Radiant is the Blood of the Baboon Heart: The Venture Bros. Return with Easter Eggs Aplenty
By John Kirk
Rating: A
If you’re not familiar with it, The Venture Bros. is an animated series that ran on Adult Swim for seven seasons, then was ignominiously cancelled in 2018, despite a multitude of nominations and awards in its wake.
With a niche style of comedy that every nerd would recognize, The Venture Bros. satirizes cartoons, comics, spies and pop culture super-heroes from the sixties through the eighties, its heart based on the Jonny Quest cartoon.
Radiant is the Blood of the Baboon Heart can be considered a single-season sequel to the whole series.
In this case, we have Dr. Thaddeus Venture (James Urbaniak), the less-accomplished son of noted Super Science hero based in the fifties and sixties, Dr. Jonas Venture, who inherited the dwindling mega-corporation his father has built.
His bodyguard and former OSI (Office of Secret Intelligence) operative, Brock Samson (Patrick Warburton), serves as a surrogate guardian to Venture’s two sons Hank (Chris McCulloch) and Dean (Michael Sinterniklaas) who seem to have half a brain between them.
For years, Venture has tried to live up to his father’s illustrious name, with less than heroic results. His degree in “Super Science” is an honorary one from a college in Tijuana and has a strained relationship with his sons. He is relentlessly pursued (or “arched”) by his evil nemesis, the Mighty Monarch (Chris McCulloch) a butterfly-themed super-villain. However, the fact that the series has lasted for 82 episodes gives you an idea of how successful he has been.
Each episode is a treasure-trove of Easter eggs that fans of this genre will recognize. From locations like Skull Island (one of the Venture Industries satellite locations) to the orbiting space station, Gargantua One to characters like Dr. Orpheus, a parody of Marvel’s Dr. Strange — every aspect of this show is a carefully crafted homage to tropes from the comics and spy stories from the 1960s.
The fact that the Venture family still uses a less-than-shiny 1960s super-sonic jet as a primary means of transport not only lampoons the status of their diminished wealth but also the deteriorating science resources at Thaddeus’s or Rusty’s disposal. How the Ventures manage to reconcile the 50’s/60’s technology at their disposal and parlay it into the 21st century is always a source of jokes on the show.
The story: Rusty’s latest attempt at an invention, the HelperPod. It’s an electronic virtual assistant (like Alexa or Siri) based on his own personal robot, Helper, who resents the creation, threatens to bankrupt the vestiges of Venture Enterprises.
Dean, with the assistance of Magician, Dr. Orpheus (Steven Rattazzi) and Jefferson Twilight, famous Blackula Hunter (Charles Parnell) goes on a search for his missing brother, Hank. The Monarch needs to find an answer to the question that eluded them in Season Seven and a mysterious woman from both their pasts threatens them all.
A common complaint of this show among critics is that every episode seems too short. With the rich and diverse array of material in the last 60 years of pop culture to choose from, there is an abundance of choice story-stuff to poke fun at.
But it’s the Easter eggs that not only make up the bulk of the humour, but also adds enjoyment for fans to spot. Ones like Marvel’s Nick Fury, or Ian Fleming’s James Bond, there isn’t anything that’s safe from the writers of this show. There’s even a parody of the original Jonny Quest in the show (known as “Action Jonny”) who lives a life dominated by PTSD from all of the adventures inflicted upon him in his youth.
This film finally addresses the shortened episode moan by giving fans a longer story to sink their teeth into but that also means that there are more eggs to identify. At my final count, I was able to identify at least 30 easy-to-spot additional pop culture references in addition to the ones that are running gags on the show.
I dare anyone to top that count. In fact, upon request, I’ll post my list in comparison to anybody else in the comments below.
Here’s a few easy references for you to watch for and get you started on your list:
Sean Connery’s portrayal of Alan Quartermain from The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
The Dude from The Big Lebowski
Marvel’s “The Ghost,” “The Invisible Woman,” and “Dazzler”
Voltron, Defender of the Universe
When you see the film, you’ll see what I mean.
Of course, the question on many fans’ minds after this will be: is this the end of the Venture Family’s, uhhh… adventures? Seven seasons isn’t enough for fans with an appreciation for niche humour. This film, while approximately 60 minutes longer than the average episode, still shouldn’t be the last we see of “Doctor” Thaddeus Venture and his sons.
Of course, these are the questions that can be answered on the special features of the Blu-ray edition of the film that include commentary and Fan Questions answered by co-creators Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer.
A wildly funny film for all fans with a refined sense of nerd-humour, this is a must-see.
Oh, and don’t worry about the baboon stuff – it’ll make sense at the end! Go Team Venture!
Radiant is the Blood of the Baboon Heart. Directed by Jackson Publick. With James Urbaniak, Patrick Warburton, Michael Sinterniklaas, Chris McCulloch, Doc Hammer, Clancy Brown, Jane Lynch, Charles Parnell and JK Simmons. Available for digital purchase on Prime Video, AppleTV, Google Play and Vudu. Blu-ray Disc also available for purchase online and at most major retailers.