Venom: Let There Be Carnage Quietly Becomes a Streaming Hit

2 weeks ago 14

Jordan Iacobucci has been an avid reader and movie fan since childhood. Jordan is known among his friends as the Marvel and Star Wars nerd, and even wrote a thirty-page college dissertation about Spider-Man! He has been a staff writer at both Screen Rant and CBR, where he enjoys sharing his love for pop culture with the world.

Four years after its release in theaters, Venom: Let There Be Carnage is quietly climbing the streaming charts. The second installment of Tom Hardy's controversial superhero franchise is currently streaming on Starz and Hulu, where it is outclassing the competition to become one of the most-streamed films of the month.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage is a global streaming hit, suddenly making its way to multiple Top 10 lists as the year comes to a close. According to data from FlixPatrol, the 2021 superhero sequel is one of Starz's most-streamed films in the United States for the week of December 18, rising as high as No. 5. Other countries are streaming Venom 2 en masse as well, with the film performing particularly well in Japan, France, and the Netherlands, where it is available on Hulu, HBO Max, and other local streaming platforms.

The film was released on October 1, 2021, and features the return of Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock, a former reporter who becomes an antihero after bonding with an alien symbiote named Venom. Together, Eddie and Venom become the "Lethal Protector," defending innocent people from various superhuman threats. The film also features the live-action debut of Carnage, a vengeful symbiote who bonds with serial killer Cletus Kasady (Woody Harrelson).

Venom: Let There Be Carnage debuted to mixed reviews from critics. The film holds a 58% approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, which is a 27-point improvement over its 2018 predecessor. Fans were much kinder to the Venom sequel, with audiences awarding the film an 83% approval rating.

Let There Be Carnage was followed up by a third and final entry in the trilogy, Venom: The Last Dance, which hit theaters in 2024. The final installment saw a significant decline in audience enthusiasm, ending the franchise on a low note.

Venom Deserves to Return In the MCU

The Venom franchise remains the only successful branch of Sony's infamous Spider-Man cinematic universe, which includes such undistinguished box office bombs as Kraven the Hunter, Madame Web, and Morbius. Aside from the Venom films, every entry in this off-brand Marvel franchise was considered a box office disappointment, leading Sony to cancel all future projects tied to its cinematic universe. Despite their poor reviews and performance, many of Sony's Spider-Man films have been successful on streaming platforms like Netflix and Disney+.

With the continued popularity of Venom and its sequels on streaming, it's clear that Tom Hardy's antihero deserves much better than Sony's Spider-Man Universe. The character seemingly reached the natural conclusion of his arc in Venom: The Last Dance, but there is always a chance for the Lethal Protector to return in future Marvel projects. While Sony may not have any additional films on the docket for the SSU, another cinematic universe could feature Venom's return.

Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars are set to conclude the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Multiverse Saga, as alternate realities collide in a chaotic final battle. The upcoming films are already confirmed to include crossovers with other Marvel franchises, including the X-Men universe, and are theorized to include many others. Tom Hardy could easily reprise his role as Venom in one or both of these upcoming films, giving him a proper conclusion.

Hardy's return in the MCU would also give him the chance to share the screen with Tom Holland's Spider-Man. Venom: Let There Be Carnage's post-credits scene teased a potential battle between the two iconic enemies. While Eddie Brock does appear in the post-credits scene of Spider-Man: No Way Home, he returns to his home universe before he gets the chance to meet Spider-Man. While Hardy revealed that there were once plans for a Venom/Spider-Man crossover, they never came to fruition.

The upcoming Avengers films will most likely be the last chance for Marvel and Sony to fulfill their goal of bringing Hardy's Venom and Holland's Spider-Man together. As the best part of an underwhelming franchise, Hardy deserves the chance to bring his version of Venom to the MCU, even if it is for only one film.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage is streaming on Starz and Hulu.