Earlier today, the first trailer for Ruben Fleischer’s Venom dropped and, while it was fairly lightweight (we don’t even get to see the symbiote), we did get some action and a peek into what the film is aiming for. Starring Tom Hardy (Taboo, Mad Max: Fury Road), Woody Harrelson (Now You See Me, War for the Planet of the Apes), and Riz Ahmed (Rogue One, Nightcrawler), Venom is set to premiere later this year. In this post, I will be breaking down some of the footage we see in the trailer, explaining who some of the characters, theorising on potential plot points, and explaining a theory showing that the film will, in fact, be part of the ever-growing MCU.

Everyone’s Got Their Thing

In the trailer, most of what we see is simply Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock in a hospital and an expositional voice-over from him explaining that ‘everyone’s got their thing… you used to be one thing. Now,  you’re something else’. We also get some action footage and our first look at the basic symbiote being transported by Riz Ahmed’s Dr Carlton Drake (but more on that later).

In his voiceover, Brock says that someone’s ‘thing’ may be an ‘accident’. This is accompanied by some footage of what looks to be a sort of crashed spacecraft or airship. This is almost definitely how the symbiotes are introduced, either through a secret government program or in an alien ship. This implies that the film will take more from the Agent Venom origin than that of Eddie Brock and Spider-Man in the clock tower.

It also looks like, instead of Brock being mixed up in the ‘accident’, he likely volunteers for the experimental programme run by the Life Foundation, experimenting with melding humans with the symbiotes. There will also likely be a situation in which Brock is somehow the lone survivor of the programme as all the others have been driven mad or are dead.

Who’s Who?

The last two characters that appear in the trailer are Anne Weying (left), played by Michelle Williams (Blue Valentine, Manchester By The Sea) and Dr Carlton Drake (right), played by Riz Ahmed.

The former is a lawyer and Brock’s ex-girlfriend from the comics and, other than that, there is not much to say about her, other than the idea that she might stay his girlfriend for the duration or at least at the beginning of the film. Also, in the comics, she has taken the role of She-Venom and may do so in the film series later on.

The later is head of the Life Foundation and most likely in charge of the symbiotes, acting as a villain for the duration of the movie. There is also a possibility that he could take on a symbiote (though I doubt it).

Multiple Symbiotes

Finally, at the 1:00 mark in the video, two canisters can be seen (above) containing symbiotes. This suggests at a second symbiote (or more). This is relatively unsurprising as there are many different versions that the symbiotes take throughout the comics and this will most likely continue to the movies. This may also be linked to the absence of Woody Harrelson’s yet-to-be-named character from the trailer. I think that, because Harrelson so often plays very complicated, often morally questionable characters, he could be playing Venom in the movie. He could have previously escaped from the programme after either going mad, being taken over entirely by the symbiote, or ‘melding’ with the symbiote, much like Brock, to create a stable single consciousness with it (this will also likely be how Brock will survive the programme).

I am interested to see what we will get in future trailers and how the symbiote will be shown on screen (another actor’s voice? will Hardy ‘talk to himself’?). Anyway, I hope you liked the post and let me know what you think in the comments. Also, be sure to check out my trailer breakdowns for Westworld Season 2 and the Infinity War Super Bowl trailer (did you spot Captain Marvel?).