Crazy fight scenes, outlandish sci-fi, suspicious companies lurking in the shadows, and two near identical actors both having a violent second consciousness fused to them? Sign us up! Welcome back to Movie Duel, where we pit “Venom” (2018) against “Upgrade” (2018).

Join me as we compare box office revenue, casts, fans, and overall execution to find out which one of these dark twin tales is truly the better choice. In case you haven’t seen one or both of these films, here is a quick catch up:

“Venom” is a comic book movie quasi-set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Journalist Eddie Brock is investigating a pharmaceutical company for shady business practices, when he unwittingly becomes merged with an alien symbiote with violent tendencies.

Brock attempts to continue his investigation as he reckons with this other consciousness that is more concerned with eating whatever, or whomever it sees. The movie concludes with the two accepting each other as reluctant friends and taking down the head of the company, who is also infected with a powerful symbiote. 

“Upgrade” follows Grey, a mechanic and isolated technophobe who does not trust the futuristic world that surrounds him and his wife. Grey’s world is turned upside down when a self-driving car accident takes not only his wife, but his ability to walk. 

Having lost everything, Grey is visited by a cryptic tech executive who offers to enhance his body, giving him the ability to find justice for his late spouse. After accepting the offer, he has an AI chip implanted in his spine that seems to have a questionable amount of control of his body.

Our protagonist follows the breadcrumbs through the shady tech company that offered him his salvation and finds a truth much more grim than he could have imagined, taking him on a journey from which he will never be able to return. Enough with the synopsis, which one of these movies brought home the most bacon?

The winner here is “Venom”, by a long shot, with $856 million. Partially charged by the popularity of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, “Venom” has had a strong following since its release, and its third installment is expected to continue the trend. “Upgrade” was still a sizable success, considering its budget, and found the majority of its fans through streaming and DVD sales.

The most notable of this movie pairing is that both actors are nearly identical. Logan Marshall Green (Upgrade) and Tom Hardy (Venom) already look like each other’s exceedingly handsome brother, but their respective movies both portray them as grimy and desperate loners searching for the truth and only finding violence.

With both actors playing outrageously handsome losers and their stories revolving around a being controlling their body, the thing that truly distinguishes them is the writing itself.

“Upgrade” takes more chances with a darker storyline and a harder to swallow outcome, while “Venom” feels like one of the fifty comic book movies that came out in the 2010s. Both are worth a watch, but “Upgrade” has the edge, with a more thoughtful plot and more thorough character growth.

Less reliance on CGI, a deeper story, and a more creative sci-fi concept make “Upgrade” a…well, an upgrade. As much as these two movies have in common, “Upgrade” is far more unique and irreplaceable, making it the winner of this week’s edition of Movie Duel.

Stay tuned next week for our Halloween edition of Movie Duel, where we double the stakes with “Freddy vs. Jason” VERSUS “Alien vs. Predator”! Don’t forget to share this article on Facebook or Twitter for a chance to win a free high-five from me, personally.