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Everything We Know (So Far) About Sony’s “Venom” Movie

Everything We Know (So Far) About Sony’s “Venom” Movie June 11, 2018

venom movie

Everything we know about the Venom movie, and what we're hoping for

Does it feel like it’s taken years to get Marvel's antihero Venom his own film? Well, that’s because it has. We've waited more than a decade. And we're finally getting a Venom movie in October 2018. And we can thank our lucky stars Topher Grace will be nowhere near this project. Since we’ve still got some months before the big release, information regarding the film — its premise, its effects, its treatment of a potentially R-rated character — has been slow in coming. But we’ve been paying attention. So here’s everything we know (so far) about Venom.

The release date

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IMAGE BY: Sony Pictures
Venom is scheduled to hit theaters on October 5th, which isn’t exactly a huge weekend for movies (its biggest competition is going to be A Star Is Born), but it isn’t trying to be your typical superhero movie, either. Although it’s currently unrated, chances are high it’ll receive an R from the MPAA, which is just fine with its filmmakers. Venom looks to be a spin on horror — like a pop-ier John Carpenter film.

It’s been “in development” for over a decade

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IMAGE BY: Columbia Pictures
[dx_custom_adunit desktop_id="RTK_K67O" mobile_id="RTK_5yk0"] Production first began in 2007 with producer Avi Arad expressing interest in bringing Venom to the big screen. For the next 10 years, the project jumped from writer to writer, with Paul Wernick (Deadpool) and Rhett Reese (Zombieland) turning in a draft at one point. Every time the Spider-Man franchise got a reboot, though, Venom went back to the drawing board, and its most recent revival happened in 2016. Here’s hoping this one gets it right.

The premise

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IMAGE BY: Sony Pictures
While we don’t have an official synopsis yet, we can tell a lot from the movie’s trailer. Like we know its main character, Eddie Brock, is an investigative journalist who appears to be doing an exposé on the Life Foundation, a nefarious organization that may or may not be conducting human experiments (because what nefarious organization wouldn’t be conducting human experiments?!) At some point, he comes across an alien Symbiote and bonds with it, creating Venom.

It’s directed by Ruben Fleischer

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IMAGE BY: Columbia Pictures
Best known for 2009’s Zombieland, Fleischer certainly has a specific style. Kind of flashy, full of action, and heavy on gore. Is this a good thing for Venom? If studio execs are hoping for another Deadpool, then yeah, Fleischer is the guy to bring them that film.

It’s written by Scott Rosenberg and Jeff Pinkner

IMAGE BY: Sony Pictures
[dx_custom_adunit desktop_id="RTK_K67O" mobile_id="RTK_5yk0"] At least this final version is. The pair signed on to write the script in March 2017, which — if filming began in October — requires a pretty f—ing fast turnaround. Rosenberg’s background is heavy on action (and Nic Cage), while Pinkner helped bring The Dark Tower and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 to life. So, really, this script could go either way.

Tom Hardy signed on to star in May 2017

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IMAGE BY: Sony Pictures
The actor, who’s no stranger to dark superhero movies — remember him as Bane? Remember everyone you knew doing their best muffled, “Then you have my permission to die” impressions? — stars as Eddie Brock, an investigative journalist and host for the alien Symbiote. Fun fact: Hardy is actually a Venom fan, so taking this role isn’t just a paycheck sort of thing. Not that we thought his portrayal of Bane was just a paycheck. But it wasn’t really Bane, either.

The actor did a performance capture for the role

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IMAGE BY: Sony Pictures
So we can be thankful that whatever CG version of Venom we wind up with on screen will actually be a Tom Hardy performance. It’s along the same lines as what Marvel did with Mark Ruffalo’s CG Hulk in The Avengers, as opposed to what happened with Eric Bana’s Hulk in Hulk. Technology has come a long way since 2003.

We’ve seen Eddie Brock on film before

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IMAGE BY: Columbia Pictures
[dx_custom_adunit desktop_id="RTK_K67O" mobile_id="RTK_5yk0"] He was first introduced in movies in 2007’s Spider-Man 3. You know, where he was played so beautifully by Topher Grace. Eric Forman from That ‘70s Show. Don’t remember Spider-Man 3 or Topher Grace’s Eddie Brock? Consider yourself one of the lucky ones.

Venom’s been around since 1984

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IMAGE BY: Marvel
The comic character debuted during Marvel’s original Secret Wars event and was actually first bonded with Spider-Man.The fact that this Venom will begin with Eddie Brock as the Symbiote’s host as opposed to Spider-Man has left some fans wondering if his original backstory will be explored at all. Could anyone really imagine Tom Holland playing a version of Venom?

Speaking of Tom Holland…

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IMAGE BY: Sony Pictures
The rumor that Tom Holland’s Spider-Man may make an appearance in the film is (unfortunately) untrue. It began with a tweet from Collider’s Kristian Harloff that referenced director Jon Schnepp, who “knew” Holland would pop up. But it turns out the whole thing is just wishful thinking on Schnepp’s part, as an appearance by Spider-Man could signal Venom’s inclusion in the MCU, which is definitely not happening.

Venom is both a villain and a hero

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IMAGE BY: Sony Pictures
[dx_custom_adunit desktop_id="RTK_K67O" mobile_id="RTK_5yk0"] In the world of Spider-Man, Venom is considered one of the hero’s archnemeses (next to Doc Ock and Green Goblin). He’s tormented poor Spidey for years. But Venom is also his own brand of superhero — you know, like how Deadpool is a superhero. He’ll go up against the Life Foundation in the film, led by Carlton Drake (Rogue One’s Riz Ahmed). You know Drake has got to be evil if a villain decides to play hero against him.

Woody Harrelson might play Carnage

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IMAGE BY: Warner Bros.
In December 2017, Harrelson signed on to Venom in an undisclosed role. He’s since stated that although his part in the film is a small one, chances are it’ll be expanded in the sequel. It’s led many fans to believe he’ll be playing Cletus Kasady, a serial killer that became the villain Carnage after bonding with a Symbiote. Because Woody Harrelson isn’t the type of actor to play a throwaway goon character, and we all know it.

Carnage is like Venom, only way worse

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IMAGE BY: Marvel
Carnage was first introduced in a 1992 issue of The Amazing Spider-Man. Although an offspring of the Venom Symbiote, Carnage comes up short on morality, probably on account of being a psychopath. He’s as powerful as Venom, but a hell of a lot more insane.

Cameron Monaghan wanted to play Carnage

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IMAGE BY: Warner Bros.
[dx_custom_adunit desktop_id="RTK_K67O" mobile_id="RTK_5yk0"] The Gotham star has already proven himself capable of playing a comic villain. His dual portrayal of Jerome and Jeremiah Valeska is one of the better we’ve seen on the small screen, and he’s managed to do justice to both New 52 and classic Joker (even though Fox will never admit that’s who he’s playing). Hell, he even had his own hashtag — #CameronforCarnage — going for a while.

The first trailer left fans disappointed

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IMAGE BY: YouTube/Sony Pictures Entertainment
At a minute and a half, the teaser trailer, released at the beginning of February, gave us a few glimpses into the film. Eddie Brock? Check. Quarantined government area? Check. Carlton Drake and a captive Symbiote? Check, check, and check. But… where the f— was Venom? Apparently, the point was to build anticipation, but mostly it just pissed a hell of a lot of fans off.

The second trailer gives fans the Venom we’ve been waiting for (we hope)

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IMAGE BY: YouTube/Sony Pictures Entertainment
More backstory. More of the Life Foundation. More of the Symbiotes. But most importantly, the final frames of the second trailer — released at the end of April — gave us our first real look at Venom. And we have to say, the CG work is on par with some of the best we’ve seen in recent years, and we are stoked for October.

Black Panther composer Ludwig Göransson will score the Venom movie.

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IMAGE BY: Walt Disney Studios
[dx_custom_adunit desktop_id="RTK_K67O" mobile_id="RTK_5yk0"] Black Panther may be the thing Göransson is most known for, but the 33-year-old composer has some pretty heavy credentials under his belt. Like the scores for 30 Minutes or Less, Fruitvale Station, and Creed. Or his collaborations with Donald Glover as Childish Gambino on the albums Camp, Because the Internet, and "Awaken, My Love!” Yeah, we’re pretty sure the music is in capable hands.

Turns out, “symbiote” can be pronounced more than one way

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IMAGE BY: Marvel
When the second trailer hit the internet, people freaked out, and not just over the Venom reveal. Turns out, English nerds everywhere took issue with Jenny Slate’s pronunciation of the word “symbiote.” In the trailer, the actress pronounces it sym-BYE-ote, as opposed to sym-BEE-ote. There was such an uproar that Merriam-Webster weighed in on the issue, stating that both pronunciations are acceptable. So suck it, grammar nazis.

Venom doesn’t exist in the MCU

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IMAGE BY: Walt Disney Studios
While Sony made a deal with Marvel to allow for the appearance of Tom Holland’s Spider-Man in both the Sony-run franchise and the MCU, no such deal has been worked out for Venom. What that means is that Venom exists in the same reality as Spider-Man and the Avengers, but not the same cinematic universe. Yeah, your guess is as good as ours here, honestly.

Sony plans to have Venom launch its own franchise.

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IMAGE BY: Sony Pictures
[dx_custom_adunit desktop_id="RTK_K67O" mobile_id="RTK_5yk0"] We already know Sony has plans to expand on the Venom universe with a planned sequel (Woody Harrelson said so!). But the studio has also been planning to launch its own extended universe for some time, which has been apparent in its treatment of the Spider-Man films. Aside from the fact that they keep being rebooted — can we stop already? — the second Amazing Spider-Man film dropped hints regarding the Sinister Six, which may actually still be on the table as far as spinoffs are concerned.