This story starts where most of our current stories now begin… during the pandemic. It was a time of longer hair, apocalypse beards, beer deliveries, and a complete lack of seeing anyone who wasn’t the Mrs. or Hudson the Cat outside of a Zoom call. Times were bleak. Times were different. What else was there for us to do other than watch… Venom?

Hey listen, there was only so much Tiger King or (insert pandemic classic binge here) that could be watched. Sometimes you had to dig deep and turn on the non-MCU Marvel movie starring the ever so handsome Tom Hardy. Don’t sit there and deny it. We’ve all found ourselves down an internet rabbit hole looking at pictures of Tom Hardy and dogs. I’m pretty sure that’s one of the reasons the internet was invented. If the movie was bad at least there would be Tom Hardy, right?

Guess what? The movie was baaaaaad but also maybe, possibly, good? Not like in a film appreciation way. You don’t walk out of Venom discussing the finer details of cinema but if you let yourself relax a bit, remove your love for the comic character, and let jokes fly between yourself and your wife then Venom is a pretty good time. Yes, it’s for all the wrong reasons but sometimes those are the best type of movie experiences. I love a good bad movie. Always have. Mortal Kombat most recently scratched that itch. Not every movie has to be a classic. Sometimes I just want to be entertained by any means possibly. Especially during a pandemic.

Venom fits that category. A movie that wanted to be dark and brooding but also funny and slapstick? It couldn’t’ find a lane and Tom Hardy’s voice choice really lead to some unintended fun. This movie made choices. But, Venom did more than awesome at the box office. In fact, I would blame the success of Venom on the MCU Spider-Man issues we’ve had. Sony saw the dollars and believed they could make a Spider-Man Universe work. Good movies be damned.

There was little doubt that Venom would be getting a sequel. A sequel that would get pushed back because of the pandemic and the uncertainty of people actually going to theaters. Well, our time of waiting is now over Geeklings. Yesterday we got our first look at Venom: Let There Be Carnage and let me tell you something… I’m in.

One of my main complaints about Venom is the film didn’t know what kind of movie it wanted to be and it made a mess of itself. Let There Be Carnage, based only on this trailer, looks to be embracing those moments of absurdity from the original. In fact, I would say they’re going all-in on it. And Let There Be Carnage looks to be a buddy cop movie between a reporter and his alien symbiote. And all I can say is, let’s do the thing. Maybe this clearer vision will allow for a more sound movie/story experience or maybe it’ll be more of the same. I’m just happy to see Venom maybe picking a lane. Be one thing or another. Don’t try to be alllll the things please and thank you.

Now, this isn’t a movie I would pay to see in theaters pandemic or not. For me, this would be a perfect direct to streaming film. Like Godzilla vs Kong, I’d be all over this. Opening night. Ready to crack wise with the Mrs. and see some Venom ridiculousness. With that being said, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t somewhat looking forward to whatever this is. I’m all about movies and characters finding their identity and if the Venom franchise wants to dip their toe in the over-the-top comedic elements of this character then why not. Let’s see what happens. People are drawn to these types of movies. Hell, it’s what kept the Fast and the Furious franchise alive for so long.

Do I expect great things from Venom: Let There Be CarnageI? No, no I don’t. Do I expect to be entertained like I was with the original during the pandemic? I think so and at the end of the day, that’s all I’m looking for. What do you think Geeklings? Did the trailer for Let There Be Carnage leave you excited for the movie or are you still cringing from Venom? Be sure to sound off in the comments or throw me a line over on Twitter @iamgeek32. And remember, we must protect Mrs. Chen at all costs.