Spider-Man Actor Praises Tom Hardy in Venom

Although they may never meet on-screen, Tom Holland has nothing but praise for Tom Hardy's casting as the villain Venom. Several years ago, Sony Pictures announced plans to expand The Amazing Spider-Man movies into their own cinematic universe. In addition to producing two more Amazing Spider-Man movies, the studio planned on developing spinoff movies based the character's arch-nemesis, Venom, as well as the supervillain team Sinister Six. However, it wasn't long after that the studio signed a landmark agreement with Marvel Studios to reboot Spidey within the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

At first, it seemed like Sony Pictures had abandoned plans to move forward with a Spider-Man universe, though that turned out to not be the case. Shortly before Holland made his superhero debut in Anthony and Joe Russo's Captain America: Civil War, Sony revealed plans to move forward with the aforementioned spinoffs, beginning with Venom. Now, ahead of Holland's solo movie debut next month, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Sony has announced that Tom Hardy had been cast as Venom in the upcoming film, which is to be directed by Zombieland helmer Ruben Fleischer.

The casting announcement came out of left field, yet it's something many comic book fans have taken quite well. Hardy has been confirmed to be playing Eddie Brock's version of the character, and Holland appears to be as excited about the casting as everyone else. The actor expressed his excitement for the upcoming film while promoting the impending release of his film, Spider-Man: Homecoming (via YouTube). Here's what he said:

"It's very exciting. I think Tom Hardy will really play that character with, you know, a lot of energy, a lot of life. It can be a very cool movie."

Sony Pictures' Amy Pascal recently revealed that the upcoming Spider-Man spinoff films are going to be "adjuncts" to Marvel's shared universe, while also leaving the door open for Holland to potentially appear in one of the installments. Those comments surprised not only audiences but also Marvel Studios head honcho Kevin Feige, considering that Pascal's statement contradicted Feige's previous comments about Venom and Sony's other spinoff films not being part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Furthermore, Holland has previously stated that he's not going to be involved with Sony's Spidey projects -- despite working with the studio on other films, such as Uncharted -- and he reaffirmed that presumption in the aforementioned interview.

"It's not something I know about or involved in. As of now, I'm just focusing on Spider-Man 1 and a little bit of Avengers -- but I don't know anything about that movie."

It's quite clear that there are still many questions that need answering, though we may not get those answers for some time. What we do know is that Fleischer's upcoming Venom film is being written by Scott Rosenberg (Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle) and Jeff Pinkner (Fringe) and is scheduled to release next year, with Carnage reportedly appearing as the main villain -- and there are no plans to include Holland, nor anything or anyone else from the MCU.