So, last night we got our first glimpse at the titular lead of the newest Sony produced Marvel film - Venom. I, for one, had never bothered to check out the teaser trailer that dropped back in February, as - from word of mouth - I had heard that it didn’t offer much in terms of divulging anything worthwhile. In fact, I probably wouldn’t have checked this trailer out had it not been for the leak that came out earlier that same day - the one that showed Tom Hardy's Eddie Brock transforming into the terrifying creature.

While the leak did garner a substantial amount of attention - some positive, some negative - I can't help but feel that it ultimately served to hurt it's release. While the trailer was obviously put together very well, it just felt as though there was something off about it. Maybe it was the bizarre way the tendrils jutted out of his clothes, or the fact that they actually referred to him as an “anti-hero” in the trailer - probably a combination of that, and more. Even the poster seemed oddly underwhelming - as though they planned on doing more to it and just didn't have the time. I could be alone in that opinion, though.

I'm not saying it was a bad trailer. It wasn't. It managed to do its job of getting me interested in the movie, because now that I have an understanding of what the plot is, it's got me interested. It seems as though this particular depiction of the character is a mix of both the original origin, and the origin from the Ultimate Marvel series of comics; original, in the sense that he is a beefy journalist who will come in contact with an alien substance that will give him powers, and Ultimate, in the sense that it's coming from a lab that's experimenting with using it to augment an individuals ability. The idea of (seemingly) mixing these two origins is actually pretty interesting.

Speaking of which, let's talk about the beginning of the trailer, wherein we get a glimpse of what looks like an alien ship. I wonder - and this is definitely speculation on my part - if this is fallout from Thanos's invasion of Earth in Avengers: Infinity War. It would be an interesting way to subtly hint at the fact that this exists - at least to some extent - within the MCU (outside of Tom Holland's apparent cameo.) They wouldn't even have to mention The Avengers or Thanos, instead opting for more of a Defenders approach, wherein people and events are mentioned, without ever being called by their actual name.