All 3 Tom Hardy Venom Movies, Ranked

First things first: Few would go out on a limb and claim that Tom Hardy's Venom movies are actually good in the conventional sense. The critics certainly don't think so. However, movies can have many positive qualities, and the Venom trilogy embraces what just might be the most important, at least from a tentpole movie's point of view — they're entertaining and fun.

It's clear that we're not getting any more of these movies anytime soon. The live-action Sony Spider-Man Universe that the Venom films belong to was a failed experiment that has gone the way of the dodo, courtesy of the failures of "Morbius," "Madame Web," and "Kraven the Hunter," which ultimately ended the Sony Spider-Man Universe for good. Still, we should not forget that at its best, this particular cinematic universe could be great fun. The three Venom movies are testament to the best moments of the SSU, regardless of their critical appreciation. Now, let's find out which of the trio is the best.

If you ask critics, "Venom" sucked. If you ask audiences and the studio their thoughts, however, the fact that it received two sequels is answer enough.

"Venom" is cartoonish and absurd in the best possible way. The bonding of failing journalist Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) and the black goo entity from outer space often plays out like a violent Looney Tunes cartoon, with Venom's slimy, stretchy, and violent powers wreaking havoc. Hardy chews all the available scenery as Eddie alone, and his vocalizations as Venom somehow up the ante. It's easy to see why critics wouldn't appreciate this particular approach, especially from a proven actor like Hardy. It's equally easy to see why Hardy himself embraced and loved the role enough to return to play it two more times (plus a scene at the end of "Spider-Man: No Way Home").

"Venom" doesn't pretend to be anything other than an entertaining and highly memeable superhero action flick. Its less than impressive 31% Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer rating was thus only to be expected — but its $856 million global box office haul against a $100 million budget says that sometimes, fans just want to eat their popcorn and enjoy the ride.

As mentioned, the Venom movies are a quintessential example of a series that divides critics and audiences, so the fact that "Venom: the Last Dance" has a 40% Tomatometer rating and a 79% Popcornmeter audience score on Rotten Tomatoes shouldn't be a surprise. 

This is the movie with the Venom horse. That should be all that needs to be said, but it just scratches the surface of the absurdities "The Last Dance" happily revels in. The movie begins in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, following up on the "Spider-Man: No Way Home" cameo before taking things back to Eddie-Venom's own reality. Here, they need to contend with dangerous alien entities known as the Xenophages, a universal apocalyptic scenario, a team of soldiers intent on taking down Venom, and more. There's some fun stunt casting in Rhys Ifans, who's known as the Lizard in Andrew Garfield's "The Amazing Spider-Man" and "No Way Home" — and who of course plays nothing of the sort here. There's a dramatic introduction of the Symbiote god Knull (Andy Serkis), who is destined to become one of the most wasted Marvel live-action villains. 

In other words, there's a whole bunch of absurdity on display. Fortunately, it's the Venom series' particular brand of absurdity; Charming, goofy, and inherently likable unless you're a professional critic.

With its 58% Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer rating, "Venom: Let There Be Carnage" comes dangerously close to actually getting some critical appreciation. Perhaps this is because it's somewhat darker than the two other movies in the trilogy, courtesy of Woody Harrelson's titular serial killer symbiote. Harrelson approaches his murderous Cletus Kasady with a comparable energy to Tom Hardy's take on Eddie Brock, and any moment that features either of them on screen is deliberately over-the-top. 

And what a ride it is. "Let There Be Carnage" makes abundantly clear that the red Carnage symbiote is far stronger and more dangerous, and Venom is actually quite terrified to face it. Likewise, the psychotic serial killer Kasady is a far cry from the plucky but comically inept Eddie, which further reaffirms the pair's power disparity.

Sure, there are things going on around the two, as well. Naomie Harris gives a game performance as Kasady's lover Shriek, and Stephen Graham delivers as Patrick Mulligan. Yet, at the end of the day, this is a movie about mashing the black symbiote action figure against the red one until something gives. "Venom: Let There Be Carnage" fulfills this mission perfectly, and the way it understands the assignment propels it to the title of the best Venom movie by a considerable margin.