If You Think Venom’s Movies Are Outrageous, You’ve Never Read Marvel’s ’90s Comics

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Sony has just finished its Venom trilogy, and among the biggest complaints about the franchise was how goofy it was. It was filled with ridiculous things like Eddie and Venom arguing while failing to make breakfast, as well as a massive dance number between Venom and a convenience store owner. While this might seem out of character, long-time Marvel fans know it actually perfectly aligns with who Venom is.

When people think of Venom, they mostly think of the brutal anti-hero who sometimes eats the heads of criminals – a “lethal protector” that will do anything to bring about his own brand of justice. While that’s certainly something Venom has done in the past, it wasn’t always the case.

During his heyday in the 1990s, Venom was a lot more of an over-the-top hyperbolic character. While he has become a bit more serious over the years, it shouldn’t be forgotten that Marvel used to lean into the combination of Venom being physically terrifying but also really silly and strange.

At His ’90s Peak, Venom Was A Strange Mix Of Horrifying & Goofy

A Tonally Erratic Character

One of the biggest issues that Spider-Man has faced in his career of fighting crime is the fact that everyone thinks he’s a villain. Due to the libel of the Daily Bugle, everyone thinks Spider-Man is a criminal, no matter how hard he tries to show otherwise. Likewise, Venom had a similar issue. Venom continually tried to present himself as a hero, but due to his horrific appearance, everyone assumed he was a monster and ran from him. There were several times Venom prevented a mugging, only for the victim to run screaming into the night, eaving their valuables behind.

There were many comedic moments like that in Venom’s history. He got into a lot of absurd adventures during his time as the Lethal Protector. One bizarre story featured Venom becoming the protector of a massive hidden city beneath the city of San Francisco, which was populated by homeless people. Venom had to defend this city against the invading forces of a vicious CEO who wanted to evict the homeless people from their underground paradise; as this emphasizes, a number of Venom stories from the ’90s were far more outrageous than anything done in the Sony movies.

Even As A Villain, Venom Was Ridiculous – And That Was Part Of His Appeal

It Actually Made The Villain Scarier

There’s really no other way to say it. Back in the ’90s, Venom was completely out of his mind. That’s what made him so scary; not that he was some methodically planned killer, but that he was just completely deranged. One of the first things Venom ever did was capture Spider-Man, drag him to the church where Spider-Man had gotten rid of the symbiote, and then used the symbiote to dress up as a priest to mock Spider-Man. He was constantly doing weird and silly things like that, even when he was very seriously trying to kill Spider-Man.

Eventually, Venom’s character changed, and his stories got a lot darker. He went from beating up muggers in alleyways while trying to prove himself as a hero to fighting literal cosmic gods of ancient darkness. Naturally, this warranted a change in Venom’s personality, especially as they got a lot less insane over the years. This has given some newer fans the impression that Venom is mostly just a dark anti-hero who takes everything seriously. But that’s the funny thing about a character with decades of history: there are a lot of valid interpretations that arise from many different stories.

A Goofy Ridiculous Venom Is Just As Comic-Accurate As A Serious One

Different Era, Same Character

Another character who perfectly demonstrates this is Batman. Adam West’s Batman and Robert Pattinson’s Batman, both extremely different takes on the character, but both are completely comic accurate. It’s the same for the cartoons Batman: The Animated Series and Batman: The Brave and the Bold. Tonally, these two shows couldn’t be more different, but they’re both completely comic accurate in what they’re adapting. The same is true of Sony’s Venom. While seeing him be goofy and outrageous may be off-putting to newer fans, it’s far from new for the character.

Venom has been around in comic books for a long time, and he’s done just about everything a character can do. He’s been a villain, an anti-hero, and a hero. He’s been a street-level hero who fights against muggers and gangsters. He’s been on epic adventures in outer space, and he’s slayed gods and even become one. With a character who’s been through so many events, it’s no surprise that he’s also had similar changes in his personality. While some fans might have been expecting a serious anti-hero, Sony decided they wanted to go with the goofy 90s’ version of Venom.

“}]] ’90s Venom was incredibly over-the-top.  Read More