Now that a couple trailers for October's Venom have been released, many people have wondered why the titular character's voice is so weird. Why does Eddie Brock talk to Venom? What's going on? While it may be tough to make out what he or Eddie Brock say in the trailers, as actor Tom Hardy makes weird choices with his speech, there is a method to his madness. Eddie Brock is a character slowly losing his mind, something the comics took years to set up.
The Venom symbiote made its first appearance in Amazing Spider-Man #252 back in the spring of 1984. It was revealed at the end of the year that Peter Parker got this suit from an intergalactic sewing machine in Marvel Super Heroes Secret War #8. No, that's not a joke. At first, nothing seemed too off about this costume, but as time progressed, Peter Parker became a bit of a jerk and began acting aggressively.
Parker realized this was a problem and parted ways with the symbiote, only for it to fall into the hands of journalist Eddie Brock, who was obsessed with ruining Spider-Man's life. When the Venom symbiote bonded with Brock, it seemed to heighten that even further. In Amazing Spider-Man #300, he appeared a bit unbalanced when fighting Spider-Man, especially when Brock decided to dress as a priest in a church. This is the first time he referred to himself and Venom as "we."
It wasn't until Amazing Spider-Man #316 that Brock started speaking in the second person more regularly, something Venom fans are more accustomed to. However, at this time, it wasn't happening every time he spoke. Brock and Venom were slowly becoming a single entity, which was greatly affecting Brock's psyche. Throughout the years, Venom and Spidey had a few more battles, and Venom slowly became the dominant force in Brock's body.
By the time Amazing Spider-Man #374 rolls around, Brock is using second person a whole lot more in his speech. In fact, he's no longer saying "I" or "me" when talking. And Brock, out of costume, has become very reliant on the Venom symbiote to do the simplest of tasks. By the next issue, it's clear Brock is completely unhinged as his mind has completely bonded with Venom. He's delusional, thinking he's a hero, and wants to protect civilians from Spider-Man, who he believes is a monster.
While the '90s primarily played on Venom being an unstoppable anti-hero, who also tried to juggle a love life, it wasn't until the '00s when creative teams started playing with the idea that there's a battle internally in the symbiote's host body. The 2011 volume of Venom played heavily to this as Peter Parker's high school bully turned war hero--Flash Thompson--is recruited to be a secret agent, and his weapon is the Venom symbiote. Thompson deals with trying to control Venom, but it's an uphill battle as Thompson finds out in this series, as well as when he becomes a member of the Guardian of the Galaxy. Undoubtedly, it's one of the best Venom series as it's a near-perfect reinvention of the character that doesn't sacrifice Venom's core. Additionally, the 2016 volume of Venom--which takes the character a bit more to its roots--also plays with the fight over the symbiote host's body. This time, army veteran Lee Price has bonded with Venom, and right off the bat, Price states that Venom talks to him. He's hearing and seeing things. If you've seen the trailers for the Venom movie, you know this is a predominant part of the movie.
Venom revolves around mental instability. The bodies he takes over already have some form of weakness inside of them, and that's what the symbiote preys on. It's about breaking down the character to make them lose their minds, and an easy way to show that is to have the host change their voice. Make them speak less intelligently. Change their pitch and flow. Make the audience feel that this person is crazy by way of audio cues and the characters usage of dialogue. While Venom's voice in the trailers may not be how you want the character to sound, it's conveying a message to the viewer: this dude is broken.
Essentially, Venom looks like a greatest hits of the character since his first appearance over 30 years ago. Instead of giving that slow, decades-long build towards a character breaking, that's where the movie plans to start. It wants to set Venom up as a mental threat as soon as possible, so the film can move forward.
Venom hits theaters on October 5. If you're interested in the movie, learn more about the villain Riot and his comic book origins and a breakdown of the second trailer, which contains a ton of symbiotes.
