The first Venom movie image featuring Tom Hardy is here, along with the film's Brazil Comic Con 2017 panel video. The film will test the waters for Sony's planned series of movies based around the antiheroes and occasional villains of the Spider-Man universe, when it arrives in theaters later this year. Joining Hardy in the movie is a cast of A-list talent that includes Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed, Woody Harrelson, and Jenny Slate. Behind the camera, Zombieland and Gangster Squad director Ruben Fleischer is calling the shots, drawing from a script by Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle cowriters Jeff Pinkner and Scott Rosenberg.

Fleischer and Hardy appeared at last year's Brazil Comic Con (which is officially known as Comic Con Experience) by way of a video, where they confirmed that Venom is drawing heavily from the 1993 comic book miniseries Venom: Lethal Protector. The six issues of Lethal Protector were written by David Michelinie and followed reporter Eddie Brock to San Francisco, in an effort to leave his criminal life behind him, and turn over a new leaf as a symbiote powered antihero. One of the San Francisco sets constructed for the Venom film (which is shooting primarily in Atlanta) can be glimpsed in the Brazil Comic Con panel video embedded above.

Related: Every Spider-Man Spinoff Now in Development

It was reported a few days back that IGN would have an exclusive "new look" at Venom this week, and the site has now revealed just that, to go with the official video of the film's Brazil Comic Con panel. The photo, which you can check out below, is the first official look at Hardy as Eddie Brock, and shows him looking over some notes that he presumably took himself. Moreover, the notes make reference to an organization that plays an important role in the movie: the Life Foundation.

The possibility of a connection between the Venom movie and the Marvel Cinematic Universe version of Spider-Man (as played by Tom Holland) remains nebulous for the time being, though a clearer picture of the symbiote spinoff itself has begun to form. In addition to confirmation that Lethal Protector is serving as source material for the film, reports have emerged claiming that Ahmed's mystery Venom villain character is really Dr. Carlton Drake: the head of the Life Foundation, a group that aspires to replicate Brock/Venom's superpowers. Meanwhile, it appears that Williams will be playing Brock's ex-wife Anne Weying as fans have speculated, though the Oscar-nominee has indicated that she won't be suiting up as She-Venom from the comics just yet.

More and more comic book adaptations are combining distinct genres tropes with super-powered individuals as the superhero genre evolves, and Venom won't be an exception to that trend. Similar to how Sony's developing Silver & Black has been described as a Thelma and Louise-style buddy movie featuring Spider-Man antiheroes Silver Sable and Black Cat, Venom is drawing inspiration from classic body horror movies for its take on Eddie Brock's struggle to control his darker impulses (which the Venom symbiote amplifies). Suffice it to say, Hardy's take on the Eddie Brock character should be a far cry from Topher Grace's version in Spider-Man 3.

MORE: Sony's 2018 Spider-Man Movies Are More Exciting Than The Avengers

Source: IGN

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