Many Spider-Man fans have been eager to see a new live action version of Venom ever since Topher Grace's version from Spider-Man 3 was largely considered underwhelming. Well, they will soon have their wish granted! Sony Pictures has officially kicked off production on a Venom movie, which will spotlight the character in a non-Spider-Man setting. Tom Hardy will play the new iteration of Eddie Brock, and during the scenes when Eddie is fully transformed into the symbiote-powered anti-hero, the character will be realized through performance capture. Actor Andy Serkis dropped this interesting tidbit of information, saying:
Tom Hardy is playing a new character using performance capture.
While speaking to Yahoo Movies about performance capture roles (both his own and from other actors like Steve Zahn and Mark Rylance), Andy Serkis casually let slip that Tom Hardy's Venom will be achieved via the same process. Granted, Serkis didn't outright name Venom, but that's the only movie that the Dunkirk star has coming up (excluding his cameo in Star Wars: The Last Jedi).
It's worth pointing out that CGI was used to bring Venom to "life" in Spider-Man 3 (it would be extremely difficult to create the character using only practical effects), but the fact that the Venom movie is going a step further with performance capture ideally means that the character will look and feel even more realistic. Well, as realistic a vibe as a giant, black fanged monster is capable of giving off. Given Serkis' inside knowledge, hopefully this means he and his performance capture studio, The Imaginarium, will consult on Venom, much like how they helped with Mark Ruffalo's Hulk performance in Avengers: Age of Ultron.
No specific plot details for the Venom movie have been revealed yet, but the story will reportedly involve the eponymous protagonist clashing with Carnage, another symbiote-powered Spider-Man villain. In addition to Tom Hardy as the leading man, Venom's cast includes Riz Ahmed, Michelle Williams, Jenny Slate, Reid Scott and Scott Haze. None of their characters have been identified yet, though Williams is reportedly playing a district attorney who becomes Eddie Brock's love interest (this is likely Ann Weying, if they're sticking closely to the comics), while Slate would play a scientist. Venom is the first movie of Sony's Spider-Man-centric movies that are unconnected to the Web-Slinger's antics in the MCU. The Silver Sable/Black Cat-led adventure Silver & Black also in development.
Directed by Gangster Squad's Ruben Fleischer, with Kelly Marcel tackling the latest draft of the script, Venom will be released in theaters on October 5, 2018. Keep checking back with CinemaBlend for more updates on the blockbuster, and in the meantime, browse through our 2018 premiere guide to find out when next year's other biggest releases will be screened.
