Venom is an iconic comic-book character who is really darker version of Spiderman. He has the unique ability to evolve and adapt itself in different environments. He possess all the Spiderman’s powers except his senses. He can also embody all the abilities of his opponent which makes him an unstoppable monster. He can never run out of webs as his suit can generate endless webbing.

The announcement for standalone venom movie did not sit well with fans, especially when the movie will not be featuring Spiderman. I mean that’s like making a Joker movie without Batman, you have a whole lot of crazy but you have no one to stop the crazy from spreading.

What you get is a broken narrative asking for a proper protagonist. Sony announced the standalone venom movie a while ago and fans have held on the above apprehensions. To be fair the studio did give us some relief when they cast the chiselled Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock back in May 2017.

Fans have anxiously waited for any developments in this solo project of Sony’s Marvel universe that will be shared by venom, Silver Sable, and Black Cat.

Now, courtesy of IGN we get our first look at Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock straight from the sets of Venom. He is one of the most talented and hardworking actors working in Hollywood. He is chased by studios left and right for some of the most coveted roles. His trainer described Hardy as someone who is humble, down to earth and a thorough professional. He said:

“Most people, you give them the choice, they will always take the easy option. You want more? No, I’m OK.’ But not Tom. There’s always room for one more.”

The Breakdown

Now, what do we know about the venom solo project? We know that the movie will not feature Spiderman. We also know that the movie will be based on a semi-shared universe that will belong to Sony and will also include Silk Sable and Black Cat in the same universe. Silk and Black is also a movie currently in the pre-production stage.

According to the latest report, here’s what you need to know:

“Before the story begins, Venom makes an agreement with Spider-Man that they will leave each other alone, on the condition that Venom commits no crimes. Venom then moves from New York City to San Francisco and takes up with a group of Californian mole people. Shortly thereafter the father of one of Venom’s victims seeks him out with a group of super-powered mercenaries to take revenge. Spider-Man, seeing misleading coverage of Venom on television, heads to San Francisco to confront him and instead winds up fighting alongside Venom against five new offspring of the Venom Symbiote: Scream, Phage, Riot, Lasher, and Agony.”

We know that Eddie Brock’s venom will be a protagonist in the movie and his main antagonist is almost confirmed to be carnage. The studio has already cast Hardy as Eddie Brock and Michelle Williams as Anne Weying (Eddie’s ex-wife!?). The rest of the casting process is still underway but many heavy-weights have been brought into the fold.

The movie seems to have already started shooting or maybe the crew is just gearing up before the actual shoot. Regardless we have been given the privilege to scrutinize Tom Hardy’s, Eddie Brock. The image depicts the actor holding a book (in a library?).

Although it might not be a book at all, it may just be a notebook, which is not unusual for a man in Eddie’s profession i.e Journalism.

Eddie Brock was introduced as a new freelancer for Daily Bugle who competed with Peter Parker for work. This led to a hostile relationship between the two. Although Peter has always been a docile and relatively timid character when not in his Spidey costume, the venom symbiote changed his personality.

It made Peter’s decisions for him, his actions became more and more fueled by rage rather than by a desire to do good. In this rage-filled trip, Peter also undertook some actions that rendered Eddie Brock broke and out of work.

This led to Eddie developing a deep hatred for Peter Parker. Meanwhile, Parker realized the symbiote’s true nature and forcefully separated himself from the venom. Left without a host and condemned by peter parker the symbiote found the closest person, who just happened to be a disgruntled Eddie Brock.

The combined hatred of the symbiote and Eddie led to the creation of one of Marvel comic’s greatest rogues, The Venom.

The notebook that Hardy is holding in the picture has three questions on it. It seems that this iteration of Eddie Brock is more of a dedicated reporter than a raging psychopath.

We already know that Riz Ahmed has been cast as Life Foundation’s Carlton Drake. The Life foundation has also been reskinned as a pharmaceutical conglomerate engaging in questionable research. He is definitely not playing Venom.

Fans have been speculating for a long time ( based on some testimony by hardy himself) that the Venom movie will follow the plot of much-celebrated mini-series ‘Venom: Lethal Protector’.

This storyline saw the advent of a conflict between the villainous Venom and the Life Foundation. Carlton Drake from the comics used Venom’s DNA to create five completely new symbiotes. These symbiotes were called ‘seeds’ by Carlton Drake and we’re supposed to be Life Foundation’s security detail.

There was Scream, a female symbiote with supersonic scream and tendrils like hair, there was Lasher, who liked beating up people by changing his form into smashing weapons. The rest of the symbiotes were Agony, Phage, and Riot, each with a separate trope. That was the initial problem with the story in the comics, none of the supporting symbiote characters fleshed out.

If Sony is planning to pursue the Venom: Lethal protector storyline then may be on the right track. In the comics, before the story arc kicks off we see Eddie Brock and Peter Parker make a deal, that they will leave each other alone as long as venom does not cause any trouble. The subsequent panels see Eddie move from New York to San Fransico and then finally get caught up with Life Foundation.

Ideally, the convention of five symbiote villains along with both Carnage and Venom may be too much content for one movie. And Sony’s best bet may be ration these characters out. (Author note: None of the symbiotes had any names in the original mini-series, it was only after the success of the comic that the characters received names a special personality trait).

Regardless, the venom movie is beginning to take shape and may yet be much wider in both scope and cast then we could have ever hoped for.

Such a development of Spiderman’s rogue gallery is an interesting choice for Sony and they may choose to flesh out any and all interesting characters that they still have rights over.

The five symbiotes may not get a chance to shine in the upcoming iteration of venom but they will have their day if the series goes any forward, especially now that both Carlton Drake and the Life Foundation are in the movie. Venom hits theatres on October 5, 2018.

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