills Carnage and ends his reign of terror.

Woody Harrelson plays Cletus Kasady/Carnage in Venom and Venom: Let There Be Carnage.

Carnage is one of Marvel Comics’ most popular and most dangerous villains, yet he is tragically misused in the Venom franchise. The film’s PG-13 rating kept it from exploring the true depths of Carnage’s depravity, nerfing any impact that the villain might have otherwise had. Worse, Venom kills off Carnage after only one film, destroying what could have been an enduring rivalry between the two opposing symbiotes. While many other characters have been ruined by the Sony Spider-Man Universe, none got it worse than Carnage.