A Successful Failure: A Venture Bros Finale Retrospective 

(This is a bit of a long-winded, rambling comment. Read at your own risk.) My favorite thing about the movie is that one of Hank's alternates was Russian Guyovich. Enrico Matassa, the Bat, and Detective Hank all got their own screen time and showed themselves in ways, but I always loved the Russian Guyovich joke from waaaaay back in season 2. It's funny to look back on because it's easy to not think about, but they all really are characters in their own right; Hank is obsessed with filling the role of a fictional character, and yet Rusty criminally misjudges both of his sons. ("Dean believes this crap! He should have been "Rusty Venture! Boy adventurer!" and "Hank had this life thrown at him.") I don't know. I thought it was perfect. Venture Brothers underdelivers on huge plot threads all the time; Jonas being alive in the PROBLEM had huge implications for the plot and he was killed immediately in the season 7 opener. I was so excited to find out he was alive only to see him dead again anyways by episode's end. Molotov joins OSI as an undercover/dark asset? Brock's relationship with her is never revisited and she never shows up in the series again. Killinger helps pull of a daring heist of Gargantua 2 with the Revenge Society? Underbheit and Professor Impossible vanish from the series, never to be seen again. It loves to toy with the concept of revelatory, world-shaking information, instead making it some mundane explanation. Underbheit and Professor I are probably just homeless again somewhere and hiding out, respectively. Molotov probably takes one mission every blue moon for a ridiculous amount of money and is sipping Mai Tai on a beach somewhere. I highly doubt their presence would have changed anything within the later facets of the series, even if it would have been cool to see them. JJ's death gave him closure but that's only because he was willing to accept it; to fulfill his "role" in the story. He understood what part he played and exited gracefully. He was rewarded for understanding his mistakes and position within the mechanisms of the story. His deal with the Investors endangered everyone aboard the space resort, and instead of shifting blame or acting out, he knew his disease was going to take him anyways and did the most noble thing he could. Time and again, Venture Brothers loves to deny us all the one thing necessary for a series to feel complete; closure. It did nothing to convince me it can't come back, that it can't be rebooted even after the supposed "end" of the series. It strives to reflect real life, and the thing about real life is that stories here don't resolve as easily as they do in fiction. Closure is rarely a luxury people get in reality.

Dr girlfriend was not a a trans joke! She was an exaggeration of Jackie Kennedy, who had a rather deep voice for a woman. They then turned it into a gag where people thought she was trans, but she’s not. Dock and Jackson have been very clear on this.

you made such a point of saying that this property WILL become a cult classic but my guy, this has been around since 03. twenty years have gone by and by sheer force of will and fan outcry this movie got made. venture bros is THE cult classic and in my opinion the most heart filled parody turned its own thing that ever existed.

I really love how Monarch was actually a really successful superhero when he was the blue morpho, and Rusty would have been a successful supervillain as we find out from the Dr. Killinger episode. They don't directly state it, but it's why they were never successful.

I love how the first mention of a "baboon heart" is literally 5 minutes before the end of the movie. In classic VB style, everything makes sense... eventually. Actually, for a show as convoluted as VB, they did an amazing job with the continuity.

I didn't catch it at first, but the "egg donor" for the Hank and Dean was Debbie (Mantilla). Basically Debbie traded her eggs (ovaries?) to get her mother's powers moved to her. Rusty then gestated them in an artificial womb. This is why Rusty does not mention the mother, it's kind of embrassing that he couldn't find a woman to bear him a kid, he doesn't want his kids to track her down and get hurt, and either Rusty promised to never bother her with kids or never told her the truth about what the eggs would be for. Also this would explain why old team Venture thought it was Bobbi. They probably used some Venture tech to find the nearest match. Bobbi would have been the closest female genetic match in their records and been visiting around that time. But Debbie was raised in hiding, so she would not be in any database. Plus, you can NOT help, but see it once you see it. Debbie looks and acts like what you would get if you blended Hank and Dean together.

Just finally saw the movie last night, the screen when hank gets back to the compound and starts seeing all the old memory's litteraly brought tears to my eye, all I could think was "wow this is the last time in my life i will ever get to watch new venture bros content for the first time"

Debbie wasn't "cursed" with her Mother's Ability, she & Bobbie made a deal with Rusty for him to transfer the Invisibility power from Bobbie to Debbie (with the implication Debbie gave Rusty the eggs he used for Hank & Dean).

I know beggers cant be choosers but i wish they could have been a Trilogy of movies. That would have been so thematically awesome for the genres it pays homage to.

I'm glad that they didn't completely end everything, and left it open. It reminds me a lot of the season 4 finale. Lotd of things are wrapped up, but there are storylines that are still in the air like Grover Cleveland's Time Machine, Scare Bear, and Jonas' head.

Remember when rusty threw a prom for Hank and Dean, then made a love potion to seduce the women present at the dance and it made them all turn into insect monsters by mistake? AFTER that episode happened, rick and morty had an episode with identical circumstances and is lauded as the best episode of anything

I'm pretty sure that the eggs donated to incubate the Venture boys were from Mantilla/ Deborah. In one line, she mentions to Shiela that in the deal she made with Rusty, she gave him some of her "stuff she wasn't using". TBH I wasn't really expect a proper answer from the series, but it's nice we got a hint or two.

Along with the reveal of Monarch we also find out the boys had a better survival rate than their dad.😅 According to Ben, Monarch was apparently the 22nd clone with presumably "our" Rusty being the 23rd clone (or possibly the 21st with Malcolm being a failed upgrade).

The thing I wanted to know going into the movie that wasn't answered: Why two Venture bros.? Once we get confirmation that Rusty is also a clone, I think the answer becomes a little more clear. Rusty knew the what it was like to be a lonely boy adventurer with no friends other than whoever was working for his dad at the time. He wanted to ensure his son would have a Friend, and that's why he created Hank for Dean, so they would always have each other. And it worked to a degree. The sadness and anxiety felt by Dean is often offset by Hank. I think Rusty growing the boys in a pregnancy belly-like incubation chamber, shows that he wanted to add more humanity to the artificiality of the whole thing. I assume Rusty was more of a test tube clone.

_I really, REALLY hope we get a season 8 down the line. I don't care how long it takes. We're here existing anyway_ ..... And then! *A SEASON 8 MOVIE THAT COULD PLAY IN THEATERS POSSIBLY!*

Actually, Dean is still technically the rightful heir to the guild, just as The Sovereign said. I felt bad for dr. orpheus and Jefferson wean Dean refused to do the ‘go team venture’ salute with them. You could tell that they really wanted to do it.

I love the fact that the show has so much foreshadowing even small things matter

I don't think she started out as a trans joke. I think her voice is just sort of absurdist humour. And maybe sort of an equalizer. Like how did this weirdo get with this hot ten out of ten? and then you hear her voice and it sort of works out. It's weird how you stop noticing the voice almost immediately. Like it deosn't even feel weird after watching the show for five minuts.

It's actually difficult for me to explain how good this show is to my friends. If the relatively simple gags of season 1 hadn't hooked me, I wonder if I'd have ended up so invested once the story became more complex and consistent with its own lore. It's amazing that they were able to maintain lore even from the first season.

Venture Bros. As a Whole Was a Unsung Hero of adult animation a excellent and Integral series superior to It's contemporaries like Drawn Together or ATHF I loved this show throughout It's 20 year run Brock Samson Is my favorite character

bye bye venture brothers…. go team venture, always and forever

When it was announced that the show had been cancelled during the production of Season 8 I was so upset. This is a show which we have been watching for so long and it has only gotten better over time. It may not be the best ending ever, but the movie was the catharsis I needed to move on. Bravo Doc & Jackson. Bravo.

So proud to have been a viewer from the start back in high school.

This was so well done, on so many levels, and I am truly grateful I came across it. Since I first saw the Venture Bros debut episode in my sophomore year of high school, I have dealt with my own family issues, and it may sound odd, but this show genuinely helped me through it; sometimes just by bringing a smile to my face. The way you ended the video was sublime, as well. I definitely got a little frog in my throat. Anywho, thanks again, and I wish you well.

gonna rewatch the movie right into watching this premiere, go team venture

How many times has Futurama been brought back to life? I really hope that there's a fan of this show at the head of some streaming service that's desperate to bring out new episodes. And like you said, there's no need for having a conclusion to the show, things can just keep moving along. There's so many new stories to tell in this universe.

The generic brick you think of is primarily made of clay. And, according to Britannica: "Clay minerals are composed essentially of silica, alumina or magnesia or both, and water, but iron substitutes for aluminum and magnesium in varying degrees, and appreciable quantities of potassium, sodium, and calcium are frequently present as well."

A very impressive breakdown. Keep up the great work.

For the record... The monarch is not a clon of Rusty... Both of them are clons of Jonas Venture senior... It was literally said at the end of the movie.

A lot of people seem to completely forget that whole interaction with 21 in the treehouse, 21 mentions he doesn't have the kind of hate that The Monarch has, to which Monarch replied "You don't even know the half of it. I hate myself more than most people hate their arch-enemies". It's literally self loathing manifested in his hatred of Rusty. This is further pointed out in the end of Baboon Heart, Monarch points out he's just been hating himself, then fully embraces that and even outright says it, he hares Rusty as he hates Himself, but HE'S better, and his new hatred isn't just hate, but proving for absolute fact that his hatred is justified by showing he's the better of the two. And he's right too. The Monarch is by far better than Rusty, to the point of even being a better person in some situations. He's got the confidence, a job he loves, a healthy and loving relationship with his wife, the respect of the entire villain world, and hair. Not to mention it's fairly decently implied that Monarch never really touched the trust fund until much later on, he started his career moonlighting as a villain while still henching. He went from the bottem to the top pretty much entirely on his own will, meanwhile Rusty had everything right from the start and not only did nothing with it, but squandered it all away and is now broke. Plus Monarch would probably be a really good dad. When he cares for someone he genuinely does so. Rusty's love is definitely a lot more loose and hard to pin down.

Venture Bros played the long game like a master because at first you go, oh so Hank and Dean are just two idiot props for jokes and Rusty is the real MC...then as the seasons went on and they kept working at the story and characters grow and evolve, Hank and Dean become their own people AND you learn the Venture Bros aren't Hank and Dean. It's Malcolm and Rusty and that this is a story about fathers and sons and each generation dealing with the mistakes of the previous one while repeating those mistakes without realizing it.

It would have been nice to have one final Brock fight under the rated R rating.

Beautiful, thank you!

I still remember watching the first episode of The Venture Bros back in 2003. I can't express just how much I love this show and how sad I am to see it end.

Ill be honest The monarch and ms monarch have a beneficial dynamic. They are each other's center. When the monarch loses motivation , Ms. Monarch encourages him to try again. When Ms. monarch is about to beat Kimberly , The Monarch snapped her out from getting into a fight, They are a well balanced couple

I was a young teen when this came out. I am 34 now.

This is a great video. It is really thought provoking. I really hope that you are right about VB becoming a cult classic over time. The fan base continues to grow. I agree that is one of the best TV shows in decades. I am pretty sure that the incredible quality of writing and execution will be enough to persuade people. I also liked the way you drew parallels between the lives of Debbie and Dr Venture. They have a remarkably similar backstory which I had never noticed until you mentioned it. The personal growth of Dr Venture over the years is incredibly impressive so it was interesting to see how much he had progressed when contrasted with someone so similar to him.

Venture Bros came out to do what it wanted to do, did it and got high marks on everything then left. You dont need to be everything in the world or you will end up all burnt out like Rick and Morty.

For me, Venture Bros was kind of a spiritual successor to a fairly unknown short from Animaniacs in the 90s, "Toby Danger". After which, was the Harvey Birdman: Attorney At Law's early, Chase Bannon VS Dr. Quest for custody of Johnny Q (redacted for court records). Which could explain his parody character in Venture Bros was always one can short of a six pack, and one bump shy of beating Hunter.

I hope this show gets another chance, they ended the series on a not bad note but not satisfying note, and the movie made me want so much more. I wish it would of just been the whole original planned season, but they just made it a movie. Idc how long the movie would of been 😂

I just finished bingeing. This show has everything🤩

Go! Team Venture!! I've been putting off the inevitable rewatch and study, so I totally missed the brick frog backstory. Going to have to give that a good study when I do. Watched it with a good friend of mine. We enjoyed it greatly. I'm pleased to say that I'll be happy if this is the last official installment of the Venture Brothers we ever get. That and I hope they sell more Gargantua two jackets

I’m looking forward to this. Saw the finale, I enjoyed it overall, there were a few things I would have liked but didn’t get and got but didn’t like, but if that’s the show’s last hurrah, then I’m happy we got it.

I am glad I lived long enough to get to see this. I think I can let go now.

At first I was disappointed in the movie I wanted more but that’s also a good thing making you want more

The movie was ok for what it was. I really wish it was made into a full season to fleash things out a bit more, but at leat the creators got to tell their story either way.

I was one of those kids that would stay up late to watch The Venture Bros as a kid when the pilot first aired. I didn't know that this would be such a great show, but that I wanted more as I liked Brock's ultra violent ways to deal with situations. Go, team Venture! Who knows if we'll ever get anything else like this. 😄✌️ Take care of yourselves, even if nobody else will.

I think the reason The Monarch hates Dr. Venture is because Rusty gave Malcolm negative feedback to his monarch poetry.

Hardly watched this show on adult swim as a kid, but I vaguely recalled it being humorous. The random memes of Brock helped revitalize my interest in the show. I finally watched the entire series on HBO MAX, and it was in fact worth my time.

I just wish this hadn't been so short, ARCH came and went in 10 minutes and we did not get a very satisfying conclusion to Hank running away...it was years for us but only felt like a week or two in the show.

i wish these two would get together again and make something new one day. not for us, for them. it seems like they had a ton of fun making this and it shows in every episode. id like to see them tackle something like a star trek/ space exploration deal

I imagine that since cloning was in its infancy when Jonas began cloning Rusty the way Rusty is the way he is is because of being cloned over and over again 50+ times. Like after each cloning Rusty got more and more corrupted until Jonas got to a point where he didn’t need to clone Rusty anymore. It’s probably why JJ turned out as well as he did, he wasn’t subject to Jonas’s cloning and a lot of the same trauma Rusty went through.

I thought Mantila and Malcolm used to be an item and then Malcolm believed, Rusty stole her. I thought that was supposed to be the basis of his hatred.

Thought it was gonna be available to stream on Max. Disappointed it's not.

Go! Team Venture!

Bro it wouldn’t become a cult classic it already was one from its beginning even now it still may not have the largest of fanbases out there but it is absolutely one of the strongest and most dedicated in animation even after its tragic cancellation.

The finale really was great. It left on a perfect note but I hope they'll do a new series or something different with the characters.

>Rusty Venture given a life of travel and comfort Travel yes. Comfort very much not

And to think, this show wouldn't exist without The Tick.

Honestly surprised the creators said they didn't plan an ending, because I feel like this movie wrapped things up perfectly. I think it'd fantastic that they didn't do like a super played-out conclusion, instead just giving us enough thematic tie-ins to make a larger, more holistic picture of the show once you work em in your mind. I think its greater themes converged perfectly at the end, and I wish more shows would conclude like this. Not do a bunch of fanservicey memberberry trite and just... end the story they're telling plain and simple. If this is all we get for the show I'm really happy with that, it was super neat and tidy run for a TV series.

Amazing show gone too soon. I hope they bring it back some day. Forever loyal to the Ventures

this makes me think about how now ever actually collection of venture bros is three. dean hank and dermott and then rusty jonas and the monarch. if only they could do more show so it could be maybe talked about more,,

Loved the show and enjoyed the movie. Want more still but all things end at some point. I second your Bud Manstong theory on movie night. Feels right.

Best show. Ever.

P.S. Great Job!! 👏👏👏🖖🏼

(Season 2, episode 1, talking about the clone slugs) Doc Venture: "And you actually SAW them???" Doctor O: "SAW them??? I made them a F***ING milkshake!" 🤣🤣🤣

I felt a bit frustrated that people have latched onto mantilla's perceived infidelity as the reason Malcolm hates Rusty. It's one reason out of 100, after all. Plus, would that have predated college? Malcolm hated Ruaty in college.

Isn't that that what the Venture Bros is about anyway? Success out of failure? Sad but true,

Hitting out of the park as always bro.

It will come back in a few years. Guaranteed.

awesome

I wonder if they would ever do a comic book continuation for this show

The amount of characters soo many spin offs Red death alone

Accent on the E. Naiv-uh-TAY.

i thing Rusty's mother is the Monarch's mother, Jonas assured the Blue Morpho he can solve their problem cant having a children, so he (probably fertilized) Monarch's mother who was pregnant with twins, but since Rusty ate the fetus JJ Jonas had to make a clone and send it to the Morpho, keeping the original as his son

Possibly? Nay lad! As someone who ha been around long enough to remember waiting for the new J. Quest episode & wondering how many frog men would die in the 1st scene I can tell you that it is easily be the best show of the last 60 years if we limit it to reoccurring shows. If we include movies & mini series it will still be pretty far up the list. High praise considering that in these years S. Kubrick walked the earth.

If Bobby had the ability to make her skin or other people skin invisible like suer storm can make other people invisible that would be a medical breakthrough she would have been should have been a doctor and a genius when it comes to anatomy robotics everything they didn't give her that ability she would be able to see through walls literally or make them transparent so you could see through them

i'm almost 50 years old. i shouldn't feel such connection to a silly tv show. i'm both genuinely sad and furious at the institution of television for letting this show die.

Where can I watch it

✌️ go Team Venture

Bobbi didn't inherit her mom's powers. Rusty transfers the powers from the mom to her, in what's implied for her eggs.

Fucking well done!

Dr. Quims daughter was rustys sister...that was the plan...but they decided to leave it in the air

As an old fan of the Fantastic Four, as soon as the tower launched into space, I explained to my wife how it was like FF #6. Sure enough, we hear the same thing from the OSI.

How well did you watch the movie? I only ask this because you start with some factual incorrect statements on Mantilla and that calls into question your knowledge of the show as a whole.

I think the true reason the Monarch hates Rusty is cause he thinks he got Debby to cheat on him but, that wasn't the case, they were family friends (u know what i mean, Jonas and her mom, which probably makes them al cousins) and the Monarch's "aborted" children were rescued by Rusty as his little lab experiment, but Rusty did this without any knowledge that these kids were Malcom's not even less that Malcolm was a clone of him the whole time nor Malcolm knew at any point that Debby was preganant on the first place, he just saw vague stuff that we are not told and asumed it Thus the elevator conversation, but after that it grew on it's own xD Something i felt the entire show was this delicious grudge with the fact that no character had all the info, and that it was on purpose, anyone could get a huge surprise about anything, even themselves, and also at anytime To get actual new info like the baboon stuff or how Debby is the mother is a huge bomb Changes stuff like if Jonas really got dirty with Blue Morpho's wife or if he just planned it, or if even Malcolm was given to Morpho's in adoption and they had a few years of a controled and time ticking happines Man i loved the show and the movey, i also really liked your video, sorry for the long comment

Both Dr. Venture and the Monarch are grown-up clones of a child Rusty Venture that died.. Did I get that right?

Imo I feel like the whole Arch thing should of been the main point, a new threat going to take out the OSI and the Guild. It was weird that they came out of nowhere, really didnt do much beside redo points from when Dr. Girlfriend was trying to get a right to be with Monarch and it just floundered?

i wanted scare bear but what are you going to do

I don't know if Mantilla could have been more than Force Majeure as we have never seen the latter that much in the show. Is Monarch better than Rusty? I mean the theme of the show is failure and he is sort of a failure when we meet him. Rusty is a nobody and never amounts to much often failing even at his successes. In the end both are victims of their father: Jonas Venture. We don't need all the questions answered just the important ones specifically the one behind one of the main character's motivations for hating his nemesis which drives a big part of the series. Plus, we already got a monarch origin story.

Help, at exactly 57mins 36sec my wife thinks the gal in the red dress is John Candy from Armed and Dangerous. I just think it is Divine.

i ran a twitter poll asking who would win between Brock and Red Death and the results were split exactly 50-50. i think i lean Red Death

I'm just glad they had red death and the triad I it

I realize I'm a noob but this just came to me so I kinda have to put it out there; This is one of those shows that stealthily raises the bar. It's not a show many people have heard of but you see comments under mainstream shows about it being better. Then you go snooping and find it is actually better and not some douche flexing.

I was expecting that the majority of the lead characters were all the original Dr.Ventures children.

Didn't the movie night massacre get explained in Season 7? I thought it was Venturion confronting Jonas Venture

I wish I hadn't bothered to rent it. They keft so many questions unanswered. I also don't like how they wrapped up a few of those loose ends. So Hank and Dean are the clones of a clone? Couldn't they have given them a real mother? It was far better when Rusty and the Monarch were brothers. The, it's like they started that whole thing with the long lost daughter only to drop with a half arsed resolution. They could have done so much better if they'd only finished what they started.

I wanna add strength to your theory! If you think abt rusty being a clone of doctor venture it kinda makes sense, if he would of never had that twin he would of looked and sounded exactly like dr venture! He’s literally a spitting copy

Mantillas there Mom. Kind of. She was the egg donor as she gave here uterus to Rusty for the berthing pod

….sounds like Billy Quizboy. On purpose or happy accident? Great video