Good and evil walk fine line, then cross it
‘Each character belongs in their own world’ in latest Marvel movie
RICK BENTLEY
LOS ANGELES— The Marvel Cinematic Universe’s norm is there’s no doubt about who’s good and who’s bad. Think of Thanos, the Vulture or Dr. Doom.
There’s plenty of conflict in director Ruben Fleischer’s ( Zombieland) action-filled Venom, but there’s a lot more grey area when it comes to the characters.
Even the film’s central figure of Venom is hard to peg because once the space-travelling Symbiote arrives on Earth, he ends up in the body of no-nonsense journalist Eddie Brock. What the two do together often crosses the line between good and evil.
Then there’s Dr. Carlton Drake (Riz Ahmed), a billionaire whose ambition is to seek sanctuary in space when Earth is no longer inhabitable and who’s behind events that set much of the story line in motion. The question is whether Drake should be considered good or bad.
Ahmed (who also has a part in The Sisters Brothers, also opening Friday) understands there are some real-world parallels to the character he plays, but none of them were a blueprint to create the complicated character of Drake. He took bits and pieces of a lot of people and blended that with what he saw in the comics where Drake appeared. The character first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man No. 298.
Drake became a more important character in Venom because, unlike in the comic book origin, there is no connection to Spider-Man. That’s why Ahmed’s got more time to play Drake’s many layers.
“My character is someone who is very well-intentioned,” says Ahmed, whose past works include The Night Of and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. “He’s doing a very ambitious thing. That same ambition that drives that initial mission kind of overtakes him.
“I don’t think of him as a bad guy. I don’t think he’s greedy or trying to hurt anyone. He’s just trying to make sure the human species evolves. Now, granted, he thinks he’s the pinnacle of human evolution as we already have it. There is an element of narcissism about him as he has a hunger for greatness.”
The hunger is what ends up giving Brock an alien version of a Jekyll and Hyde personality as he deals with Venom. The pair become so close Venom even gives Brock some dating advice about his former girl- friend, Anne (Michelle Williams).
This is another place Fleischer blurs the lines when it comes to his characters. Anne is now dating Dr. Patrick Mulligan (Reid Scott), and that should automatically make him and Brock enemies. But Mulligan is far more textured than that, as he comes to the aid of Brock.
“The love triangle allows for the character to be seen in many ways,” Scott says. “We wanted to see him as an adviser — at least from Eddie’s point of view — because he’s with Eddie’s ex-girlfriend. We had a lot of fun with that because I tried to approach the character in that he got a huge kick out of Eddie Brock.
It’s not just the roles that are complicated. The actors also have resumés that reflect a blend of comedy and drama. Scott has starred in a broad range of television projects from the deeply dramatic The Big C to the political comedy Veep. For Ahmed, this is the second big action movie for him, but he has also worked on small films like Nightcrawler.
Ahmed says the size of the production doesn’t change how he approaches each role.
“Each character belongs in their own world with their own reality and their own set of circumstances. You just have to commit to that,” Ahmed says.
Scott says going from a comedy like Veep to a dark action movie such as Venom is his way of making sure no one forgets he can play a wide variety of roles. Now that Veep is coming to an end, Scott is trying to decide what acting road he wants to take next. He sees his role in Venom as a perfect bridge because the character is so complicated.
Blending good and evil is a lot like mixing sharps and flats in a musical composition. Ahmed’s aware of how music can represent a lot of different things because he has been performing as a rap artist under the name Riz MC. His new single, “Mogambo,” was released Wednesday.