Tom Hardy, fresh from reading a bedtime story on CBBC, is playing Eddie Brock in Sony's upcoming Spider-Man spin-off. Venom.
Whilst Hardy's casting as the alien symbiote was met with enthusiasm. He played DC Comics' Bane in Chris Nolan's The Dark Knight Trilogy. News the spin-off is not directly linked to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), possibly precluding a face-off against Tom Holland's Spider-Man, is a fly in the ointment. However, it would be a surprising missed opportunity, by the studio, in the wake of so much goodwill following Captain America: Civil War.
Venom was last seen on the big screen in Sam Raimi's middling Spider-Man 3 in 2007. Sony's gambling on Spider-Man: Homecoming successfully rebooting the franchise and there's a PlayStation exclusive Spider-Man video game to promote, too. More news on the latter at E3. Hopefully.
Venom, directed by Ruben Fleischer, will usher in further spin-offs. Is the comic book cinematic universe in danger of further brand dilution? I stopped reading comics in the mid 1990s as it became expensive and, frankly, a chore to follow Marvel's or DC Comics' increasingly fractured, commercially cynical, universes. This has now transferred to film and television adaptations, where I've stopped following franchises. Because bored.
This may appear frivolous on my part and I'm no stranger to a time when geeks didn't have the luxury of Hollywood's current superhero stable featuring multi-movie story arcs and infinite reboots.
Production begins on Venom later this year with a release date of 5th October 2018. Perhaps in time for the launch of PlayStation 5. Tom, would you mind signing one for me?
