Last month, Sony gave us our first real look at the upcoming Venom spinoff with a full-length trailer. There was certainly a lot to take away from the trailer, but one of the biggest criticisms coming out of it was the way Jenny Slate's character pronounced the word "symbiote" - adding an odd emphasis on the middle syllable ("sim-BYE-oat").
It certainly caught a lot of fans off guard, generating a bit of controversy in the way the word should be announced. Thankfully, Marvel was paying attention and addressed the word's pronunciation in Amazing Spider-Man #800. The latest issue features the following exchange between Daily Bugle editor-in-chief J. Jonah Jameson and Eddie Brock/Venom.
Jameson specifically asking Brock if his first name is "BEE-yote," not "BYE-oat," seems like a pretty obvious response to how Sony handled the word's pronunciation. After all, Marvel has never felt the need to clarify the pronunciation prior to the trailer.
Now it's entirely possible this is just Jameson's pronunciation and not the officially correct way - maybe it's just one of those "to-may-toe"-"to-mah-toe" type things. Whatever the case or real pronunciation, you have to appreciate Marvel's subtle response to the trailer controversy.
So which is it: sym-bye-oat or sym-bee-yote?