Venom made his big screen debut in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 3, but it wasn’t a successful one, and Raimi didn’t even want to include him in the film – here’s why. Spider-Man has had an interesting history on the big screen, with his first film arriving in 2002 thanks to Sam Raimi. Simply titled Spider-Man, the film introduced Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker and Willem Dafoe as the Green Goblin, and was so well received by critics and audiences that it made way for two sequels.

While Spider-Man is credited for redefining the modern superhero genre and the summer blockbuster, Spider-Man 2 raised the bar for all superhero films, and it’s considered one of the best and most influential superhero films of all time. Sadly, the same can’t be said about Spider-Man 3. Raimi’s third Spider-Man film saw the title character going against three villains: Harry Osborn/New Goblin (James Franco), Flint Marko/Sandman (Thomas Haden Church), and Eddie Brock/Venom (Topher Grace). Spider-Man 3 was heavily criticized for its subplots and for having too many villains, something that could have been avoided had the studio not pushed Raimi to add a certain symbiote.

Related: What Went Wrong With Spider-Man 3

Harry Osborn was included because Raimi wanted to conclude his storyline, which he had been building since the first film, and Sandman was added because Raimi found him visually fascinating. Venom, on the other hand, wasn’t added because of Raimi’s interest in the character, but because producer Avi Arad told him to. Raimi originally wanted to add Vulture as a third villain, but Arad felt the films had been relying too much on Raimi’s favorite Spider-Man villains and not in characters that the audience would be interested in. Raimi didn’t want to have Venom in the film because he didn't like his “lack of humanity”, but ended up agreeing to please the studio and the audience.

Topher Grace as Venom in Spider-Man 3

Raimi later said that as he studied the character for the film, he began to appreciate him, but he made it clear that he was included because he’s a character that Spider-Man fans love. Venom in Spider-Man 3 wasn’t what fans expected, as the special effects looked strange (like the symbiote opening up to let Brock talk) and Brock didn’t become Venom until towards the end. In addition to that, there was nothing from comic books’ Venom in this version, and he was more of a plot device to push the other villains than an actual bad guy. Arad has since accepted responsibility for Venom’s inclusion in Spider-Man 3, saying that they learned the character is “not a sideshow” and that he learned not to force anyone into anything.

Venom ended up getting a second chance in 2018 with his own film, directed by Ruben Fleischer and with Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock. Though it wasn’t well received by critics, audiences reacted positively to it, and so a sequel (now titled Venom: Let There Be Carnage) was greenlit. As for Spider-Man, he went through two reboots after that, and is now enjoying its time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe – and may or may not cross paths with the new Venom at some point.

Next: Sony's Amazing Spider-Man Shared Universe Plan: Everything Still Happening