The Venture Bros.: Radiant Is the Blood of the Baboon Heart is a 2023 American direct-to-video adult animated science fiction action adventure film based on the Adult Swim animated series The Venture Bros., where it serves as the series finale. The film is directed and co-written by the series creator Jackson Publick and writer Doc Hammer, who serves as the film's executive producers and features the voices of the show's returning principal cast, James Urbaniak, Patrick Warburton, Michael Sinterniklaas, Publick and Hammer. The film centers on a nationwide manhunt for Hank Venture, which leads to a coming darkness from the past that involves the Venture Family, the Guild, and the Monarch themselves.
Originally envisioned as a potential eighth season of the series, the film is the second of Adult Swim's line of direct-to-video movies after Aqua Teen Forever: Plantasm, and was released by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on digital on July 21, 2023, and Blu-ray on July 25, 2023, followed by its availability on Max (known during the film's production as HBO Max) 90 days later.
Plot
Three days after Hank's disappearance, the O.S.I. is distracted with a low-level Guild villain attacking one of their labs with powerful technology supplied by the mysterious new villain organization ARCH. Dr. Mrs. The Monarch and Red Death are assigned by the Council of Thirteen to investigate. After discovering via DNA test that they are seemingly related following his Guild initiation, The Monarch is forbidden from attacking Dr. Venture until their relationship is confirmed. Meanwhile, Dr. Venture struggles with perfecting VenTech's newest invention, the "HelperPod" virtual assistant, due to a bug that makes it levitate while playing music.
Driven by guilt over sleeping with Hank's girlfriend, Dean goes to Orpheus for help, who goes with Jefferson to find him. Acting on advice from his imaginings of various characters he enjoys playing (The Detective, The Bat, Russian Guyovich, and Enrico Matassa), Hank makes his way back to his old family home at the Venture compound in an attempt to rediscover himself. The Monarch is approached by his ex-girlfriend and ARCH's invisible leader Mantilla, who promises to let him arch Dr. Venture again if he joins them. Hank encounters his old friend and O.S.I. cadet Dermott upon his arrival at the abandoned Venture compound, who reveals he found a picture of "Bobbi St. Simone" signed to Dr. Venture amongst his collection of stolen Venture memorabilia.
During a detour, Jefferson is attacked by blaculas in Chicago, where Dean is seemingly bitten by one and tries to hide it. Dr. Mrs. The Monarch is framed as ARCH's leader and blacklisted by the Guild, but Red Death helps her escape. The Monarch and 21 are abandoned by ARCH upon breaking in to VenTech Tower, while Mantilla uses 21's phone to hack into the HelperPods and use their levitating bug to uproot the tower, sending them into orbit. Hank arrives at Bobbi's animal sanctuary, who explains that she had a brief tryst with Jonas after he gave her invisibility powers for a movie. She was later recruited by the O.S.I. as a Guild mole, but fell in love with the Guild’s leader Force Majeure and had a daughter, Mantilla. The two were later forced to flee and went into hiding after The Sovereign killed Majeure for Guild leadership. Hank, overwhelmed by his head injury, falls back into purgatory.
Billy and Pete advise Rusty to individually destroy the HelperPods to slowly lower the tower back to earth. He, Hatred, The Monarch, and 21 are nearly killed by their gravitational field when they try, forcing them to hide in the air ducts. Dr. Mrs. The Monarch breaks into Mantilla's apartment, where she is waiting for her and explains that she wants to run ARCH with her out of admiration. She mentions that Dr. Venture had transferred her mother's invisibility to her in exchange for her eggs (implying that she is technically Hank and Dean's biological mother) and that she is the rightful heir to the Guild. She turns off the HelperPods in exchange for Guild immunity, causing the tower to start falling at a lethal speed. Orpheus comes to purgatory to rescue Hank, who is moved by the fact that Dean is the one who led his rescue.
