[8.5/10] I’ve seen enough adaptations of the Venom story to be sick of it, but I really liked this one. Given that we’d barely met Eddie Brock before, the show does a nice job of quickly establishing his characterization, making him both sympathetic but misguided in his hatred. The “Eddie hates Peter and the symbiote hates Spider-Man” is good enough as a plot accelerant, but I appreciate how the episode goes deeper than that.
The notion that Eddie never really had a traditional home, never even left the state, to where New York City felt like his only “home” in a more figurative sense establishes his motivation in a novel way. The idea that by repeatedly scooping him, getting the best photog assignments despite Eddie’s usual paparazzi skills, makes him feel like that home has been taken away from. Learning more about Peter’s life from the symbiote, about how despite all his losses he’s always had people who loved him and made him feel like he belonged, only magnifies Eddie’s resentment.
It’s a neat approach. You feel for Eddie, while at the same time seeing why that misaimed anger makes him dangerous. At the same time, his whole method for getting to the symbiote in the first place shows he’s craft and sharp (and underhanded when necessary), which adds to the frustration and humiliation when he’s upstaged by a kid in high school.
When he finally bonds with the symbiote, the results are cool visually and scary vocally, and that characterization immediately makes him a distinctive threat. Granted, the “I’m stronger now, so loud noises won’t work” and “well you got me, so I’m just going to run away for now” bits are a little convenient. But that’s balanced by the whole “can opener” bombs being set up by Spidey’s skirmish with Beetle earlier in the episode. And the way he just shows up in Peter’s room, invading his personal space, is creepy, and “shot” like that, with silhouettes and a sense of trespass throughout.
I also enjoyed how all this heavy, Venomous pugilism is balanced out by the comic relief of Peter throwing a lame, sparsely attended party, and Miles trying to distract everyone in it from the superpowered throwdown going on outside. His attempts to do the robot, or have a chess match with his teacher, or otherwise keep people occupied makes for an amusing break between blows.
Overall, I thought I might be bored with symbiote-related antics after seeing so many incarnations of them in my journey through the animated Spider-Verse. But the characterization of Eddie Brock here, and the way the show frames his Venom make this version of the story stand out, at least at launch.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2019-06-09T04:42:49Z
[8.5/10] I’ve seen enough adaptations of the Venom story to be sick of it, but I really liked this one. Given that we’d barely met Eddie Brock before, the show does a nice job of quickly establishing his characterization, making him both sympathetic but misguided in his hatred. The “Eddie hates Peter and the symbiote hates Spider-Man” is good enough as a plot accelerant, but I appreciate how the episode goes deeper than that.
The notion that Eddie never really had a traditional home, never even left the state, to where New York City felt like his only “home” in a more figurative sense establishes his motivation in a novel way. The idea that by repeatedly scooping him, getting the best photog assignments despite Eddie’s usual paparazzi skills, makes him feel like that home has been taken away from. Learning more about Peter’s life from the symbiote, about how despite all his losses he’s always had people who loved him and made him feel like he belonged, only magnifies Eddie’s resentment.
It’s a neat approach. You feel for Eddie, while at the same time seeing why that misaimed anger makes him dangerous. At the same time, his whole method for getting to the symbiote in the first place shows he’s craft and sharp (and underhanded when necessary), which adds to the frustration and humiliation when he’s upstaged by a kid in high school.
When he finally bonds with the symbiote, the results are cool visually and scary vocally, and that characterization immediately makes him a distinctive threat. Granted, the “I’m stronger now, so loud noises won’t work” and “well you got me, so I’m just going to run away for now” bits are a little convenient. But that’s balanced by the whole “can opener” bombs being set up by Spidey’s skirmish with Beetle earlier in the episode. And the way he just shows up in Peter’s room, invading his personal space, is creepy, and “shot” like that, with silhouettes and a sense of trespass throughout.
I also enjoyed how all this heavy, Venomous pugilism is balanced out by the comic relief of Peter throwing a lame, sparsely attended party, and Miles trying to distract everyone in it from the superpowered throwdown going on outside. His attempts to do the robot, or have a chess match with his teacher, or otherwise keep people occupied makes for an amusing break between blows.
Overall, I thought I might be bored with symbiote-related antics after seeing so many incarnations of them in my journey through the animated Spider-Verse. But the characterization of Eddie Brock here, and the way the show frames his Venom make this version of the story stand out, at least at launch.