Collider is reporting that the gestating Venom movie will jump-start Sony’s own interconnected Marvel universe – and it’ll do so with an R rating.
Today’s alleged revelation is the latest in a long line of developments for the much-anticipated spinoff, after Scott Rosenberg and Jeff Pinkner were drafted in to fine-tune the initial script pitched by Dante Harper (Alien: Covenant). Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach have signed on to produce, and though Sony is clearly eyeing the back-to-back success of Deadpool and this year’s rather excellent Logan, it should be stressed that the Venom movie is still on the prowl for a director, meaning this purported R rating isn’t set in stone just yet.
Even still, assuming Collider’s sources are on point, an R-rated Venom spinoff would herald the beginning of a universe that is radically different from Sony’s earlier superhero efforts – namely those two independent Spider-Man franchises headed up by Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield. The strategy would involve relatively modest budgets, too, as the studio begins to comb through Spidey’s impressive vault of characters – namely Black Cat and Silver Sable – for inspiration.
Much like the MCU and DCEU before them, all of these pictures will seemingly share some form of connective tissue, and it’s important to note that Sony’s universe will stand on its own two feet – far from Spider-Man: Homecoming and the other superhero projects currently incubating over at Marvel. Tom Rothman, chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment’s Motion Picture Group, is orchestrating the superhero action from behind the scenes.
There’s still a long way to go, but it looks as though Sony is finally ready to set the wheels in motion and unleash that parasitic symbiote once more. Leading with an R-rated Venom movie is undoubtedly a bold statement of intent for the studio’s own Marvel universe, and it’ll be interesting to see how fans take to this latest rumor regarding the iconic anti-hero. It’ll reportedly lens from fall 2017, when Sony will begin fostering a horror/sci-fi spinoff.
