Sony’s ongoing attempt to build a Spider-Man cinematic universe without, well, Spider-Man has produced some bumpy results. While Morbius, Kraven, and Madame Web bombed at the box office, Venom defied the odds in 2018, earning over $850 million at the box office and spawning two sequels. So what made it click? Well, Venom’s director weighs in on why the films succeeded while the other Sony Spidey efforts fizzled.
According to director Ruben Fleischer, who helmed the original film, the key wasn’t just Tom Hardy or symbiote spectacle, but was humor and heart. During a recent appearance on The Playlist’s Discourse Podcast, the Uncharted helmer opened up about the unique challenges of launching Sony’s Spider-Man-adjacent franchise and how they leaned into the weirdness. He shared:
I can’t really speak to too much because I haven’t seen all the other ones. But I think something that people love about Venom is that he’s funny. You know what I mean? It doesn’t take itself too seriously. It’s kind of a ridiculous premise that you have an alien living inside you and sharing space with you.
Rather than try to overly ground the concept, Fleischer embraced its absurdity. He said the tone drew inspiration from films like All of Me, starring Steve Martin, and An American Werewolf in London, both movies that mixed the supernatural with a strong dose of humor. That same tonal balance carried over into Venom. He continued:
I kind of leaned into the—I don’t know if it’s really body horror—but All of Me with Steve Martin was a big inspiration. An American Werewolf in London was another one. Both are tonally on the more humorous side of things. I think Venom is darker among the superhero franchises, just in terms of the way the character looks and his attitude. But he’s also really, really funny. So Tom Hardy was able to realize that wonderfully. And I think the charisma of Tom and of Venom himself is largely what has made it so popular among audiences.
Developing Venom without Spider-Man, arguably the character’s entire narrative backbone, posed a major creative challenge. Since the film was the first in Sony’s Spider-Man-less universe, the team had to build a standalone mythology from scratch. According to Fleischer, the absence of Spider-Man wasn’t a last-minute change; it was part of the concept from the very beginning. While a crossover was never ruled out entirely, the filmmakers were tasked from day one with creating a version of Venom that could exist entirely on its own.
The Spider-Man restrictions even influenced Venom’s physical design. Without a direct connection to the webslinger, the filmmakers had to scrap the character’s iconic spider chest emblem and invent a new visual identity that made sense within their standalone story. The Zombieland director sees the creative limitations as a blessing in disguise. In his view, the film’s success—both critically and commercially—proved that Venom didn’t need Spider-Man to work. It found its own voice, blending humor, horror, and Hardy’s charisma to launch an unlikely franchise.
Though Ruben Fleischer only helmed the first installment in the Venom trilogy, his direction laid the groundwork for what made the franchise click. You can revisit his original film now with a Disney+ subscription. As for what’s next, Fleischer's 2025 movie release, Now You See Me: Now You Don’t, hits theaters on November 14.
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