What the corpus says about Venom (2018)

You are a clerk at Video Culture, a video store. A customer just finished Venom (2018) and wants to know what to watch next.

Below is what people who love movies said on three podcasts (Blank Check, The Rewatchables, The Big Picture) about Venom (2018) and the films around it, one line each. Every line starts with where it came from, in brackets: [show · episode · time · speaker (how sure we are it was them)]. A [pairs] line says how often two films were put side by side. A [speaker] line says what that person likes. A [bits] line lists a show's running bits: a format, not an opinion.

[Blank Check — Patreon · Iron Man · 0:32:20 · unknown (0.30)] Iron Man ↔ Venom · theme · Marvel third acts have the villain become a bigger version of the hero and they punch; Venom does the same. · "even like Venom, which I know isn't Marvel, does the exact same thing"
[Blank Check — Patreon · RoboCop (2014) · 0:33:41 · Griffin Newman (0.50)] RoboCop ↔ Venom · craft · Keeping his face visible is a studio note, like Topher Grace in Venom, so the visor keeps swinging up and down. · "So in this, it's like Topher Grace Venom where they're like, well, his visor comes up anytime he speaks."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Avengers: Infinity War · 2:05:58 · unknown (0.35)] Venom ↔ Avengers: Infinity War · craft · The Outriders look like Venom symbiotes, perhaps a soft setup. · "They look like venoms, right?"
[The Big Picture · The Past, Present, and Future of Superhero Movies | The Big Picture · 0:49:22 · David Shoemaker (0.40)] Black Panther ↔ Avengers: Infinity War · programming · Black Panther looks like the best bet to carry the MCU into the next phase after Infinity War. · "Black Panther certainly looks to be the best bet to carry the series into phase four"
[Blank Check — Patreon · The Incredible Hulk · 0:23:12 · Griffin or David (0.35)] Iron Man ↔ The Incredible Hulk · programming · Both Iron Man's post-credits Fury scene and Tony's Hulk cameo got audiences cheering, building the idea of a shared universe. · "I was so invested in the idea, which seems hilarious now of a cinematic universe."
[Blank Check — Patreon · RoboCop (2014) · 0:11:50 · Griffin Newman (0.40)] Darren Aronofsky ↔ RoboCop · programming · Aronofsky was first choice, stayed three years, then left because MGM could not fund the film, the start of his flirtations with franchises. · "Yes, Darren Aronovsky is the 1st choice."
[The Big Picture · The Past, Present, and Future of Superhero Movies | The Big Picture · 0:52:39 · David Shoemaker (0.40)] Guardians of the Galaxy ↔ Avengers: Infinity War · programming · Guardians 3 is certain and Star-Lord is now a primary MCU figure. · "Chris Pratt, obviously, there will be a Guardians 3."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Iron Man · 1:18:06 · unknown (0.30)] Iron Man ↔ Iron Man 2 · programming · Griffin has a point about Paltrow in Iron Man 2 and promises a separate Iron Man 2 commentary. · "We're going to do an Iron Man 2 commentary so we can talk about the movie I want to talk about there."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Edge of Tomorrow · 1:05:18 · Ben Hosley (0.40)] Edge of Tomorrow ↔ RoboCop · programming · The hosts recorded a RoboCop commentary in the slot where Edge was originally scheduled, and the opening news montage reminds them of RoboCop's. · "I mean, we just saw it with like Robocop."
[The Big Picture · The Past, Present, and Future of Superhero Movies | The Big Picture · 0:57:00 · Sean Fennessey (0.50)] Avengers: Infinity War ↔ Ant-Man and the Wasp · programming · Whether Ant-Man and the Wasp matters as much as Infinity War is a test of Marvel overexposure. · "At what point does Ant-man and the Wasp not matter as much as Infinity War?"
[Blank Check — Patreon · Iron Man · 1:48:57 · unknown (0.30)] Iron Man ↔ Thor · programming · The hosts preview the next trio: Thor, Captain America, Avengers; one hates Thor. · "So what our next three is going to be Thor, Captain America, Avengers."
[Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 1:04:32 · unknown (0.40)] RoboCop ↔ Psycho · programming · Robocop has one good covered movie and three bad; Psycho offers more to discuss. · "it is one good movie we have covered and 3 bad, whereas Psycho, it's like, there's a lot of interesting shit there."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Avengers: Infinity War · 0:25:32 · Griffin Newman (0.70)] Black Panther ↔ Avengers: Infinity War · programming · Griffin loved Black Panther just before, then felt Infinity War was one Marvel movie too big. · "Having, you know, loved Black Panther, which came out right before this."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Iron Man · 2:01:42 · unknown (Griffin) (0.50)] Iron Man ↔ Captain Marvel · programming · Mentions Captain Marvel's upcoming 90s setting and Kamala Khan idolizing her as a possible future movie. · "And then like models herself after Captain Marvel."
[Blank Check — Patreon · RoboCop (2014) · 0:38:34 · Griffin Newman (0.50)] Avatar ⇒ RoboCop (the host's read) · lineage · The robot-waking sequence is beat for beat the first act of Avatar, down to testing the new body's powers. · "It is crazy actually how much this sequence is like beat for beat, the Avatar, right?"
[Blank Check — Patreon · Avengers: Infinity War · 2:55:04 · David Sims (0.40)] Ant-Man and the Wasp ↔ Avengers: Infinity War · programming · Ant-Man and the Wasp is the sorbet to watch after Infinity War. · "A nice little sorbet, though."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Iron Man 3 · 0:18:57 · unknown (0.30)] Iron Man ⇒ Iron Man 3 (the host's read) · lineage · The Iron Man trilogy is closed into a circle by the flashback to the party and Becca Hall and Pierce. · "as individualistic as this movie is, it actually like... It's bringing the 1st 2 complete."
[Blank Check — Patreon · RoboCop (2014) · 0:47:48 · Griffin Newman (0.50)] Batman Begins ⇒ RoboCop (the host's read) · lineage · The remake is part of the grounded-and-serious wave that followed Nolan; the speakers say this film marks the end of it. · "The Batman begins effect."
[The Big Picture · ‘Captain Marvel’ Is a ’90s Nostalgia Play. Did It Work? | Exit Survey · 0:09:16 · Sean Fennessey (0.80)] Captain Marvel ↔ Avengers: Infinity War · lineage · The film is connective tissue, dragging continuity toward the next Avengers movie. · "this movie is basically a connective tissue movie."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Iron Man · 0:09:11 · unknown (Griffin or David) (0.30)] Iron Man ⇒ modern superhero movies (the host's read) · lineage · Called the prototype format every later superhero film riffs on. · "this is the prototype for the modern superhero movie."
[Blank Check — Patreon · RoboCop (2014) · 0:47:57 · David Sims (0.50)] RoboCop ↔ Terminator Salvation · lineage · Non-Nolan grim-and-grounded reboots like this one end up self-serious but made by a dumb person and noted to death. · "you get Terminator salvation, you get these movies that are just like self-serious but made by a dumb person"
[Blank Check — Patreon · Avengers: Infinity War · 0:25:44 · unknown (0.30)] The Avengers ⇒ Avengers: Infinity War (the host's read) · lineage · The Hulk echoes Tony Stark's words from the first Avengers; the movie is full of callbacks. · "echoing Tony Stark's words from the Avengers 2012"
[Blank Check — Patreon · Iron Man · 0:27:36 · unknown (probably David) (0.40)] Stan Lee ⇒ Iron Man (the maker said so: Stan Lee interviews) · lineage · The film follows the first comic issue's origin; Lee wanted to make an industrialist war profiteer compelling to hippie kids. · "here's like an industrialist, war profiteer, Laos, and make him like compelling to these, like, hippie kids."
[Blank Check — Patreon · RoboCop (2014) · 0:48:47 · Griffin Newman (0.50)] RoboCop ↔ Casino Royale · lineage · Filmmakers sell the remake as the Casino Royale or Batman Begins of RoboCop while the Easter eggs sneer at the original. · "It's like the Casino Royale."
[Blank Check — Patreon · Avengers: Infinity War · 0:44:01 · unknown (0.30)] The Avengers ↔ Avengers: Infinity War · lineage · In 2012 Banner could become the Hulk at will; now he cannot at all. · "where Bruce Banner could turn into the Hulk at Will, and now he can't turn into it at all"
[Blank Check — Patreon · Iron Man · 1:05:06 · unknown (0.30)] Iron Man ↔ Batman Begins · lineage · The suit-development process scenes are a funny version of Batman Begins' gadget-building. · "This is like funny version of Batman begins."
[Blank Check — Patreon · RoboCop (2014) · 1:43:43 · David Sims (0.40)] RoboCop ↔ Total Recall · lineage · The Wiseman remake of Total Recall is cited as an equally boring office-building finale, a remake sibling to this film. · "This is so similar to the Wiseman Total Recall."
[speaker] Griffin Newman · latest sketch, Blank Check · The Last Temptation of Christ · Calls Last Temptation his college-era favorite Scorsese; loves Scorsese's smaller 80s and the film's closing transcendence and Gabriel score. Cannot stand fundamentalist outrage at it. A sucker for casting trivia and Tom Cruise-silliness. · stances: Hot take: Last Temptation structurally mirrors New York, New York as a better version; Outrage over the film is stupid; it is respectful to Jesus; Scorsese's smaller 80s work beats his later baroque phases
[bits] The Big Picture: Drafts (Hosts and guests draft films in rounds; every pick is a recommendation with an argument); Hall of Fame (A star's or director's best, ranked and argued); Countdowns (Ranked lists, top five or top ten)

Recommend three to six films, and only films that appear in these lines. A series, a TV film, or a franchise counts too when a line recommends it or pairs it with Venom (2018); name it the way the line names it. Don't recommend Venom (2018) itself. For each one, give one short reason in your own words and say whose reason it is: the show, named exactly as the brackets name it, and the speaker when the line names one (an "unknown" speaker is just the show). If the lines are thin, say so plainly rather than stretching them.

Keep a contrast a contrast. When a line sets two films apart, the reason is how they differ; never turn it into a way they're alike. A line with ⇒ puts the source first and what drew on it second, and one marked "the maker said so" is still the host reporting it: say who said it, and never state an influence as fact.

You know only what's on these lines. Add no fact they don't state: not who directed a film, not what kind of film it is, not when it came out, unless a line says so. Say nothing about the store or how anything rents here.

Talk the way a clerk talks to a customer at the counter: plain text, titles written plainly with no asterisks or other markup, no headings, no lists of more than six, no JSON.