Before Tom Hardy began wrestling with his demons – both literal and figurative – Sony Pictures and Sam Raimi chose to place Topher Grace on a collision course with the symbiote known as Venom.
He’s arguably the most interesting antagonist of Spider-Man 3, even if Raimi initially planned to introduce Adrian Toomes (AKA the Vulture) alongside the Green Goblin (James Franco) and Sandman, the supercharged bank robber brought to life by Thomas Haden Church.
Indeed, thanks to a new interview with JoBlo, Church has been fielding all sorts of questions and queries relating to Spider-Man 3, including its bloated villain roster and Topher Grace’s performance as the alien symbiote.
The studio felt like they had me, they had Franco’s story continuing, and they were like, we need one more that’s more of a millennial. And that’s how Venom and Topher Grace came into the picture. And by the way, I thought Topher was great in the movie and Venom is a pretty scary animal. And that was the evolution of that. I was thrilled, man.
While the raw, animalistic design drew praise from fans and critics alike, many felt that Topher Grace’s turn as Eddie Brock was a little over-the-top – a far cry from the haunted, brooding character made famous by David Michelinie and Todd McFarlane (Spawn).
By stark contrast, Tom Hardy looks set to deliver a decidedly different, and hopefully more nuanced, rendition of Eddie Brock via Sony’s Venom spinoff movie – even if our first true look at Hardy in action was strangely Venom-less. There’s still plenty of time for Ruben Fleischer and Co. to drum up excitement, of course, given Venom isn’t expected to release until October 5th of this year. Stay tuned for more on that one.