‘Venom’ Gets Hungry in a Killer New Trailer

"The world has enough superheroes," indeed.

“The world has enough superheroes,” indeed.

The kickoff to Sony’s own Marvel Universe, Venom, has been stirring up fans for months since its announcement. An incredible first trailer dropped back in April, letting us know that this wouldn’t be the same disappointing waste of the delightfully problematic villain we saw in Spider-Man 3.

That hype was intensified tenfold with the release of a brand new Venom trailer, shown at this year’s Comic-Con and finally delivered to the public today. The new trailer delves deeper into the symbiote’s purpose, while also making us really, really bloodthirsty. Watch the trailer below and try to control your own cheers for the toothy antagonist:

If possible, this new trailer is even more intense than the first. The main attraction is unquestionably seeing Hardy’s Eddie Brock interact much more directly with Venom. Or rather, they are Venom, the result of human and symbiote becoming one super beast. The symbiote’s influence over Eddie takes on a clear picture, whereas before we only heard the voice in his head and saw its alien power lash out against his will.

Now, we actually see its head come out of Eddie’s body, even telling him “look into my eyes, Eddie.” They are able to have a face to face discussion, which probably does not do much in terms of Eddie’s mental fortitude. The creature has a much stronger hold on the reporter, using “we” more often in this trailer to emphasize their one-ness and Eddie’s role in the carnage to come. Venom’s ultimate goal? To purge the world of people.

Venom is echoing the sentiments of the scientist Carlton Drake, played by Riz Ahmed. These motives behind the symbiote experiments are made hauntingly clear now. Drake emphasizes that with the planet “on the brink of collapse,” human beings have become even more disposable. His solution? Erase our species and replace it with a new hybrid creature — human and symbiote combined.

Sony really hit us over the head with the emphasis on eradicating humans this time around, but also gave us a knockout reveal with Ahmed’s character. In a scene with a showdown between Venom and Marvel villain Riot, we’re given our first look at the only thing in this film which can challenge Venom. Upon closer inspection, you can actually see that it is Ahmed’s Carlton Drake wrapped in symbiote — he is Riot.

In the comics, Riot comes as a result of Drake’s Life Foundation attempting to replicate the Venom symbiote. These copycats would actually be under his organization’s control. Originally, Riot merged with a random security guard, though clearly, Sony is combining Riot with the mastermind himself, Carlton Drake. The final fight in Venom is really shaping up to be incredible (though many fans will undoubtedly be disappointed at the lack of iconic baddie Carnage).

The reveal of Riot being thrilling, of course, yet still somehow overshadowed by the memorable dialogue of the new trailer. The towering Venom pontificating about wanting to snack on his human victims is basically all anyone’s ever wanted from the film. In one particular moment he holds a man aloft, saying:

“Eyes, lungs, pancreas… so many snacks. So little time.”

Another scene towards the end of the trailer has him once again detailing just how badly he wants to eat some poor guy’s face and limbs. If Venom isn’t just all talk (and judging by the numerous attack scene cut-aways we’ve been given in these trailers, he isn’t) then these moments are really letting us know exactly how far the R-rating will be taken.

Despite the face-chomping and extinction-rhetoric of his symbiote cohort, Eddie unnervingly suggests that his newfound power might not be all that bad. After getting a better look at exactly how much more influential the symbiote is over him, this line really sheds light on the fate of his character.

Eddie has gone from an unwilling tag-along, an innocent who stumbled upon a dangerous alien parasite, to more of an accomplice. As Venom repeats throughout every trailer, the singular “he” has truly become “we”.

Kendall Cromartie: Kendall is a recent graduate and San Diego native who is passionate about the environment, writing, and above all else Keanu Reeves.