After an underwhelming cinematic debut in 2007's Spider-Man 3, Venom is getting a second chance at silver screen glory. Over the last year, the solo Venom movie has gone from simply a project in development to being smack dab in the middle of principal photography. Although there have been numerous casting updates since it was announced that Tom Hardy would play the symbiote-powered anti-hero, no official plot information has been disclosed, until now. Director Ruben Fleischer has confirmed that the Venom movie will be inspired by the Lethal Protector and Planet of the Symbiotes storylines, saying:
We want to be as true as possible to the comic with our film. But our story is primarily based on the Lethal Protector and the Planet of the Symbiotes book.
Ruben Fleischer made this known at the Brazil Comic-Con last month, and while Lethal Protector had previously been rumored as inspiration for Venom, it's still good to have confirmation that the movie's plot will partially adapt both that and Planet of the Symbiotes. Although Venom is primarily known as a Spider-Man villain, he's also led several of his own stories in the comics, with these two being among the most prominent. We still haven't learned any specific story details concerning Venom, but at least we now have a gauge on what beats it will hit.
Lethal Protector was published as a six-issue miniseries from February to July of 1993, five years after Eddie Brock became Venom. After years of clashing with Spider-Man, Venom and the Web-Slinger agreed that they would leave each other alone, provided that Venom wouldn't continue his life of crime. Eddie Brock then left New York City and moved to San Francisco, but while in the Bay City, the father of one of Venom's victims hired a gang of mercenaries to kill him. From there, things escalated, as Spider-Man came to see what the commotion in San Francisco was, and he and Venom later had to deal with five of the Venom symbiote's offspring. Obviously Venom can't fully adapt Lethal Protector given that Spider-Man isn't expected to appear, but it will be set in San Francisco, and perhaps Eddie will start using his new powers as a vigilante rather than a villain, only to find trouble from an unexpected source.
As for Planet of the Symbiotes, that was published as a five-issue miniseries from June to October of 1995. When Eddie Brock finally decided to force the Venom symbiote to leave him after fully realizing how it was corrupting him, the angered symbiote mentally contacted a nearby spaceship full of symbiote to attack Earth. Along with featuring Carnage, who reportedly the main antagonist in Venom, this story also include the five symbiote offspring mentioned earlier, and if you look closely at the image of Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock from earlier today, there's a question in his notebook about the Life Foundation, the organization that's responsible for the creation of the quintet. While it remains to be seen whether these five symbiote offspring will appear in Venom, it's possible that in this continuity, rather than being alien creatures, the symbiotes are manmade creations from the Life Foundation.
Venom swings into theaters on October 5, 2018. As for what other movies will be released this year, consult with our 2018 premiere guide.
