Sony moves forward on Venom

Sony still has the rights to Spiderman so it is going to do what it can to maintain those rights. This also keeps a lot of the Spiderman stories separated from what Marvel Studios is planning, but it doesn’t seem to be slowing them down much. Having the rights to Spiderman also means they get the rights to Spidey’s rogues gallery so they have their badguys for the movies, but it appears Sony is considering taking the most popular of those badguys and making his own movie. Venom.

Yahoo says:

Sony is moving forward with “Venom,” a potential “Spider-Man” spinoff based on a bad guy.

The studio is developing the project, based on the gooey nemesis who appeared in 2007’s “Spider-Man 3” and is hoping the character could serve as an antidote to the aging “Spider-Man” franchise just as Fox has used Wolverine to add longevity to its “X-Men” franchise.

Doug talked about a venom Movie before. If they did make a Venom movie I would hope that Topher Grace doesn’t play him. I like the guy enough, just NOT as this guy. Topher is supporting cast material, not tentpole star. Venom has bonded to other characters before, so maybe they will just move the storyline down handing off the symbiot to someone else.

I would presume if they are going to do a Venom movie, they are likely to introduce Carnage. The fans will love that.

However, I don’t see a lot of value to a movie based on a badguy. Venom has to show some vulnerability and redeeming qualities if he is to be accepted as a headliner in a movie. I think with seeing Venom in Spiderman3 didn’t give us enough behind the mask. Who wants to see a movie where Venom tears shit up and eats puppies. Sure, a scene or two of that has its entertainment value but where is the plot?

One of the best tips I ever got about writing bad guys is to make them NOT be evil. The best bad guys in films or comics are the ones that are just a different shade of right that take more drastic measures to accomplish their goals. The methods are what make them bad guys, but you can’t help but feel on some level they are trying to be right.

David Goyer once had a script on the table with Venom as the AntiHero and Carnage as the antagonist, but when NewLine lost the rights to Venom Sony took over and the project was shelved. Could they be bringing this idea back? They are looking for writers now. Perhaps he should apply.

I don’t want to see a story where Venom is the badguy unless it is a Spiderman movie with Spidey, Carnage and Venom. No one else.

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28 thoughts on “Sony moves forward on Venom

  1. I normally like Topher Grace, but he just sucked as Venom. They shoulda just had Sandman as the villian, he’s the best thing about the movie. The film itself was overall a disappointment, but not so much that it sucked. I overall enjoyed it. Venom, I didn’t enjoy.

    (And I don’t think a lot of others did either)

  2. Rodney
    i think he meant the 3 spiderman films not the future potential sequels to the venom movie

    btw i just LOVED all the spidermans, 1, 2 and 3 (fuck YEAH #3 that was the best one biach)

    i loved the 1st, loved the 2nd and the 3rd was orgasmic idk what people are talking about

    btw i get it now. there can only be one reason there getting so many bad guy movies (only magneto and venom) they need bad guys for the avengers..makes sense….and i bet abomination will be on it too….oh please let that be it that would be SO COOL. just a thought people

    maybe even leave some guys from x-men origins alive so theyll be bad in it too…deadpool for instance….

  3. Nixon, how can you presume it will suck for another 3 movies?

    That makes no sense at all. THe studios can make a bad movie, but they tend to do something different when a movie flops and they still want to continue the franchise.

    The likely hood of getting to three movies that suck doesn’t make sense because if it fails twice there likely won’t be a third.

  4. Personally. I would love a Venom movie. He is my favourite comic character. I love his brutality. His vengeful nature. And his ability to kick major ass. And, I can totally see Venom as an Anti-hero battling his arch-nemesis, Carnage.

    But, Venom just isn’t Venom without Eddie Brock. And, other than Spidey and Brock, it’s only bonded to Angello Fortuno (Who was so pathetic that the symbiote actually let him plummet to his death), Ann Weyying (Eddie’s ex-wife who was so traumatized that she later killed herself after seeing Spidey wear a black costume), and Mac Gargan (Originally a third-tier villain named “Scorpion. And, according to Spider-man himself, “A loser in a Venom outfit is still a loser:)

    So, I believe that they should just make this a standalone film, keep the Spidey references to a bare minimum, and recast Eddie Brock as someone who could actually kick our asses in real life.

  5. My bad, I did not know there were other people who became Venom.

    Although, I’m guessing the studio might not go that way since there are more people like me who think Eddie was the only one.

  6. If you read the comic you would see that Eddie isnt venom. The symbiot is Venom.

    I agree that they hurt Venom in spidey3 but only as far as Eddie Brock being venom.

    Brock was not the only Venom

  7. this is the worst fucking idea ever

    they already fucked up venom- you cant make a spinoff like x-men are making a magneto film…eddie is DEAD!

    he didnt look THAT bad in the movie but looks like people hated him- so get over it! make sure you get carnage right this time dont stay back on venom, dumbasses!

    this would be a genious idea if venom werent dead on the movie…..

    maybe they want to keep venom alive so that he can be a bad guy in the avengers. thats why i think they kept abomination alive in the hulk…and thats why there making a magneto film..so that hed be a villain in it..maybe…

    idk im trying to make sense of this still

  8. It’s not that they killed (or didn’t) Venom and Eddie Brock that’s the issue to me. It’s that they completely killed any potential the character had on screen.

    I really think they’re much better off just re-starting the character as if Spider-man 3 never happened (i mean, that’s a world we all want to live in right?).

  9. A Stand alone Venom film would be a fucking disaster. Venom was not developed enough in Spider-Man 3. Moviegoers are not going to get it the way comic geeks will. Topher Grace unfortunately would probably be brought back to keep this stand alone crap in continuity with Spider-Man. That is just marketing people! I don’t see it happening otherwise. To be honest I REALLY don’t want it to happen.

  10. Indeed. At the end of Spider-Man 3, there are at least two ways of bringing Venom back. One is the small piece from Connor’s lab. The other? If Venom had brief contact with Sandman, could he sample some of Sandman’s abilities, life ‘re-form’?

    I don’t want Spider-Man appearing in a Venom spinoff (other than a three second cameo at best) but I will accept Carnage…and I prefer The Scorpion in a Spidey film not a Venom one.

    BTW, I don’t want to see a Venom spinoff film I think a better bet would be a loose Sandman spinoff…having his redemption by joining up with Silver Sable’s Wild Pack.

    I guess I could live with a solo Swarm film (as a sci-fi horror film) or without question a Morbius flick…

    But what do I know. I’m not throwing @$$ loads of money on a character that doesn’t even warrant a movie of his own (Venom) and I wish you all lots of luck.

  11. Topher Grace is a fine actor, and I’m sure that given the right role he could carry a movie as the lead.

    He just sucks ass as Eddie Brock. When I think about Brock, I think of a giant body builder-fucking-kick-the-shit-out-of-anyone kind of guy. Skinny little Topher just doesn’t cut it. What a fucking mistake.

  12. Well Venom does have his own very successful comic spin-off, so if that could work, a movie spin-off can as well.

    And Topher Grace will not be returning to the role. The original article goes on to say that the company pretty much has the exact same thoughts as you: He’s a good supporting actor but they don’t think he can carry a film. Still no word though if Eddie Brock, the character, will return, or if the black symbiote finds an all-new person.

    Either way, Topher Grace isn’t returning.

  13. > The best bad guys in films or comics are the ones that are just a different shade of right that take more drastic measures to accomplish their goals.

    Unless the bad guy is played by Alan Rickman. Then they can be as evil as they want and still be likeable.

    Though I don’t think he could pull off Venom.

  14. I am sure Marvel doesn’t mind other studios handing their franchises for now. Its not like Marvel doesn’t make money from those films. They do!

    And they didn’t kill venom in a way that hasn’t been averted by comic book scripts before. They can bring back the symbiot on someone else’s meatsack anytime they want.

    Venom is likely the only member of Spideys antifanclub that would stand alone as a film. I just dont see any of the other characters being strong enough to do it on their own.

  15. Sorry Rodney. For some reason posts always say “by [email protected] (John Campea)” on my Google Feed Reader.

    Anyways, Marvel is really wising they had worded that contract differently. Hopefully this doesnt lead to a Doc Ock or Uncle Ben prequel. Hell, they killed Venom and are bringing him back, so why not a straight up Ock spin-off? Or a Sinister Six with all undead zombie enemies?

    I assume Fox’s X-Men deal is the same even though it seems that they have to use Wolverine in every movie to keep all of the X-Men. Marvel may never get their A List back.

  16. Make a spiderman and venom team up against carnage movie. But you have to throw out the comic script and start over with simply the idea of these trhee existing in one movie, get a good writer to write it, rewrite it and make it a kick ass movie that strectches the pg-13 limits.
    This wont happen, but it should.

  17. First off, John didnt write this. I did. Rodney

    Secondly, part of the Spidey deal – as far as I know – was that they had the rights to do whatever they wanted with Spiderman and the specific Spidey villians (pretty much the sinister seven)

    I might be wrong, but I think being part of the same deal and the rights to all those characters, Spiderman doesn’t even have to show up. They have the rights to them all.

  18. John,

    Do you know how these rights issues work? If Sony was to make a string of Vulture, Beetle, and Rhino movies for example, do they get to keep the Spider-Man license indefinitely even if Spider-Man never showed up?

  19. I do sort of agree. If they want to feature Carnage, it should be in a Spiderman movie because the Spiderman comics are where the character originated.

    I would however love to see a Venom movie where Venom fights some other bad guy and where Spiderman makes a cameo. That would be sweet.

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