Sony took a large gamble with their Venom movie. Desperate to create a movie universe on par with the likes of the MCU or even the DCEU, Sony decided to launch a Spider-Man universe without Spider-Man. The gamble paid off. What fans are calling the "Venom-verse" is off to a wondrous start. The Tom Hardy starring comic book film will break the record for an October movie debut by the time the box offices close on Sunday night.
As reported by CNN, Venom will bow with an $80 million weekend. The massive haul is higher than projections, which ultimately translates to Venom fans laughing in the faces of critics. The Spidey villain was heavily criticized by critics, and currently sits at an abysmal 32% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Still, the audience rating on the same site blessed Venom with an 89% score.
A mid-credits scene hints at a much bigger plot at work, meaning that the Venom-verse will be expanding very soon. It will be interesting to see how Sony plans on maneuvering their movie universe with all of Spidey's foes and no Peter Parker, although anything is possible. An appearance from Tom Holland isn't out of the question, since Sony and Disney are sharing the rights to his iteration of the wall-crawler.
