The First Reactions To ‘Venom’ Have Hit The Web, And You’ll Probably Never See Tom Hardy’s Favorite Part

Venom opens this Friday, and we’ll have our full review up tonight (our interview with director Ruben Fleischer is available here), but in the meantime, critics were allowed to share their first reactions to a screening late Monday night, and hoo boy. Much like seeing how Tumblr reacted to Venom’s long tongue, the critics’ reactions leave us unsettled, yet intrigued.

But before we get to those tweets, it’s interesting to note that Tom Hardy revealed his “favorite 40 minutes” of scenes didn’t make the final cut. He made the tongue-in-cheek claim almost five minutes into this interview with Rob from Comics Explained:

“There are, like, 30 to 40 minutes’ worth of scenes that aren’t in this movie… all of them. Mad puppeteering scenes, dark comedy scenes. You know what I mean They just never made it in,” Hardy said. Co-star Riz Ahmed needled him that maybe those takes just weren’t as good as he thought they were. Tom joked about being crestfallen at that insult, making a reference to the “Hello darkness, my old friend” meme regarding Ben Affleck’s Batman. The joking continued right to the end, when Hardy tells Rob from Comics Explained, “You never did explain the comic.”

The claim that 30 to 40 minutes was cut probably won’t quell rumors about an R-rated cut, but executive producer Matt Tolmach has already stated there isn’t an R-rated cut anywhere, with director Ruben Fleisher adding that the intention was always to “push the violence to the hilt” while remaining PG-13 and using The Dark Knight as a reference point.

Hardy has since gone on to clarify his comments during a red carpet interview with IGN at the premiere:

— IGN (@IGN) October 2, 2018

So with those rumors out of the way, let’s get to the screening reactions. Venom premiered in Westwood, California, on Monday night, and it seems as though people aren’t calling the movie good so much as they’re calling it fascinatingly strange and perhaps anachronistic:

— Scott Mendelson (@ScottMendelson) October 2, 2018

I’m *fascinated* with VENOM. The cast seems to all know they’re in a darker superhero movie, except Tom Hardy who is basically remaking Jim Carrey’s Liar Liar. I kinda loved watching this movie, in a Rocky Horror type of way. At one point Tom Hardy and Venom make out.

— Mike Ryan (@mikeryan) October 2, 2018

The whole movie is Venom telling Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock over and over “I’m hungry, Eddie. I want to eat a brian, Eddie. You’re a loser, Eddie. You’re a pussy, Eddie.”

— Mike Ryan (@mikeryan) October 2, 2018

Social embargo for #Venom is up. I talk about this a lot in my review but this is a movie that somehow slipped through a wormhole from 2004. That's my biggest take. It's a movie that spilled from the pre-MCU era through a crack in time and space.

— The Mothmeg NYCC (@rustypolished) October 2, 2018

Not sure if Tom Hardy's weirdness sabotaged #Venom or saved it, but it has a self-aware cartoonishness, especially in its latter half. It's not "good," but it's better than expected. Doesn't feel like an R-rated film, am guessing the deleted 40min is just Hardy clowning around.

— Scott Mendelson (@ScottMendelson) October 2, 2018

#Venom is a one-man buddy film bonded with an antihero origin story. And Tom Hardy pulls it off like only he can pic.twitter.com/d2AblUvWjF

— Chris Sylvia (@sylvioso) October 2, 2018

Significant chunks of #Venom don’t work *at all* but there is some serious charm to the Eddie/Venom relationship. Not sure I had the intended reactions to some scenes but fun is fun – even when it’s totally ridiculous, right It’s too bad they didn’t go for the R rating though.

— Perri Nemiroff (@PNemiroff) October 2, 2018

Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock and #Venom has some really entertaining moments. A clunky script without nuance bogs the #Venom down, preventing it from choosing between being gritty, funny, or something unique.

— Brandon Davis (@BrandonDavisBD) October 2, 2018

Action-sequences and Eddie and Venom's odd relationship are the highlights of #Venom but if Sony wants to move forward with a universe, it needs to just keep the few parts that work and scrap the large portion which does t.

— Brandon Davis (@BrandonDavisBD) October 2, 2018

#Venom wasn’t as bad as everyone was saying it was going to be. Tom Hardy is and always will be a great actor, and I laughed a lot — but I’m not sure whether that was intentional or not. Post-credit scene is

— Beatrice Verhoeven (@bverhoev) October 2, 2018

That classic feel when they cut your favorite 40 minutes from Venom pic.twitter.com/Qx7OeYYywI

— Patrick Monahan (@pattymo) October 1, 2018

We still really want to see those “mad puppeteering scenes” Tom Hardy mentioned. Was he just talking to a puppet for 40 minutes Did they make out THE WORLD MUST KNOW.