Venom 2: 5 Causes We Ought to Be Excited About Detective Patrick Mulligan Transferring Ahead Venom 2: 5 Causes We Ought to Be Excited About Detective Patrick Mulligan Transferring Ahead

Be warned, there are SPOILERS for Poison: Let there be slaughter scattered through this story. Stop now if you don’t want something to be ruined.

Every time a Marvel movie comes out, you’re sure to see a random character from the comics covered on the big screen. And while their on-screen counterparts don’t always matter to the story they’re involved in, there are times when a classic character not only gets a lot of screen time, but also a hint of a future within that particular franchise. Such is the case of Detective Patrick Mulligan (Stephen Graham), the San Francisco detective who sought to find the remains of Cletus Kasadys (Woody Harrelson) victims in Venom: Let There Be Carnage. However, by the end of the film, Mulligan becomes much more than a seasoned cop with a bone that he can chop with Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) by getting some superpowers of his own.

After viewing the latest entry in the universe once known as the Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters, you may be wondering something like, “What’s wrong with Patrick Mulligan and how does he fit into the overall system of things?” Well, look Don’t go any further, because we’re about to break his story down into Marvel Comics and why we should all be excited about his future, whatever we call this new world after the closing scene of Venom: Let There Be Carnage.

(Photo credit: Sony Pictures)

What happened to Detective Patrick Mulligan in Venom: Let there be carnage

Stephen Graham’s Detective Mulligan is one of the first main characters we meet in Venom: Let There Be Carnage, and from an early age he is linked to the events that play out throughout the film. Mulligan is introduced as a young cop sitting with Frances Barrison (Naomie Harris) when she is transported to the Ravencroft Institute For The Criminal Insane. When trying to escape, Barrison, aka Shriek, uses her sonic scream to attack Graham, who then shoots her in the eye, but not after she has gone deaf in one ear.

Years later, Detective Mulligan contacts Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) about his conversations with Cletus Kasady, hoping to use the convicted murderer’s trust in the reporter to his advantage. One thing leads to another, and Mulligan later believes Brock had something to do with Kasady and Barrison’s escape and begins further investigations, which leads to his being captured by the recently reunited lovers. In the film’s climate battle, Mulligan is apparently killed by Shriek’s sound pressure, but is seen alive and well with blue eyes towards the end of the film, revealing that he may have his own sound powers.

(Image credit: Columbia Pictures)

In the comics, Patrick Mulligan becomes an offshoot of the carnage symbiote named Toxin

Judging by how things went for Detective Mulligan in Venom: Let There Be Carnage, it looks like the character is going down a different path than its Marvel Comics counterpart Toxin, another iconic symbiote. In the comics, Toxin is an offshoot of Carnage, Venom’s descendant, which Toxin Venom’s grandson does when the alien life forms believed in the family construct.

As in any family, the relationship of the three symbiotes is a bit complicated if we’re being honest. Even before Toxin joined Patrick Sullivan, a complicated detective with a myriad of problems both out of and out of his rhythm, Carnage wanted nothing more than to kill his offspring. Fortunately for Toxin, Mulligan, and other characters living in the Marvel Comics universe, Venom stepped in to save the day. But Toxin and Venom weren’t always on the best of terms, either.

(Image credit: Disney)

Toxin has teamed up with Spider-Man in the past and even saved the Web Slinger from poison and carnage

Not long after Toxin first bonded with Detective Patrick Mulligan, he was rescued by Spider-Man and Black Cat when Carnage tried to kill the young symbiote and his host. After that, Toxin began teaming up with Spider-Man, seeing him as a role model and someone he wanted to be more like. This eventually led to Toxin protecting Spider-Man by single-handedly taking on Venom and Carnage in a fight.

It remains to be seen whether the version of Detective Mulligan in Venom: Let There Be Carnage will side with Tom Holland’s Spider-Man in the future, as it is not yet known in which direction the character will develop further down the line, especially since its on-screen origin story is very different from the one in the comics.

(Image credit: Sony)

Patrick Mulligan / Toxin is a complicated character who fights crime but also has a taste for people

The best Marvel characters are the ones complicated with a villain gallery of demons and skeletons in the closet, and Patrick Mulligan / Toxin is no different. A relatively no-nonsense police detective with a wife and young son in the Marvel Comics universe, Mulligan is also home to the symbiote Toxin, who, like similar life forms, has murderous instincts and a fondness for human brains. This new identity messes up Mulligan’s life in the comics, ultimately leading him to leave his wife and son behind as he battles crime and super villains on the streets of New York City.

This fight for control is not dissimilar to the fight Bruce Banner wages with The Incredible Hulk. And like Banner / Hulk, Mulligan and Toxin eventually come to an agreement that could make for some great moments if the character is featured in the films for the long term.

(Photo credit: Optimal publication)

And there isn’t too much Stephen Graham

Stephen Graham is one of those actors who immediately interests me in a movie because he’s in it. That fascination for me began after seeing his staggering performance as Andrew “Combo” Gascoigne, a vehemently racist and xenophobic skinhead in Shane Meadows’ 2006 coming-of-age drama This Is England. Politics and Worldview his character are absolutely hideous and he is objectively a bad person, but Graham’s portrayal of a man lost through time is something not to be missed.

And not only in This Is England do we see this intensity of the actor. You see it with his portrayal of Al Capone on Boardwalk Empire and Anthony “Tony Pro” Provenzano in The Irishman, among other films and shows. There’s even a bit of that silent anger and low-key intensity in Venom: Let There Be Carnage, and I can’t wait to see what awaits his character in the future.

Hopefully this is just the beginning of Detective Patrick Mulligan and Stephen Graham’s presence in the Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters, or even MCU, if we go in that direction.