Everyone knew thatSony’s Spider-Man Universe was doomedbefore it even began withVenom. But, over the years, it truly would only get worse. Audiences have reached the point of practically beggingSony Pictures Entertainmentto put a stop to this franchise and stop trying to make these films work, when they clearly don’t.
After the failure at the box office and the reviews ofKraven the Hunter, the disdain that the general populous has for the SonySpider-Man Universeis greater than ever. Through this cinematic universe,Sony Pictures Entertainment has produced some of the worst superhero films of all timeand, with that, comes horrible characters that don’t compel audiences even a little bit. Said characters are typically a big part of the failure of a lot of these movies, and some are far worse than others.
10Cletus Kasady/Carnage
Played by Woody Harrelson
Next to Venom, one of themost popular Spider-Man villainsalso happens to be a symbiote—a character that many can’t help but wonder why wasn’t the villain of the firstVenomfilm. So, when he was announced to be the big bad of the sequel, fans were actually kind of excited. There was definitely a chance that this serial-killer-turned-symbiote-monster could be done well in this darker universe.
However, inVenom: Let There Be Carnage,Carnage (Woody Harrelson) is a far cry from any interpretationthat had ever come before. While he was a careless, wild and crazy serial killer, he was missing so many traits that made the villain so iconic in the first place. His high, Joker-like laugh and craving for careless, brutal murder is gone. What’s left in the sequel is a basic antagonist that, honestly, could have been any symbiote with some personality changes.Carnage has some rewatchable scenes, though.
Venom: Let There Be Carnage
Played byAndy Serkis
The primary antagonist ofVenom: The Last Danceis a recent comic book villain that people fell in love with: Knull (Andy Serkis), the god of the symbiotes. However, he isn’t very impressive in the movie itself, and whileSony tried to hint that the thirdVenomproject was “just the beginning”, no one seems to really care.
Despite being the main villain, Knull’s presence is so absurdly weak in the movie.With how impressive and amazing he is in the comic books, he had the true potential to make the finale of this trilogy an actually awesome movie. But, not much else can be expected from this cinematic universe anymore, at this point anyway.
Venom: The Last Dance
Eddie Brock, balancing life with the alien symbiote Venom, faces a complex struggle with a powerful new adversary threatening their existence and the world. As a turbulent alliance forms between man and symbiote, the duo embarks on a thrilling journey of survival, challenging their limits and ethical boundaries.
8Aleksei Sytsevich/Rhino
Played by Alessandro Nivola
After his rough live-action debut at the end ofThe Amazing Spider-Man 2,this classic Spider-Man villainhas struggled in the eyes of general audiences. When it was revealed that he would become a villain again inKraven the Hunter, questions were raised about whether he was going to suffer another massive failure, or not.
And, unfortunately, his time inKraven the Hunteris not great. However, he does have one thing going for him and that’s the fact that his design isn’t half bad. Outside of this, though, he suffers from everything else that this entry in the Sony Spider-Man universe suffers from: coming out of a horrifically bad screenplay.Rhino’s filled with terrible exposition, asking people to be his partner left and right and has all-around terrible dialogue.Nothing could save this indestructible meathead from that.
Kraven the Hunter
Kraven the Hunter explores the origin story of Sergei Kravinoff, known as Kraven, as he navigates his tumultuous relationship with his father, Nikolai. This path of vengeance sets Kraven on a journey to become a formidable hunter with a reputation for fearsome brutality.
7Frances Barrison/Shriek
Played by Naomie Harris
In Marvel Comics, the character of Shriek (Naomie Harris) is actually a fascinating and badass character. Hercharacter inVenom: Let There Be Carnage, however? She has pretty much no character, whatsoever. Shriek’s motivation is barely believable, her involvement is minimal and the only thing cool about her is her powers, which are underutilized.
Shriek’s motivation is barely believable, her involvement is minimal and the only thing cool about her is her powers, which are underutilized.
It’s truly a shame that, much like her lover in the film, she was completely wasted and a far shot from who she is in the books.Shriek can be added to the long list of characters in this universe that had all their potential wastedon a film that didn’t serve them in the slightest. Apart from her role in the opening of the movie, she could be removed from it and the overall plot wouldn’t change.
6Mattie Franklin
Played by Celeste O’Connor
Madame Webis universally regarded as one of the worst andmost boring superhero filmsof all time, so, of course, the characters that lead the film aren’t going to be much better. While Mattie Franklin (Celeste O’Connor) and the other young girls that Cassandra Webb (Dakota Johnson) has to protect are said to be important in the story, the screenplay doesn’t actually show that.
Like the others, Mattie is pretty much running around for the entirety of the film and doesn’t actually do much. Except,when compared to the other two girls, Mattie is seemingly forgotten.She has far less to do than Anya Corazon (Isabela Merced) or Julia Cornwall (Sydney Sweeney) and it simply feels… off. This, unfortunately, makes her character feel useless in the plot.
Madame Web
Cassandra Webb is a New York City paramedic who starts to show signs of clairvoyance. Forced to confront revelations about her past, she must protect three young women from a mysterious adversary who wants them dead.
5Julia Cornwall
Played by Sydney Sweeney
While she may have more to do than Mattie, Julia Cornwall is written in quite a weak fashion. Just like the other two, she doesn’t have much to do in the plot. When Julia is doing things, her character does a lot of complaining, which did not help audiences want to root for her. People were quite excited to see her super suit and unique psionic webbing powers, but they’re shown off at the end for a good 30 seconds.
When Julia is doing things, her character does a lot of complaining, which did not help audiences want to root for her.
The trope that the film tries to lean on for her character is basic, boring and, honestly, annoying. The onlysaving grace for the character is Sydney Sweeney, but that’s part of what makes this even more disappointing.Had she been given even a slightly better character, Sweeney could have done far more with the little she was given.
4Ezekiel Sims
Played by Tahar Rahim
When a Marvel Comics fan thinks of the name of this villain, they think of a cool character that introduced the idea of Spider Totems to the Marvel Comics universe; this ushered in the story that brought Morlun to the forefront of Spider-Man’s villain gallery at the time. However, Ezekiel Sims (Tahar Rahim) inMadame Webis,truthfully, one of theworst comic book movie villainsever put on screen.
… Ezekiel Sims inMadame Webis, truthfully, one of the worst comic book movie villains ever put on screen.
His dialogue is abysmal, motivation weaker than a sun-droughtSupermanand a source of convolution in the plot. There isn’t much that anyone can defend this character with.Ezekiel Sims is just so weak, which is par for the course at this point forMadame Web. Tahar Rahim truly tried his best, but at the end of the day, this character could not be saved.
3Milo Morbius
Played by Matt Smith
While the world may loveMatt Smith, they did not loveMorbius. But, that is no surprise to anyone, at this point. His involvement in the film only left people wondering why on Earth he took the job and, additionally, why Sony would waste talent like Smith on a role as bland and obnoxious as Milo Morbiusin this unwatchable film.
There’s even an argument to be made that Smith andJared Letowould have been better if their roles had been swapped. Regardless,the only upside to this role being in the film at all is the hilarious dance sequence Milo has with himself in the mirror as he gets dressed.Funny for all the wrong reasons, but funny nonetheless.
2Michael Morbius
Played by Jared Leto
With how terribly receivedMorbiusis,its obvious that the main character and who plays him would most likely have a big part in that. Although he’s really cool in the comic book storylines, it goes without saying that everything that makesMorbiusa bad movie is what makes Morbius a bad character in this film. What made this blood-sucker so unique was that, when he was introduced,traditional vampireswere not allowed in comics, so he became the “Living Vampire”.
Although he’s really cool in the comic book storylines, it goes without saying that everything that makesMorbiusa bad movie is what makes Morbius a bad character in this film.
Not to mention, the protagonist is played by the infamousJared Leto, who does not have a very positive reputation in the public eye.With numerous controversies (especially spurred viaSuicide Squadset stories) and performances like this and his stint as Joker, his involvement doesn’t do any favors for Michael Morbius.Everyone saw this flop coming.
1Cassandra Webb/Madame Web
Played by Dakota Johnson
MaybeMadame Webcould have had more of a chanceif the titular protagonistwas actually likable. At the beginning of the film, her character flaw is that she’s a pretty unlikable person with an attitude. In a typical film, this would be something the character learns to overcome and be better, thanks to the new scenario enacted in the inciting incident.Cassandra Webb doesn’t go through this– she is simply unlikable.
Cassandra doesn’t want to be in this movie and neither did the audience members in theater seats.It’s impossible to get viewers to care about the plot if the project’s main character doesn’t either. The lovely Dakota Johnson clearly doesn’t want to be in the movie much, either.
