While the recent Venom promo has drawn a fair amount of ridicule for the murderous symbiote’s “turd in the wind” line, the initial trailer for the Ruben Fleischer-helmed flick got its own wave of criticism for not including enough of the titular alien anti-hero. While there is something to be said for the more-is-less approach of this ominous first preview, many viewers wished they would just get to the point, with Kevin Smith concisely summing up the backlash when he commented, “I didn’t see a Venom trailer. I saw Tom Hardy: The Movie.”
Nonetheless, Fleischer stands by this early teaser, explaining to Total Film Magazine that the footage seemed to do its job of whetting the appetites of viewers.
“I’m really pleased with the way the marketing for this film has gone. I think the trailer guys have done a great job of building anticipation. The first trailer was truly a teaser. I think it did tease everybody. That’s why people were pissed, because they wanted more. The truth is, the VFX weren’t ready, so that’s the main thing. But I also think it’s good to leave them wanting more. Isn’t that the first rule of entertainment, that you leave them wanting more?”
Since then, we’ve been able to see a lot more of the symbiote form that will feature in the upcoming film, but Fleischer argues that this effects-heavy footage wouldn’t have been so well received if it weren’t for the first trailer’s stinginess in Venom clips.
“Hopefully people will be excited they get to see him in all his glory, and won’t be disappointed by it. But they’ve also been, you know, really eager to see it. It’s a sign of excitement that the marketing department has been able to build through the process. If they’d given everything away at first blush, I’m not sure that people would still be invested.”
Here’s hoping audiences will still feel invested once they get a feature-length look at the character, since Tom Hardy has apparently signed up for three films in the role. We’ll see if the build-up pays off when Venom hits theaters on October 5th.
