2002's Spider-Man included an amusing Eddie Brock Easter egg, teasing the introduction of Venom five years ahead of his big-screen debut in Spider-Man 3. Progress on a live-action Spider-Man movie had been stalled for 25 years, but in 2000 Sony Pictures hired Sam Raimi as director. Raimi had grown up reading Spider-Man's comic book adventures, and Sony was impressed with his love of the character.

Spider-Man was an absolute hit for Sony, grossing over $820 million in the global box office, and it launched one of the most popular superhero franchises of all time. Raimi remained in place as director through two sequels, Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man 3, and he brought much-loved comic book characters to the big screen for the first time. The third in the trilogy finally introduced one of Spider-Man's greatest foes, the tongue-slathering symbiote called Venom, although Raimi himself was never particularly keen on that development.

Related: Sam Raimi's Spider-Man Had A Hilarious Shazam! Reference Back In 2002

As it happens, though, Venom had actually been teased all the way back in 2002's Spider-Man. In one scene, J. Jonah Jameson insisted he needed more photos of the wall-crawler. A delighted Jameson had just learned that the Daily Bugle sold out four printings due to its Spider-Man coverage. "Tomorrow morning," he ordered. "Spider-Man. Page one with a decent picture this time." The problem, however, was that nobody could get a good-quality photograph of Spider-Man for Jameson. To Jameson's annoyance, he was told that "Eddie's been on it for weeks, we can barely get a glimpse of him." It was clearly intended as a reference to Eddie Brock, the Bugle reporter who was destined to become Venom.

J.J. Jameson Spider-Man 3

Sony already believed that Spider-Man would be the beginning of a major franchise; Raimi moved straight on to the sequel as soon as he'd finished production of the first film. But Raimi didn't actually have any concrete plans for Venom, a character he never really liked; in fact, it was Sony's Avi Arad who pushed Raimi to introduce Venom in Spider-Man 3 in the first place. This throwaway reference was intended as a simple nod to Eddie Brock, a gentle Easter egg for fans of the comic books.

As even Marvel Studios can demonstrate, though, Easter eggs don't always work out in the long run. When Eddie Brock was finally introduced in Spider-Man 3, the film took a different approach. Eddie was portrayed as a new recruit to the Daily Bugle, hired just a week earlier as a freelance photographer. Presumably, Eddie either left the Bugle, only to return several years later, or in retrospect the two Eddies should be considered different people.

More: Spider-Man 3 Would Have Been Much Better Without Venom

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