Sony had lofty plans for its ‘Spider-Man’ franchise. Before ‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2’ came out and underperformed in 2014, the studio planned to build an entire shared universe around the wall-crawler with separate movies featuring Venom, the Sinister Six and an unrevealed female character, believed to be Gwen Stacy/Spider-Gwen.
But then ‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2’ happened and Sony had to scrap all its plans, even a third ‘Spider-Man’ with Andrew Garfield in the lead. Instead, they negotiated a deal with Marvel Studios to integrate the character of Spider-Man into their movies with a new actor in the role — Tom Holland, who is believed to be debuting in ‘Captain America: Civil War‘ in May. This would lead to a new series of solo ‘Spidey’ movies produced by Sony but set within the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Now it appears as if Sony is attempting to move forward with additional spin-off movies, specifically ‘Venom’. Sony has tapped Dante Harper to pen a script, with Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach producing. Harper previously contributed to the Tom Cruise movie ‘Edge of Tomorrow’ and ‘Sleepless Night’ starring Jamie Foxx. In the past, Gary Ross and Josh Trank have been attached to direct a ‘Venom’ movie, but have all moved on. Among the writers attached are Paul Wernick (‘Deadpool’), Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci (‘Star Trek’).
Topher Grace portrayed Venom/Eddie Brock in the Sam Raimi-directed ‘Spider-Man 3’ in 2007. In the comics, Brock was a rival of Peter Parker’s who became his super powered antithesis. But in recent comics, the Venom symbiote has bonded with Flash Thompson, a soldier who lost his legs in the line of duty in Iraq and uses the Venom symbiote to replace them. Comic writer Robbie Thompson has collaborated with the Wounded Warrior Project, a nonprofit that assists real service persons who have been injured in the line of duty.
It is unclear which version of Venom Sony will focus on in the movie but the studio is hoping that this movie leads to a separate franchise.
What do you think? Can Venom sustain his own film franchise? Would you prefer Eddie Brock or Flash Thompson in the role?
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
