Venom

With ‘Venom’ tickets finally on sale now, Sony had to at long last put to bed the questions about what the final film was going to be rated, and let the movie theaters (and therefore the fans) know how exactly this was all going to happen. Now we know that ‘Venom’ is rated P-13, and even though the filmmaker has assured fans that the film is going to push the boundaries of what a P-13 rating is, many cannot help but be disappointed in this decision. Especially if, as is being reported, the main reason that ‘Venom’ went with P-13 was to ensure that if the possibility presented itself, they could cross-over with either the MCU’s Spider-Man or others from the MCU, none of which would be easy if ‘Venom’ was R-Rated.

According to Fandango’s Erik Davis while reporting on the subject:

 

“The reason is so that Venom and Spider-Man can face off at some point down the line. If the movie is R, it’s hard to do that.”

This is off-putting for a number of reasons, because Sony, in my opinion, should be more concerned with putting out the best film possible and the best possible version of ‘Venom,’ rather than with whether or not they can “one day” get him into the MCU. And the thought that a PG-13 rating might prevent the movie from flopping because an R-Rating does not work for super-hero movies seems fairly antiquated by this point since we have all seen the success of the ‘Deadpool’ franchise and ‘Logan,’ so this move by Sony seems entirely motivated by their desire to build ‘Venom’ into a franchise, a trap that has ruined many movies in recent years.

Studios need to stop obsessing about franchise building and getting to that sequel, and get back to the point where the ultimate goal is the best possible movie, and believe that if it finds an audience and is good enough, they will be able to figure out a sequel when the time comes. I’ve lost a lot of faith in ‘Venom’ since this announcement, and while I do want to see him done well on the big screen, I feel like Sony may have dropped the ball on this one.