This year, Sony started to develop spinoffs based on Spider-Man supporting characters. This has been something that Sony Pictures CEO Tom Rothman and the studio has been cooking up for quite some time. While Sony has the authority to approve these spinoffs, they won’t officially be a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe – even though Spider-Man has already joined it.
Venom will reportedly be the first of the spinoffs to be released, with a Black Cat and Silver Sable film to follow. And now we know who will play Venom and who will direct the film as well. According to various reports, Tom Hardy (The Dark Knight Rises, Mad Max: Fury Road) will play the title character, while Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland, Gangster Squad) will direct. More on the full story below.
According to THR, Venom is one of the Sony’s top priorities and a key film to its Marvel-slate. They are very interested in moving quickly and getting the film into production as soon as possible. Variety adds that the studio has been meeting with various directors, and was adamant on signing Hardy after he exited J.C. Chandor’s action-thriller Triple Frontier. Sources close to the story say that Hardy is a huge fan of Venom. This wouldn’t be the actor’s first time playing a comic book character. In 2012, he played muscular supervillain Bane in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises.
Plot details are currently being kept under wraps. However, with Fleischer on board to direct, we can expect the film to mix in dark themes and humor, just like we saw in Zombieland and 30 Minutes or Less. The studio is reportedly aiming for a hard-R rating.
The character was first introduced in Marvel Comics in 1988 when Spider-Man, looking for material to repair his suit, finds an alien symbiote that bonds with him. As soon as they return home from the alien planet, Spidey discovers that the suit is not only alive but is a bad influence for him. Meanwhile, a disgraced Eddie Brock is obsessed with killing Spider-Man for humiliating him. And it is fate that brought the two together as Spider-Man not only is freed from the symbiote’s bond, but the symbiote (having acquired Spider-Man’s powers) uses Eddie Brock as a host.
Venom had his first big screen appearance in 2007’s Spider-Man 3, where he was portrayed by Topher Grace. The anti-hero has also made numerous appearances in animated series and video games.
Scott Rosenberg (Jumanji) and Jeff Pinkner (The Dark Tower) will pen the script, with Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach producing the movie, along with Amy Pascal. Palak Patel and Eric Fineman are overseeing the project for Columbia Pictures.
Sony is also developing a Black Cat and Silver Sable spinoff that will use a script penned by Thor: Ragnarok scribe Christopher Yost. No director is attached to that film yet.
Venom is currently scheduled to open in theaters on October 5, 2018.
[Source: THR | Variety]
Oooo…Tom Hardy! Good choice. I just hope it’s not an origin story. Please don’t be an origin story? Unless there’s a Secret Wars film, which is unlikely, and Spiderman using and rejecting his black costume…no origin.
Comment by PAUL — May 22, 2017 @ 8:30 am