For many a superhero fan, Venom is a character whose existence and origins are inherently linked with his old foe Spider-Man, putting some pressure on director Ruben Fleischer’s upcoming film to convince viewers that Eddie Brock and his symbiote alter ego can thrive on their own terms.
Fortunately, Fleischer has seemed consistently optimistic that Venom doesn’t need to be sharing the screen with his most famous enemy in order to be an interesting and entertaining character in his own right. Speaking to Fandango, the Zombieland helmsman recently assured us that the complex relationship between the murderous antihero and himself will be quite enough for one movie.
“Venom is a standalone character who has so much attitude, menace and ferocity. He’s also really funny in the comics and in our movie. He’s a really compelling guy that can completely stand on his own. When he’s played by Tom Hardy, and Eddie Brock is his partner, that relationship is enough for one movie. It’s about these two entities coming together and forming one. That’s a really exciting and satisfying relationship that is unique to a comic book movie and also very captivating.”
This isn’t the first time that Fleischer has singled out Tom Hardy as a reason to watch his next flick, and if all goes well with this project, then you can expect to see plenty more of the character, with the actor reportedly signed on for an entire trilogy in the role. What’s more, with the film given a PG-13 rating, Sony are very much keeping their options open for a crossover with the MCU’s Spider-Man somewhere down the line.
Seeing how the movie’s currently projected to break some records at the box office, it feels like a safe bet that at least some of these future plans for the character will come into fruition. Here’s hoping that Fleischer will get things off to a strong start when Venom hits theaters on October 5th.