#venture bros spoilers

[gnome-adjacent-vagabond]

Psst hey *pulls you closer* Canon middle-aged queer relationships and multiple canon queer/queer-coded characters. *lets you go* Go watch Venture Bros.

There are WAY more than these but I can't put em all up here because queer coding is up to interpretation. I say that everyone in Venture Bros is queer until proven straight but that's just me.

I wrote a whole-ass essay and then accidentally deleted it so the wording on this will probably be off, but it feels important so I'm gonna try be succinct.

Minor spoilers ahead! Skip paragraph three if you don't want those, then resume on paragraph four.

Full disclosure, this is a show that started in the early 2000s and has a LOT of issues in the first few seasons as well as a couple in the later seasons. There are transphobic and homophobic jokes, ableism, racism, and sexism. Sergeant Hatred is a walking trigger warning for about three seasons straight. It goes without saying but I'll say it anyway: DON'T watch this show if you have multiple triggers or are easily offended.

Having said that, these writers realized the problems with what they were writing and have worked to remedy those issues through commentary, retconning, and public acknowledgement of the early seasons' failings. Their opinions evolve and so does the show.

Shore Leave is a flamboyantly gay man who was initially intended to be a one-off joke about the G.I. Joe series and the Village People. Instead he has morphed into a three-dimensional character who presents comfortably as both masculine and feminine. He's in a loving relationship with another gay man, Al, who is flamboyant but tends to be a little less flashy. Steve Summers and Sasquatch have been a happy couple for years now--and all because the epitome of toxic masculinity, Brock Samson, helps them find a quiet cabin away from the government hunting them. Brock's mentor, Hunter Gathers, is a canonically detransitioned trans woman who struggles with her identity throughout the show (I'm still waiting for her to retransition despite the show's cancellation). Hank is perfectly at ease in a hyperfeminine strength suit, and Dean also goes through identity struggles that are never played for laughs and are heavily if not explicitly queer-coded. Vendata's queerness is understated and exists simply as a fact rather than being joked about. Sky Pilot is similar, though slightly more in Shore Leave's camp in terms of presentation. Sheila and the Monarch are self-proclaimed swingers and could be read to be in a poly relationship with Gary, their henchman. Debbie St. Simone has a rather homoerotic obsession with Sheila and is almost definitely bisexual.

The Venture Bros universe is full of queer rep, and the creators of the show write it in with intention. Doc Hammer and Jackson Publick talk about wanting it to be treated as fact rather than completely defining each of their characters--they talk about how few women are in the show and why (Johnny Quest and G.I. Joe, the inspirations for Venture Bros, are heavily malecentric and there's constant homoeroticism in them for that reason). They acknowledge the flaws and work to improve themselves and their writing. This has culminated in a surprisingly moving series about love, death, grief, trauma, and change that radiates queer subtext from any angle--especially Dean's journey.

Try the show at least up to season 4. The first three seasons are on Netflix and the rest are on Adult Swim. If you still don't like it, that's fine. Thank you for trying! Just know that it's out there and that it's an example of how human beings can change and become better people. Doc Hammer and Jackson Publick aren't perfect and neither is the Venture Bros, but for what it is it's a damn fun (shockingly so) show.

[selfish-solace]

so.. i finnally watched vebture brothers

[croix-meridies]

Xoxo gossip girl

This comic but baboon blood

[satsumaorenji]

[god-mouths]

Dad?

[thejoggingdead]

Anyway, here’s the colored version. I love them

[weirdmageddon]

NOOOOOOO HE REMEMBERED IT

[selfloathingextraordinaire]

Just think a lot about the end of the Radiant is the Blood of the Baboon Heart. How throughout the series, Hank and Dean kind of figured they were unwanted pregnancies, but the truth is that Rusty very much wanted them. He carried them himself and designed their toys and all that. He's still a shit parent, but he still wanted them and loves them and like, damn. (And is still probably a better parent than his own dad and that could be a whole ass essay if I was good at writing those).

[asonr]

Venture Bros S7 E9 “The Forecast Manufacturer” Hank screenshots.

(honestly only saved for my reference but I couldn’t find any good pictures anywhere else)

[babybinko]

VENTURE BROS MOVIE SPOILERS:

the movie is like probably as perfect as a send off they could have made within the time limit. I loved it so much.

I am a Rusty hater (I dont actually hate him he's hilarious he just sucks 😭) but Rusty right at the end telling Dean that their mother loves them very much and then the reveal that they didnt have a mom it was Rusty who purposely went out of his way to have kids and become a father alone with a machine made me like him x10 more than I did. Like stfu before I start CRYING. I thought he got a girl pregnant and was like fine ill take care of these kids but the reveal just hit me very deeply. Like he still is kinda a bad father but he really does love them, he really wanted to be a dad.

Also jail time for making canon Rusty Mpreg TWICE.

[lockssteps]

[ratshien]

I love that mantilla wanted Sheila so carnally that she shot her husband to the moon just to try to say 'hey like WOULD you hit?' only for Sheila to go 'not if you were the last person on the fucking planet' mantilla is truly the fail lesbian we all needed

[hamueltobin]

but...they're me.

[kn1ght-l1ght]

Been on a Venture bros kick since watching the movie on Prime video & I still think this part from the 5th ep of the final season is one of Rusty's vest moments (while still being very Rusty Venture about it)

He's still a shitass parent & absolute wet cat of a man but grounded enough to see thru the veneer of BS in situations like this (at least in later seasons)

[satsumaorenji]

WARNING VENTURE BROS SEASON 7 SPOILER

[god-mouths]

The Ballad of Smokin' Joe Rudeboy , Tom Cardy / Venture Bros S7 E3