"The world has enough superheroes." And Tom Hardy-starring Sony-Marvel movie 'Venom' hardly qualifies as one. Dark, twisted, brutal and filled with some jarring CGI, the latest offering from Sony Pictures is most certainly not a run-of-the-mill comic book adaptation, rather a take on the ever-popular sub-genre of the anti-superhero section. 

Hence when early reactions from critics and movie-goers dropped in, it wasn't much of a surprise that most feedback ranged from lukewarm to negative. Despite the mixed-bag of reactions that 'Venom' has been garnering following the initial premiere, however, pre-ticket sales for the movie has painted a very different picture. 

The word is that this Ruben Fleischer-directed flick with direct links to the Spider-Man Universe has outpaced some of the biggest Marvel releases of the year including Peyton Reed's 'Ant-Man and the Wasp' and the upcoming 'Guardians of the Galaxy 2', and 'Spider-Man: Homecoming', in terms of advanced ticket sales.

In fact, the Hardy-led film is well on its way to secure a footing at #3, following closely behind the record pre-ticket sales of Marvel's earlier releases, 'Avengers: Infinity Wars' and 'Black Panther',  according to Atom Tickets app. 

Shedding further light on 'Venom's soaring advanced ticket sales, Atom’s new editorial lead, Alisha Grauso credited the anticipation for the live-action iteration of the comic character and Tom Hardy's portrayal for the success.

“Despite the mixed reviews, there's clearly a lot of excitement there to see a character that some fans have been waiting to see done properly in live action for literally decades," Grauso told Meaww.

She added, "That excitement could propel the movie to do better than critical reviews might suggest. Even if the trailers haven't sold them on believing the movie will be good, dedicated fans will still turn out because they want to see the character of Venom, and they're curious about how Tom Hardy will handle the role. Beyond that, sometimes a movie is just meant to be entertaining, and despite whatever flaws Venom might have, it certainly appears to be that.”   

Starring Hardy as journalist Eddie Brock-slash-Venom alongside Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed, Scott Haze, and Reid Scott, the film follows the aftermath of Brock's efforts to take down the notorious and brilliant founder of the Life Foundation, Carlton Drake (Ahmed). 

"While investigating one of Drake's experiments, Eddie's body merges with the alien Venom -- leaving him with superhuman strength and power. Twisted, dark and fueled by rage, Venom tries to control the new and dangerous abilities that Eddie finds so intoxicating," teases the official plot synopsis. 

So far, the movie scripted by Scott Rosenberg, Jeff Pinkner, and Kelly Marcel has received varied responses from critics. While Rolling Stone called it a "mess of a Marvel supervillain",  Uproxx fuelled some hope, suggesting, "if you’re in the right group and right frame of mind, ‘Venom’ is really fun to watch.”