Tom Hardy just can’t catch a break on the set of Venom.
Filming has been rolling along on the Sony/Marvel movie for a couple months, and the latest look at the set shows Hardy and actor Scott Haze shooting what could be a key scene in the film.
Much like the previous photos and video that have come out from production, Hardy’s character, Eddie Brock, appears to struggle for control of his own body as Haze’s yet-unnamed character hovers over him. All the while, a third, mysterious figure looks on as Haze’s character taunts Brock. Some fans have speculated that this could potentially mean that Brock is being overtaken by the alien symbiote that turns him into Venom in this scene.
Take a look:
The first official photo from the film was released in early January, showing Brock with his reporter’s notebook. The text in Brock’s notebook hints heavily that the shadowy Life Foundation will be a major antagonist in the film, which would fit in with the classic comic-book storyline Lethal Protector.
Hardy and director Ruben Fleischer confirmed in a video to fans that the Lethal Protector comic, as well as the Planet of the Symbiotes arc, will be the major inspirations for the Venom film.
That leads us to the next juicy rumor about the film.
While appearing on the Collider Movie Talk podcast, film producer and director Jon Schnepp said that contrary to previous reports, Tom Holland’s Spider-Man will make a cameo in the movie: “Spider-Man is going to be in Venom,” Schnepp said. “For the last couple of months, we’ve been hearing how Sony is keeping it all separated, and Spider-Man is in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but every other character that’s in the Spider-Man Universe is separate. All I’m saying is that Spider-Man—and I’m talking about Tom Holland’s Spider-Man—is going to be in Venom.”
While this obviously should be taken with a chunky grain of salt, the appearance of Spider-Man isn’t as far-fetched when you take a look at the original Venom: Lethal Protector comic.
In that storyline, Spider-Man and Venom come to an agreement that they’ll stay out of each other’s business, as long as Venom stops committing crimes. After that, Venom picks up and moves to San Francisco—where, perhaps not coincidentally, the Venom movie is doing some filming—and eventually Spider-Man heads to the West Coast to help Venom take on the villainous symbiote creations of the Life Foundation: Scream, Phage, Riot, Lasher, and Agony.
While it’s unlikely that Spider-Man will have a major role in the film, the story of Lethal Protector gives the Venom movie plenty of chances to bring Peter Parker in for a cameo. Again, this should be taken with a grain of salt, but Schnepp has some pretty good fanboy cred after directing the documentary film The Death of “Superman Lives”: What Happened?, so this could end up happening.
Oh, and just one more bit of major speculation about Venom that every comic fan has been wondering about since the film was announced: Will the villain Carnage appear in the movie, too? Some fans got very excited after Hardy posted—and then deleted—a piece of fan art on his official Instagram account showing Hardy, Venom, and the Carnage character.
Again, there’s no confirmation that this post revealed anything about the film, or if Hardy took it down so there wouldn’t be confusion for fans. Nonetheless, it’s pretty fun to think about. Here’s a look at the deleted post:
Finally, in non-Venom but Hardy-related news, the actor, who has long been known as a dog lover, helped get the word out about some abandoned puppies that were found in Victoria Park. Hardy put up a photo of the pups on Instagram:
