But in October 2018 Venom broke free from the periphery to stand front and centre with his very own blockbuster. Starring Tom Hardy, this action-packed spectacular was a massive box office smash, making it one of Sony’s most successful movies of all time. Want to know why you should buy this movie on the Virgin Media Store? Here are six reasons why you need to get onboard the Venom train…

1. It’s about an iconic character

Venom began life as an adversary of everyone’s favourite web-slinger, Spider-Man, but soon became almost as popular as the hero he was fighting as his story developed. But this isn’t your average monster. Venom is a symbiote – an alien force that bonds to a host body in order to survive, granting the host superhuman strength, speed and fighting ability in return. Photo-journalist Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) finds himself bound to this dark passenger, and is forced to contend with the best and worst elements of its unstable psyche.

2. It’s got a great cast

Tom Hardy doesn’t do half-measures, and his performance as the titular character is suitably menacing. But he also has a great cast around him. Michelle Williams (The Greatest Showman) plays Brock’s lawyer girlfriend Anne Weying, while Riz Ahmed (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) is a billionaire inventor on the verge of a new discovery. Woody Harrelson, Jenny Slate and Ron Cephas Jones also feature.

3. The action is out of this world!

In his natural habitat, Venom looks like a sentient oil spill; all coiling, liquid blackness. This means that, even when in symbiosis with Brock, it can manipulate its body to attack surrounding threats. And although Brock largely convinces the alien to only take down the bad guys, its unquenchable thirst for mayhem leads to many a sticky situation.

4. The guy in charge knows what he’s doing

Director Ruben Fleischer is the man behind the great horror comedy Zombieland, and he brings his expertise to bear here. After all, there’s elements of body horror as Brock wrestles with the reality of his bodily predicament; comedy as Venom spits quips mid-fight; lots of action as a variety of parties try to secure the symbiote for themselves; and even a bit of a love story!

5. There’s more than one symbiote

Look, we don’t want to give too much away when it comes to one of the biggest, most unmissable films of the past 12 months. But if you think Venom is the only symbiote causing havoc, you might want to think again...

6. This could affect the future of Spider-Man – and maybe more!

Since Tom Holland took over the role of Spider-Man, the character has mingled with the Avengers crew and other aspects of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And with Venom inhabiting the same comic-book universe as Spidey, his home of San Francisco could feasibly be the one Ant-Man calls home. Time will tell, but perhaps Venom will help to create new links in the dizzying web of superhero movie crossovers in the future. What we do know is that there’s a Venom sequel in the pipeline. Watch this space...

Take a look behind the scenes of Venom

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