A stack of character descriptions for the upcoming Tom Hardy-starring Venom movie seem to hint at the film’s comic book inspirations, with the influence of the “Lethal Protector” run from 1993 becoming increasingly apparent. David Michelinie wrote that six-issue comic book series, with Mark Bagley, Ron Lim and Sam DeLarosa handling the artwork.
The link between the Venom film and the “Lethal Protector” comics was first suggested last month, after a casting call pointed towards some location shooting in San Francisco. Comic book fans will remember that the “Lethal Protector” arc saw Eddie Brock making peace with the slimy Venom symbiote, before engineering a truce with Spider-Man and moving to San Francisco to become a vigilante in his own right.
Related: Hardy is using motion capture on Venom
And now, That Hashtag Show has shared some interesting character descriptions from a new casting call for the Venom movie. On first glance, they just seem like a random selection of people, but there could be something significant in there:
FEMALE PARAMEDIC: 20’s, very attractive, physical type. MUST speak fluent Mandarin.
ZIGGY: 19, a male guitar player, he is a rocker or punk guy who never stops playing the guitar.
LEWIS DONTAE: Male, serious, very physical soldier of fortune. MUST be a stunt performer.
BABY NIGHT: 50’s-60’s, former hippie, now homeless. MUST be able to sing.
MRS. CHEN: 50’s-60’s, funny, endearing Asian woman who owns the corner store.
In the “Lethal Protector” comics, after moving to San Francisco, Venom battled against five sinister symbiotes, who had the cheerful names Scream, Phage, Riot, Lasher and Agony. They were created by a shady organization named the Life Foundation, who experimented on the Venom symbiote and merged the results of this experimentation with some ex-mercenaries, military veterans and former cops from their own security team. In this new casting call, the character of Lewis Dontae seems to the fit that bill perfectly. It seems plausible that he could be playing a veteran-turned-security-guard who gets bonded with a symbiote.
However, the other four characters in this casting call seem to bear little relevance to the “Lethal Protector” comics, which suggests that some new elements will be mixed into the established lore, if “Lethal Protector” is indeed an inspiration for the film. There are a couple of references to Eastern culture in those descriptions, which chimes nicely with the recent revelation that some scenes from the Venom flick will be set in Asia. It remains to be seen whether these Asian moments will be set in the modern day, or whether there is some sort of out-of-America flashback element to the film.
Alongside Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock, the cast for this cinematic Spider-Man spin-off is expected to include Riz Ahmed, Michelle Williams, Scott Haze, Reid Scott and Jenny Slate - all in unknown roles. Zombieland’s Ruben Fleischer is directing, from a script by Scott Rosenberg, Jeff Pinkner and Kelly Marcel.
As more Venom news comes to light, you can expect to find it right here on Screen Rant.
More: the unlikely villains that wore symbiote suits
Source: That Hashtag Show.
