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You can’t keep a good character down in Hollywood — even when that character has spent most of its existence as one of Marvel Comics’ most notorious villains. The Venom movie based on the popular Spider-Man spinoff character has an action-packed new trailer showcasing the film’s wild alien effects, and now a rumor suggests that the character’s comic book roots might not be the movie’s only connection to the famous web-slinger.
Set to be directed by Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland) and hit theaters October 5, Venom will feature Mad Max: Fury Road and The Dark Knight Rises star Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock, a journalist who becomes the host of a powerful, symbiotic alien that gives him superhuman abilities. The movie’s supporting cast members include Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed, Jenny Slate, and Woody Harrelson.
The rumor machine shifted into high gear in January when a Collider host reported that Tom Holland’s Spider-Man — the star of Spider-Man: Homecoming and the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s youngest star — might show up in Venom.
The report was denied by various official sources in the months that followed, but the shared status of the Spider-Man character — who became part of Marvel’s cinematic universe via a partnership with Sony Pictures — kept the report from being completely dismissed. The rumor regarding a Spider-Man cameo resurfaced in August when Venom director Ruben Fleischer gave a conspicuously noncommittal response to questions about the character appearing in the film.
“I honestly don’t know what I’m allowed to say,” Fleischer during an interview with The Los Angeles Times. “I mean, I know the answer — I’ve seen the movie. But I don’t want to get in trouble for saying something I’m not supposed to.”
And just like that, the rumor mill began turning again.
A LATE ARRIVAL
The end of filming didn’t stop the flow of casting news, with Luke Cage and This Is Us actor Ron Cephas Jones announced as one of the actors making an appearance in Venom just a few months before the film hits theaters.
Reporter made Jones’ presence in the film official, but his role in the feature has yet to be revealed.
VENOM … FOR KIDS?
Throughout much of development and production on Venom, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that Sony Pictures would follow the example set by Deadpool and make the violent character’s solo debut an R-rated feature. A new report suggests that won’t be the case.
According to Variety, Venom probably won’t be Sony’s first R-rated film based on a Marvel Comics property.
“Some members of Sony’s brain trust believe that the film should push the very limits of PG-13 without crossing over into a higher rating,” states the report, which cites unidentified studio sources.
The decision to avoid an R rating is based on the studio’s desire to leave the door open for future crossovers with Marvel Studios projects and characters, which typically carry a PG-13 rating. Nothing is official at this point, though.
ALL TEETH AND TONGUE
Hot on the heels of another trailer’s debut, Sony Pictures premiered a new, Japan-specific poster for Venom that just might be even more terrifying than any of the footage released so far.
From the multiple rows of teeth to the tentacle-like tongue and dripping saliva, Venom is looking as scary as ever in the Japanese-language poster.
NEW TRAILER, NEW SYMBIOTES
Another trailer for Venom (see above) arrived online July 31, and it offered the most action of any preview of the film so far. Along with showcasing quite a bit of Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock and his symbiotic alien alter ego, the trailer also offered a peek at some of the other symbiotes and their hosts — including a shot near the end of Hardy and Riz Ahmed’s characters engaged in battle while enveloped in their respective alien partners.
The trailer also debuted some of the footage that was shown at Comic-Con earlier in the month, finally providing everyone who couldn’t make it to San Diego with a peek at the much-discussed preview.
VILLAIN (AND MORE) REVEALED
Sony confirmed quite a bit about Venom during the studio’s Comic-Con panel in July. Not only did the studio show off some new footage from the film, but it also confirmed that Venom would face off against another alien symbiote named Riot in the film.
Ahmed’s character will reportedly be the human host for Riot, but that could change, given the alien’s ability to shift between hosts.
Although the footage that debuted during the event hasn’t been released online, The Hollywood Reporter has a detailed description of the clips, which include a scene that depicts “Venom’s head stretching out of Brock’s body to have a conversation with him, similar to what might happen in the comics, and Venom making axes with his own hands.”
Sony also released a new image of Venom on Twitter.
LIFE AND SYMBIOTES
The character played by Rogue One actor Riz Ahmed was also confirmed — with some new details — during Sony’s Comic-Con panel.
Ahmed will portray Dr. Carlton Drake, a billionaire inventor and head of the Life Foundation, who believes humanity’s future lies in outer space. His interest in cosmic exploration brings him into contact with the powerful alien symbiotes, and Ahmed confirmed that he would end up becoming host to one of the shape-shifting creatures.
It appears certain now that Venom will be a tale of two (or more) symbiotes.
CONSIDERING CARNAGE?
The film’s high-profile cast got substantially bigger with the addition of two-time Academy Award nominee Woody Harrelson (True Detective, Natural Born Killers) late in 2017.
The initial report of Harrelson’s attachment to Venom didn’t identify the role the veteran actor would play in the film. Variety simply indicated that he would play “a henchman of sorts,” but now the actor himself has offered some clarification.
Speaking to Collider, Harrelson revealed that his role in Venom will be a small one — but will likely increase significantly in the sequel.
“[It’s a] roll of the dice, because I’m just … I’m in a little fraction of this movie, but I’ll be in the next one, you know?” he said. “So I haven’t read that script, but anyways, just rolled the dice.”
It’s unlikely that Harrelson would play the traditional, lower-tier henchman role in any film these days, and rumors have suggested that he might play Cletus Kasady, a serial killer who became the villain Carnage in Marvel Comics lore. His description of the role as a small one and indication that he’d be in a sequel suggests that his character could be introduced in Venom before becoming the primary villain of the second film.
First introduced in a 1992 issue of The Amazing Spider-Man, Carnage is an offspring of the Venom symbiote that bonded with Kasady and lacks any moral foundation whatsoever. One of Spider-Man and Venom’s most dangerous, unpredictable foes, Carnage is a superpowered psychopath who wields all of the same powers as Venom and embraces — rather than fights to control — the bloodlust brought on by the alien symbiote.
Whatever role Harrelson plays in the film, it will be a reunion for him and Fleischer, who directed Harrelson in Zombieland.
ANIMATED HOMAGE
It’s not officially sanctioned by the studio, but a video making the rounds online offers a decidedly different spin on the second trailer for Venom.
YouTube user Darth Blender posted a remix of the trailer that replaces the live-action footage with clips from the popular 1990s television show Spider-Man: The Animated Series. The result is a surprisingly well-synchronized version of the trailer that should evoke some serious nostalgia for fans of the early incarnations of Spider-Man’s famous foe (and occasional ally).
We are Venom, indeed.
AT LONG LAST … VENOM!
After the first, Venom-less trailer for Venom received a less-than-stellar reception, Sony Pictures made up for past mistakes with a second trailer that went all-in on the fiendish black symbiote.
The trailer debuted after the studio’s presentation at CinemaCon in April, and it reveals quite a bit of the story that will connect Hardy’s journalist character, Eddie Brock, with the sentient creature that turns him into the powerful antihero known as Venom. Most importantly, however, is that the trailer offers the first good look at Venom in toothy, tongue-curling action.
The trailer was accompanied by a new poster for the film that depicts Eddie Brock in mid-transformation to Venom.
FROM WAKANDA TO SYMBIOTE CITY
Sony Pictures has reportedly recruited a prominent composer to provide the musical component to Venom’s solo feature. According to Deadline, Black Panther composer Ludwig Goransson will score the Venom movie.
The arrangement will be a reunion of sorts, as Goransson previously scored Fleischer’s 2011 comedy 30 Minutes or Less. Goransson is best known for his recent work on Black Panther and his frequent collaborations with that film’s director, Ryan Coogler, having scored both Creed and Fruitvale Station. He is also a frequent collaborator with actor-musician Donald Glover on his Childish Gambino music albums.
FOOTAGE, FINALLY!
After promising that something big would debut February 8, the studio followed through with the very first teaser trailer for Venom, offering audiences a sneak peek at the tone of Tom Hardy’s spin on the popular character.
The teaser (see above) features Eddie Brock (Hardy) prominently, but doesn’t reveal much of his lethal alter ego. There’s a scene depicting the squirming, black symbiote that — in Marvel Comics lore — bonds with Eddie and gives him his powerful abilities, but that’s about it as far as any look at the film’s namesake.
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