In a New York that’s both dark and threatening,   rage and violence are the true currency for survival. No web-slinger here, Peter Parker isn’t hero enough for this world.

The Life Foundation, run by enigmatic philanthropist Dr Carlton Drake (Riz Ahmed), discovers the “symbiotes” - black goo of alien origin - and merges it with human subjects believing it to be the future of human evolution.

Journalist Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) is investigating the Life Foundation’s shadier practices. Sneaking into a laboratory, he comes into contact with the substance. Pursued by security forces, on instinct he unleashes his new powers - near infinite strength, regeneration, and shapeshifting his body into tentacle-like weapons. Now on the run, Brock and Venom battle for control as they’re being hunted, not just by humans but other symbiotes, with increasingly deranged psychosis and unbridled volatility.

A symbiosis of Batman’s grittier aesthetic and Deadpool’s adult content, this world is built from scratch, a world superhero fans have been crying out for - and Venom is the anti-hero it deserves.

Deadly Venom

A raging, complex antihero, Venom is Peter Parker’s antithesis. His comic debut was in 1988 - and since then he has leapfrogged Green Goblin and Doc Ock to become Spiderman’s archnemesis. But fan adulation for this powerful, alien villain is a double-edged sword, as witnessed a decade ago. First appearing in 2008’s Spiderman 3, played by Topher Grace, director Sam Raimi later admitted that he had not wanted Venom to appear, citing a limited interest in the character - but the studio bowed to fan pressure, and Venom was “shoehorned” in. The result was a muddled, fan-derided failure of the character. Brought to screen by Hardy’s A-list talent - with all the brutish charm of Bronson and Bane - here the eponymous villain can finally take his place at centre stage as the ultimate anti-hero.