Venom: Agent of Justice

Today is World Mental Health Day. A day that resonates with me and many of my friends. As a guy with Asperger's I'm used to being misunderstood, mocked, what have you. I channel that frustration into something positive-my love for geek culture and writing. Many of the stories I love feature characters, who like me, struggle with mental issues. Which brings us to today's topic...

Flash Thompson, AKA Agent Venom.

I have been drawn mostly to Marvel's heroes because they are human; flawed, but still striving to do the right thing. Flash is no exception. He has struggled with alcohol issues, and PTSD following a tour of duty overseas that cost him his legs. Yet he still strives to be a good person, especially when he becomes the new host for the Venom symbiote and undergoes black ops missions as Agent Venom.

Flash has also been on my mind recently because of Sony's plans to make a Venom spinoff movie. Even though they struck up a deal with Marvel Studios to incorporate Spider-Man into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Sony still owns the character's film rights. Thus they planned to forge ahead with the Venom movie. Many fans cried foul, especially since Spidey and Venom's history is intertwined.

Enter Agent Venom.

One of Flash Thompson's defining characteristics is his hero worship of Spider-Man. In fact that was a driving reason for him becoming Agent Venom in the first place. So centering a movie around him would work.

Also: Sony could touch upon the Spider-Verse idea and explore multiple earths, with multiple Spider-Men. The Agent Venom movie could theoretically take place on an Earth where Spider-Man falls in battle, and Flash takes up his position to honor his hero. This way you could have a darker themed Spider-Man movie, where Flash struggles to keep the Symbiote's murderous urges in check, and deal with his mental issues and him being a different hero than Peter Parker. You could even introduce characters like Black Cat and Carnage who would feel more at home in a adult oriented Spidey film. And when was the last time we had a superhero movie with horror elements?

Sadly this will probably never happen because if Sony's past theatrical exploits have proven anything, they're not very smart.

But in a perfect world...