Why is Venom rated PG-13?

Considering the brutal nature in which the symbiote takes over Eddie Brock, many assumed Venom wouldn’t be rated PG-13. Why isn’t it rated R instead?

The violent nature of comic book supervillain Venom as an alien symbiote parasite that attaches itself to Eddie Brock is befitting a mature, violent movie. There have been only a few comic book properties to cross over into R-rated territory in the United States, but most have seen success either at the box office or even at the Academy Awards.

That’s why many had thought, “Surely, the Venom movie would be rated R at the box office!” Unfortunately, that did not come to pass, as Sony Pictures opted to get the movie into a wider audience and push the limits of an acceptable PG-13 rating. In fact, the film’s director told Polygon that he was surprised anybody had that expectation going into the filmmaking process.

He describes the reason to make the Venom movie rated PG-13 is to make a movie for everyone. He argues that he wanted to expand the story so that fans of the character young and old can enjoy the film while avoiding too much compromise into the character’s violent nature.

When it comes to corporate apology speech, it’s a pretty compelling answer. However, the honest reason why Venom is rated PG-13 is that this is the start of “Sony’s Universe of Marvel Characters,” a series of movies that involve Spider-Man-adjacent comic book properties. You can’t launch a film series like that and restrict the audience with an R-rated movie; it wouldn’t make financial sense for Sony Pictures.

The long and short of it is this: Venom is PG-13 because Sony wants to guarantee as much money as possible. They can’t afford the risk of cutting out their audience in a way that would require parental accompaniment for anyone under 17, as teenagers are one of their most sought-after audience. Lord knows they need as many people as possible to stumble into theaters.