Despite what some naysayers may have to offer, Venom has remained among my most anticipated comic book movies to drop in 2018. Sure, the studio may be foregoing any connection to Spider-Man, but that doesn’t detract from how the film looks positively badass in the slightest.
With that in mind, one must remember the first time that Sony brought Eddie Brock to the big screen, that being in 2007’s Spider-Man 3. Having been shoehorned into the script by the Powers That Be, it’s quite apparent that the character was superfluous, but who are we to question the infallible wisdom of Hollywood execs?
When it came to casting, it’s not like we had the Tom Hardy of today, but rather, Topher Grace, who’d been mostly known for comedic roles to that point. Funny enough, even Grace himself can express confusion in hindsight, doing just that during a recent appearance on Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum:
“I was a huge fan of the character of Venom when I was a kid when Todd McFarlane brought him into the comic. I was a huge fan of it. And I was surprised and a little bit like ‘Huh?’ when they wanted me to play it. So when I look at it now, at the movie that’s coming out, I go ‘That’s the guy.’ In terms of how I think the guy should be played and who should play it.”
Obviously, Grace didn’t turn down the gig (who would?), but I have to agree with the general consensus in saying that I’d have chosen someone else. Don’t get me wrong, I loved him on That 70’s Show, but he just never said “Eddie Brock” to me. He’d have probably made a damn good Jimmy Olsen in a Superman flick, but that’s a discussion for another day.
If you’d like to see Tom Hardy step up to the plate, however, then be sure to catch Venom when it opens in theaters on October 5th.