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| “ | There's an army coming that cannot be beaten! | „ |
| ~ Rex Strickland |
General Rex Strickland is the secondary antagonist of the 2024 film Venom: The Last Dance, the third and final installment of the Venom trilogy.
A stony-hearted military leader, he is the commander for the Imperium Security who tracks Eddie and Venom upon wishing to capture the two for further study.
He was portrayed by Chiwetel Ejiofor, who previously portrayed Luke in Children of Men, Scar in The Lion King (2019), a live-action remake of the animated movie of the same name, and Karl Mordo alongside his Earth-838 counterpart in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Biography[]
Rex Strickland is first seen in the beginning of the movie after Eddie arrives back to his home universe. An unknown general instructs him to find and capture the life foundation symbiotes, to which he agrees. He first arrives at the bar where Eddie was, capturing a piece/shedding of the symbiote that was yet to bond with the Bartender. Using the military technology available to him, he tracks Eddie along with his Codex on an airplane headed for New York.
Eddie initially gets spooked by a Xenophage, followed by Strickland ambushing him. He is forced to parachute down to a desert in Nevada. Followed by this failed ambush, he then arrives to Area 51, activating an acid vat which proceeds to melt one of the hangars. Strickland then proceeds to the study area where he greets Sadie Christmas & Dr Teddy Payne and asks them how the study is going, to which they reply that it is going well however there have been strange behaviors observed within Toxin, who is inhabiting Patrick Mulligan's deceased body. He, along with Christmas and Payne then proceed to suit up within Hazmat suits and walk to the area where the Toxin is being held. He asks him several questions, and Toxin warns him about a danger that is coming. Strickland demands to know from Toxin on why they arrived to earth as he does not tolerate extraterrestrial threats coming towards earth.
Toxin explains to him that the reason they arrived for Earth is because they consider it a safe haven from their home planet, "Klyntar" which means cage in their language. Toxin then tells Strickland, Christmas and Payne that something is coming for them, but he is afraid to reveal the answer as he gets horrific flashbacks within his head. After some intimidation, Toxin gives up and finally reveals that Knull is coming to claim the Codex, which can only be activated once a host and its symbiote die and are revived again. Toxin warns the three that once Knull comes the threat cannot be stopped, to which they ignore the warning and proceed to enact their plan to capture Venom.
The next time he encounters Venom is in the desert in Nevada. Here, Venom possesses a horse and transforms within its full form, which enables Strickland and the Xenophage to track them. Strickland orders his soldiers, dressed in high tech exosuits to capture Venom and proceeds to send them on their way. The soldiers airdrop on the water and initially capture venom and Eddie, however the symbiote swims away. One of the soldiers proceeds to strangle Eddie however he gains the upper ground and kills them using his own gun. They re-capture venom during the chase, but venom re-bonds with Eddie and transforms into its full form which pings the Xenophage to its location. Strickland orders his soldiers to capture and kill the Xenophage, but their bullets have no effect. The Xenophage ends up devouring several of his soldiers and Strickland issues an evacuation order for the surviving ones.
Regrouping once again at Area 51, he decommissions several more buildings followed by more study of the Life Foundation symbiotes. Christmas and Payne talk to Toxin once again who warns that Knull's arrival is imminent and that they must do everything they can to protect them, placing a hand on the glass cage. Meanwhile, a conspiracy theorist family lead by a man named Martin sees Eddie in the woods and offers him a ride to Las Vegas to which he accepts. Venom manages to knock out a gentleman at the casino who was rude to him and steals his suit, reuniting with Mrs. Chen who received a large jackpot. Mrs. Chen takes Eddie to her room and asks him for a "last dance", to which he accepts. Using cameras found within Las Vegas, Strickland and his soldiers manage to track Eddies Location and successfully capture him and the symbiote. Strickland then orders the two of them to be transported to Area 51 where they may be contained until the area is decommissioned.
Christmas, finding a bond with the symbiote frees Venom allowing him to bond to her temporarily as she-venom. Transforming into the full form alerts the Xenophage once more to their location, who proceeds to massacre and slaughter the majority of the personnel there. Venom then re-bonds with Eddie and Christmas instructs Payne to release the life foundation symbiotes to protect the facility, to which she reluctantly agrees. The life foundation symbiotes are released and combine as "Hybrid" to fight the Xenophage, however the majority of them lose their lives trying to hold on the creature. Strickland, seeing these orders his troops to higher ground. During this time, Strickland orders his troops to execute Venom and the life foundation symbiotes who have initiated an unauthorized breakout of the facility.
Martin and his family arrive at Area 51 and set up refuge in a tower, however the Xenophage manages to locate them and destroys the base of the tower, sending them falling. They are saved by Venom, who once again transforms into the full form as a distraction for the Xenophage while they flee. The remaining life foundation symbiotes, including Agony and Lasher continue to hold off the Xenophage while it requests for more reinforcements. The reinforcements arrive, and the symbiotes are overwhelmed. The Venom symbiote realizes that in order to destroy the codex one of them has to die, so Venom volunteers to be the sacrifice. Meanwhile, Strickland is still seen shooting at the Xenophage shortly before running out of bullets. Martin and his family get to safer ground thanks to the Lasher symbiote and the Agony symbiote protecting them, to which they thank them before driving off. The Lasher symbiote loses its life and gets shredded within the Xenophage, making Agony and Venom the only survivors.
Badly beaten by the Xenophages, Venom and Strickland remain lying on the floor. Venom bonds with Eddie for one last time, saving his life and runs to the last acid vat in the facility. Strickland follows, weakly crawling. Seeing Venom's sacrifice, he spares the symbiote - abandoning his goal of killing it and instead helping it to complete its task. The Venom symbiote asks Strickland to initiate the acid vat, to which he complies.
The first vat of acid is released on the Xenophage and Venom, severely harming it. Despite this, it nods at Strickland with a look of approval. Strickland continues issuing the acid vat until there is no more.
Deciding to make a heroic sacrifice, Strickland uses the last of the grenades in his pocket as well as any remaining explosives within the facility to blow it up. He perishes in this sacrifice, apparently, killing the Venom symbiote, and killed himself and the remaining Xenophages.
Appearance[]
Rex Strickland is a tall man with an athletic build. He is generally seen wearing a camo military jacket with slacks. His appearance is clean and well-kept until the end of the movie. In the climax of the film, he is seen bloody, broken and beaten with several tears in his jacket as well as his camo slacks.
Personality[]
Rex's motives were initially rooted within pure duty but have since evolved into a fierce independence and mistrust of his people, especially the scientific personnel such as Dr(s) Payne and Christmas. During the events of the film, he displays a deep commitment to protection in addition to a disillusionment with vigilantes around him. He displays wit and boldness in his quest to dedicate himself to the safety of humankind, preferring action over protocol. His obsession with Venom is fueled by an intense drive to prevent any alien life from attacking earth. Because of this, he often goes into morally grey areas using every single resource he can to exterminate them or make their lives hell. Despite his harsh personality, he is capable of loyalty and holds a code of honor. He doesn't hesitate to make hard, yet final decisions as shown in his sacrifice to eliminate the Xenophages.
Trivia[]
- This is Chiwetel Ejiofor's second time playing a Marvel character, his first was Karl Mordo and his Earth-838 counterpart.
- In the comic, Rex Strickland became a host of the Tyrannosaurus symbiote and died during the Vietnam war, but his symbiote survived and took his identity to help continue doing good things until he sacrificed himself to stop Knull’s awakening.
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 's Spider-Man Universe Villains
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Venom Venom: Let There Be Carnage Morbius Madame Web Venom: The Last Dance | ||