A few months ago it was announced that Sony was moving forward with plans to create its own series of Spider-Man films that would co-exist alongside the upcoming Spider-Man: Homecoming. One of the first of those films will focus on Spider-Man's longtime foe and occasional ally, Venom.
Now, after months of speculation, we finally know who will be playing the villainous Eddie Brock. In a statement released on Twitter, Sony Pictures confirmed that Tom Hardy would be playing the role of Venom.
Tom Hardy is Eddie Brock in #Venom, the upcoming film from Sony’s Marvel Universe releasing October 5, 2018 – production starts this fall. pic.twitter.com/OZQqDEvoum
— Sony Pictures (@SonyPictures) May 19, 2017
Interestingly enough, this is not the first time that Hardy has played the villain in a comic book movie. In 2012, he broke Batman's back when he appeared as Bane in The Dark Knight Rises.
Venom
The character of Venom has undergone several different incarnations over the years, but probably the most well-known person to bear that mantle was Eddie Brock. In the comics, Brock was a reporter who worked for the Daily Bugle alongside Peter Parker but was fired after publishing a story wrongly accusing an innocent man of a crime.
Since it was Spider-Man who apprehended the real criminal, Brock blamed the superhero for the failure of his career and swore revenge against the hero. As fate would have it, Brock came in contact with an alien symbiote that had previously bonded with Spider-Man. Christening himself Venom, Brock used his newfound powers to terrorize Spider-Man and his loved ones.
Eventually, Venom was defeated, but, given that he's one of Marvel's most popular characters, the alien never stays gone for too long.
The Spinoffs
Venom will feature Ruben Fleischer as the director and is currently scheduled or a release on Oct. 5, 2018. Aside from Venom, there are also rumors that Sony is working on a movie featuring Black Cat and Silver Sabel. Other Spider-Man spinoffs are reportedly in the works, but the details have not yet been announced.
Despite Sony's collaboration with Marvel for Homecoming, it has been announced that neither Venom nor any of the other Spider-Man spinoffs will be tied to the Marvel cinematic universe. It has also been rumored that Tom Holland's Spider-Man will not make an appearance in these films. However, such plans are always subject to change. After all, we didn't expect Spider-Man to ever appear in the MCU, so anything is possible.
