Venom director Ruben Fleischer thinks that a face-off between Venom and Spider-Man is inevitable. Tom Hardy makes his superhero film return as Eddie Brock aka. Venom in the upcoming Sony Pictures comic book film that will launch their own cinematic universe focusing on Spider-Man tie-in characters. The movie boasts a star-studded cast including Michelle Williams as Anne Weying, Riz Ahmed as Dr. Carlton Drake, Scott Haze as Roland Treece, and Jenny Slate as Dora Skirth.
It's been confusing whether or not Venom will be connected to Tom Holland's Spider-Man, who now inhabits in the MCU. Marvel's Kevin Feige was pretty definitive about not having plans of Venom crossing over to the MCU despite contradicting statements from Sony former executive Amy Pascal. Given this, fans were skeptical about making a Venom film without the presence of the web-slinging hero, given that their stories are tightly intertwined. Luckily, it seems like Sony was able to craft a solid standalone that explains well how the symbiote comes to Earth and bond with Brock. However, that's not to say that Spider-Man will never get entangled with Brock.
Related: Venom VFX Supervisor Details the Movie’s New Origin for Symbiotes
Speaking with Screen Rant during the junket interview for the upcoming Sony film, Fleischer candidly talked about the possibility that Venom and Spider-Man square off in the future. But regardless of his opinion, he emphasizes that he's not the one to decide about these things.
Ruben Fleischer: I think we laid the ground work in this film for a pretty fun match-up in the future so I think that'll be a really exciting story to explore, but I'd be lying if I didn't say I'd love to see him face-off against Spider-Man at some point. It feels like that's inevitable and I know that Tom Holland's excited about it, and I know that Tom Hardy's excited about it so it's just a question of when and where, I guess. That seems like the natural evolution.
Screen Rant: Can Venom exist in the Marvel Cinematic Universe?
Ruben Fleischer: I don't know about that. I do know that we want to see these character interact. As to the semantics as to where it takes place it's not for me to decide but it feels like there's a way everyone can co-exist in it in a satisfying way.
Interestingly, Fleischer said that they "laid the ground work" for the two's eventual match-up which means that people at Sony are really pushing for it to happen. Venom's PG-13 rating was reportedly intentional in the hopes that a crossover will happen down the line; considering the MCU tends to keep their properties kid-friendly given that they're under the Disney umbrella, the Hardy-starrer being R-rated would make this dream more improbable. However, exciting as that may sound, it's also a cause for concern should the foreshadowing in Venom turn out to be overdone. Building Brock's character should be their number one priority and shouldn't be overshadowed by the mere promise that he's going to meet Peter Parker someday. This way, if the clamored crossover doesn't go through, Sony still has a well-made solo film that can stand on its own and can kick-off their own separate shared universe.
Considering that just several years ago, no one would've thought that Spider-Man will eventually join the MCU, so who's to say that Venom meeting the wall-crawling hero won't ever happen on the big screen? If Venom becomes a critical and mass success, then perhaps Feige will be more willing to cooperate in pulling the crossover off. But at this point, it seems like both Sony and Marvel Studios are keeping things in limbo.
