Tom Hardy Set To Star As Spider-Man’s Nemesis, Venom

Spider-Man: Homecoming is set to be released on July 7 in the U.S. The film stars British actor Tom Holland as Peter Parker, and is Sony’s second attempt at rebooting the Spider-Man franchise. For the latest incarnation of everyone’s favorite wall-crawler, Sony famously joined forces with Marvel Studios and implemented the character into the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War.

In this movie, Holland first appeared as Spider-Man alongside Hollywood heavyweights Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, and Scarlett Johansson. The 20-year-old actor has since garnered high praise for his portrayal of the teenage superhero, and fans all over the world have been eagerly awaiting Spider-Man’s first solo flick within the MCU.

However, Amy Pascal, the co-producer of Spider-Man: Homecoming, recently told Slash Film that Spider-Man may pull out of the MCU once Sony’s deal with Marvel Studios expires. Furthermore, Sony is rumored to be working on their own cinematic universe, which is expected to be centered around the web-slinger and his extensive rogues gallery.

Before Sony canceled The Amazing Spider-Man film series, which starred Andrew Garfield as the titular protagonist, the studio had plans for a spin-off revolving around the Sinister Six. Comic book fans know that the Sinister Six are a group of villains made up of the likes of Doctor Octopus, Electro, Sandman, and Vulture.

Vulture, of course, will be the primary antagonist in the upcoming Spider-Man film. The villain will be portrayed by Michael Keaton, who is fondly remembered by comic book fans for his portrayal of Batman in Tim Burton’s Batman and Batman Returns.

Furthermore, Sony was also working on bringing Spider-Man’s archenemy, Venom, to the big screen. In the comics, journalist Eddie Brock becomes Venom after bonding with an alien symbiote, which was rejected by its previous host, Spider-Man. As such, Brock gains similar powers to the web-slinger and basically turns into a twisted version of the superhero.

With the cancellation of The Amazing Spider-Man 3, however, both the Sinister Six, as well as the Venom films were put on hold for the unforeseeable future. Now that the franchise has been rebooted once again, Sony Pictures have also resumed their interest in the two projects.

On May 19, Sony Pictures took to Twitter to officially announce the casting of Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock in an upcoming Venom film, which is set to be released on October 5, 2018.

Tom Hardy is Eddie Brock in #Venom, the upcoming film from Sony’s Marvel Universe releasing October 5, 2018 – production starts this fall. pic.twitter.com/OZQqDEvoum

— Sony Pictures (@SonyPictures) May 19, 2017

For the announcement, Sony Pictures uploaded an image of Hardy wearing a Venom T-Shirt on their Twitter account.

The Oscar-nominated actor is no newcomer to the world of superhero movies. The Brit previously played Bane in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises, a role for which he received critical acclaim from fans and critics alike. The 39-year-old will now become one of few actors to appear in both a DC Comics film, as well as a Marvel film.

Hardy won’t be the first actor to portray Eddie Brock on the big screen, though.

In Spider-Man 3, starring Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker, Topher Grace appeared as Eddie Brock, aka Venom. However, fans weren’t necessarily thrilled by Grace’s portrayal of the iconic villain in the final installment of Sam Raimi’s trilogy.

The Venom film, starring Tom Hardy, is set to be directed by Ruben Fleischer, according to The Guardian. Fleischer is perhaps best known for his work in the comedy horror film Zombieland. Venom will be the director’s first project in the superhero genre.

It will be interesting to see how the story of the film pans out and how Venom, inevitably, comes into conflict with Spider-Man. Considering the origin story of Venom in the comics, fans can expect Peter Parker to at least make a cameo in the upcoming Venom film. All in all, it is great to see Sony giving the villain a standalone film.

[Featured Image by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images]