The Venom franchise has served many masters since Sony brought its symbiote to life in the 2018 origin movie. With Tom Hardy in the lead role and co-producers Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach passing notes, Zombieland director Ruben Fleischer did his very best to get this series off the ground (even though Hardy thought they were making a comedy, and Fleischer might not have understood that). The series took, in my opinion, a significant leap forward when motion-capture specialist Andy Serkis took over the directing reins for Venom: Let There Be Carnage. When Venom 3 recently was announced, though, Serkis wasn’t continuing on as the director, and I wondered why.
Thankfully, I got the opportunity to speak with Andy Serkis thanks to his stellar three-episode arc on the Star Wars series Andor (watch it with a Disney+ subscription). And as our conversation drew to a close, I quick asked him why he didn’t return for Venom 3, and if he even considered taking the gig before the studio eventually went with screenwriter Kelly Marcel. But Serkis explained to CinemaBlend:
I loved working with them on (Venom: Let There Be Carnage), but I've got so many projects that are lined up, that I've had in development and actually put to one side to direct Venom. So, with Animal Farm coming up, and a slew of other projects that I have been working on for such a long time, to spend another couple of years (on Venom 3), that would've been a big ask. But I mean, I'm so excited for her to do it because she knows that world so well now, obviously. And I think with her and Tom working hand in glove, I'm really excited to see what they're going to do.
Kelly Marcel has had an interesting journey, co-writing Saving Mr. Banks for Tom Hanks and Disney, but also pivoting over to Fifty Shades of Grey for Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan. Which means she’s versatile! She also, however, has been embedded on Team Venom from the start, writing the first two films and collaborating with Tom Hardy as a producer on the movies. Marcel stepping into Venom 3 makes all the sense in the world, as she was dropping spoilers about possible inclusions in Venom: Let There Be Carnage, while also sharing valuable insight into how Hardy figured out how to interact with the symbiote.
The thing about the Venom series, at the moment, is that because of the end credits scenes of Morbius as well as Spider-Man: No Way Home, we have so many questions about how Venom fits into his own universe. We watched him travel to the main MCU timeline, and leave a piece of his symbiote behind. Will that be explored in Venom 3? Or are they leaving that for Tom Holland’s eventual Spider-Man 4? Marvel likely knows, but until she starts talking, we’re in the dark. More on all of this as it surfaces.
