by Maria Lewis
When Sony announced they had cast Tom Hardy as everyone’s favourite intergalactic Symbiote, people were… surprised. To say the least. You see, Sony announces a lot of stuff. Whether or not people give a shit about said announcements is another thing. If you were just interested in the exploits of your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man, for instance, you’d be familiar with Sony announcing they were doing Spider-Man 4 with Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire returning, then announcing they weren’t doing Spider-Man 4 after all and were instead doing what precisely no one asked for: rebooting Spider-Man with two different guys. Two films in and they announced a Spider-Man universe, tying in a Sinister Six film at the end of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and continuing their run of films no one asked for, by announcing a Black Cat solo film. That news was followed with the announcement that those weren’t happening anymore: Spider-Man will get to spend more time with Main Marvel while Sony will become the Side Chick and, oh hey, there’d be another new Spider-Man film. In short: Sony have been hitting ‘in a relationship’ on their Facebook status when it comes to their film projects when, in reality, at most they should click ‘it’s complicated’. Sony announce a lot of shit – especially when it comes to Spider-Man – and most of us only half listen anymore. For instance, at the same time as the Venom announcement they also proclaimed a Silver Sable and Black Cat solo film. The take away is everyone over there just needs to SLOW. THEIR. ROLL.
Yet the Venom movie is interesting to horror fans for a few reasons. Firstly, the fact that it’s Tom Hardy – Chief Planetary Brooding Commander – and not Topher Grace is a cause to ?. Secondly, the rumours coming from sources close to the production imply that they might be heading in a hard R, horror-orientated direction with the movie. As discussed on the latest episode of Collider Heroes, Spider-Man won’t be in the Venom film and is therefore leaving the meat of the movie to be carried by his darker antihero in what is assumed to be a Venom origin story (happening off to the side of the central Spider-Man story). The comic book origins of the character have always been the darker, more heavy metal and surrealist ying to Spider-Man’s light and bright yang, so it makes sense they would lean into that with a Venom movie.
The idea of horror as the genre this comic book blockbuster would fall into is more of a leap, especially considering what has come before. Comic book maestro Todd McFarlane – who also dabbled in the world of Venom – saw his horror-leaning character Spawn hit the big screen back in 1997 with dismal results. While the effects and aesthetic were glorious, the rest was – simply – boring verging to bad (two things a movie about a Hell soldier should never be). Horror comics had better luck a year later with Blade in 1998 and its sequel Blade II in 2002 – both FREAKIN awesome – but stumbled enough with Blade: Trinity in 2004 that we never got another one. Constantine and R.I.P.D went the way of Spawn and so did faith in horror comic book blockbusters? Could Venom change all that?
The simple truth is that the number of people who care about a Venom solo film – without Spider-Man – is specific and small. The casting of Tom Hardy has increased interest, but only slightly. Yet would a Venom movie succeed if it swapped superheroes for superhorror, like rumours are suggesting? History says no, but perhaps audiences weren’t as willing and hungry for something as dark and disturbing back then as they are now. For years, fans have been pushing for a Blade reboot and horror has only gone from strength-to-strength on television. Hardy is good enough to play the shark in Jaws and make audiences believe it, so under the guidance of a true horror filmmaker and lover of the genre – perhaps someone like Bryan Fuller? Or Karyn Kusama? Christophe Gans? – Venom could be something entirely unique and to the left of everything else presently being offered in the realm of superhero movies. Sony have shown they’re willing to invest in big-budget horror in the long term with the Underworld and Resident Evil franchises (with the latter they have just announced a reboot). For lovers of the liquid sometimes-bad guy, sometimes good-guy, hopefully this Venom announcement is one to truly give a shit about.
Maria Lewis is a journalist and author previously seen on SBS Viceland’s The Feed. She’s the presenter and producer of the Eff Yeah Film & Feminism podcast. Her debut novel Who’s Afraid? was released in 2016 with the sequel – Who’s Afraid Too? – out now. You can find her on Twitter @MovieMazz.
