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Alex Kurtzman Talks Venom And Choosing The Right Man For The Symbiote

Not much is known about Alex Kurtzman's Venom film for Sony, apart from the fact that it will feature the famous Spider-Man villain in an anti-hero role. Kurtzman recently talked about how the character provides a darker entry point into the Spidey franchise, as "there are certain lines that Spider-Man won't cross... Venom, in a weird way, is the representation of every line that will get crossed." While some characters provide straight-forward adaptation possibilities, Venom is a bit of a different story, because there have been a handful of different versions over the years.

Venom Flash Thompson

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Not much is known about Alex Kurtzman’s Venom film for Sony, apart from the fact that it will feature the famous Spider-Man villain in an anti-hero role. Kurtzman recently talked about how the character provides a darker entry point into the Spidey franchise, as “there are certain lines that Spider-Man won’t cross… Venom, in a weird way, is the representation of every line that will get crossed.” While some characters provide straight-forward adaptation possibilities, Venom is a bit of a different story, because there have been a handful of different versions over the years.

The Venom symbiote has been worn by several characters in Spider-Man lore throughout the years and in various forms of media, the most notable of which are Peter Parker, Eddie Brock, Mac Gargan a.k.a. The Scorpion, Flash Thompson, and Harry Osborn.

Making Eddie Brock the Venom of choice is perhaps the safest bet, but he’s certainly not the only option. Many speculated before The Amazing Spider-Man 2 hit theaters that Dane DeHaan would don the dangerous alien symbiote as Harry Osborn, and despite his Goblin transformation at the end of the film, there’s still a chance that he will switch roles during Sinister Six. 

Speaking with Spinoff, Kurtzman was asked for a Venom update and which character would be beneath the suit. He stated that him and screenwriter Ed Solomon (Now You See Me, Men in Black) are still in the early stages of developing the film and that picking the right character was no easy feat:

“Yeah, before last Friday came out, we started kind of roughing out a story. Ed Solomon’s going to be writing it very soon. I can’t tell you too much, but I’m really excited about it.

I would not say [picking the incarnation of Venom is] an easy choice. I would say that there are quite a few things about Venom that are interesting. Venom had several different iterations, and there are several things that are very unique, interesting and specific. And so I think we all want to make sure that we’re making the right choices for a character that’s so beloved.”

While adapting Eddie Brock is perhaps the safe choice, giving the Flash Thompson Venom a chance at the big screen may in fact be a more viable option for a Venom solo film. Thompson has already appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man (played by The Leftovers’ Chris Zylka) and could easily be brought back into the fold. In the comics, Flash loses his legs while fighting in the Iraq war and dons the Venom symbiote as a way to walk again. He then becomes Agent Venom for the military, using the anti-hero’s various powers on dangerous mercenary and Black-Ops missions while personally struggling to control the symbiote’s more violent and evil tendencies.

There’s certainly potential with the Venom character to make a great solo movie. Sony will have to proceed extremely carefully from here on out, however, after botching the character in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 3 and losing a ton of fan goodwill with The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

While it lacks an official release date, Venom is rumored to hit theaters in 2017, a year after Sinister Six and a year before The Amazing Spider-Man 3.

Tell us, what do you think of Kurtzman’s comments? Do you have faith that he can make a good Venom movie? Who do you think should don the Venom symbiote? Sound off in the comments section below!