One of the producers for Sony's upcoming Venom movie has expressed his excitement for Tom Hardy's version of the anti-hero - just don't ask him about Spider-Man. With set videos for Venom coming in as the film continues shooting for its release in 2018, it's easy to forget that it was only earlier this year the movie was even announced. With Sony and Marvel Studios sharing the Spider-Man characters, the wall crawler was able to join the MCU. However, the move also gave Sony renewed interest in mining all of its properties.
Alongside Silver & Black and a proposed Morbius the Living Vampire movie, Venom will kick off a new era of superhero movies for Sony. The big question, however, is whether these films will be tied into the MCU and Tom Holland's take on Spider-Man. The issue is even more pressing for Venom, whose very nature and backstory are both highly tied up with Spidey in the comics. There's been no word yet on how Venom will handle these complications, and that silence doesn't appear to be changing anytime soon.
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MTV News (via CBR) spoke with Jumanji producer Matthew Tolmach and brought up the creatives work on Venom for Sony. While Tolmach was more than happy to talk about his excitement for Tom Hardy to bring Eddie Brock to life, he wasn't as keen to discuss the involvement of Spider-Man when posed questions about continuity with the MCU:
“We’re making a Venom movie … and I’m excited for people to explore it, and find out what that is.”
For now, Tolmach is just towing the company line. Eventually, however, Sony and Marvel will need to make it clear just what this new take on Venom will be and whether the new universe the former studio is building ties into the MCU. It does seem that something about Venom's backstory will change, as a recent set photo alluded. Tolmach also teased as much when discussing Hardy's presence in the upcoming film:
“Tom, it’s like a master class watching him act every day, and he’s such a risk-taker. And he loved this character from the day that we first met with him. My partner, Avid Arad, and I, we found someone who just believes in this character entirely, and yet every day pushes it to a place that us mere mortals would never expect it to go.”
Between Tolmach's two comments, it seems that Venom will indeed retell Brock's story. Whether or not it completely removes Spider-Man, however, we'll have to wait and see. Longtime fans may also shudder at the mention of Avi Arad, as many associate him with some of the more troublesome issues in previous Spider-Man films. While Kevin Feige was able to deliver a successful Peter Parker in the MCU, it's hard not to think of the last Venom Sony committed to film. Hopefully, Hardy and director Ruben Fleischer will be able to do the character justice and Venom will please fans and casual moviegoers alike.
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