Some substantial changes are on the horizon for the world of Spider-Man, as Sony has begun to invest in a series of spinoff films set in Peter Parker's neighborhood -- but focused on other characters in the Spidey lore. The first project on-deck is the Tom Hardy-fronted Venom film, and it's a movie that has gradually gotten many fans very excited. In fact, it looks like Venom creator Todd McFarlane is also quite interested to see the film, and recently revealed that he's most excited to see how far Sony will push the R-rating. McFarlane said:
So now what's Venom gonna look like? It's an R-rated movie, how 'R' are they going to go? To me, that's the question. Are they going to go a 'little bit R'? Venom's a monster to me, and to me -- are they going to make him a monster or are they going to make him a man? Are they going to humanize him? That's what we gotta find out.
Venom has thus far only appeared in one other live-action film: Spider-Man 3. Widely regarded as the weakest entry in Sam Raimi's original Spider-Man trilogy, one of the major contributing factors to the character's failure arguably was the restrictive PG-13 label. Venom is a brutal and violent bad guy (and sometimes anti-hero), so if Sony wants to go all in on making a David Cronenberg-esque horror film dedicated to Eddie Brock's arc with the Symbiote, then an R-rating will be help explore the balance of his humanity and his monster side. Now it's just a matter of seeing how far Sony decides to push the R-rating, and the degree of the film's rating (whether it's a light R or a hard R) has Todd McFarlane particularly intrigued.
This emphasis on an R-rated comic book adaptation seems to have become a running theme for Todd McFarlane recently. In addition to his vocal support for the Venom film in his comments to Screen Geek, the comic book legend also currently finds himself hard at work on a reboot of the Spawn franchise -- which will similarly aim for a hard-R rating from the MPAA. With X-Men films like Deadpool and Logan proving the financial viability of an R-rated comic book adaptation, projects like Venom and Spawn now have the opportunity to take the ball and run with it.
That said, the R-rating apparently isn't the only thing that has Todd McFarlane excited about Sony's Venom film. McFarlane continued by addressing his enthusiasm to see what Tom Hardy does with the role and said:
It'll be interesting. I've seen some movies of his where he can bring anger and a wide personality to it. To me, I think Tom Hardy's going to be as good as whatever Venom looks like. We all know Tom's going to act. He's going to do a good job.
Although it's still relatively early in the film's development, the Venom cast already looks fantastic. In addition to Hardy, the project has also locked down Michelle Williams (possibly as Eddie Brock's ex-wife Anne Weying), Riz Ahmed (perhaps as Carnage?), and most recently Saturday Night Live alum Jenny Slate. With such a stacked cast and a rare R-rating shaping its story, Venom could handily become one of the most unique comic book adaptations that we have ever seen.
Venom will debut in theaters next year on October 5, 2018. Are you excited to see Eddie Brock get his solo movie? Give us your take on the project in the comments below.
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