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Tom Hardy has landed the role of Venom in Sony’s Spider-Man off shoot, which is set to arrive in theaters in October, 2018. THR reports that the actor has landed the central role in what sounds like it will be a dark, gritty movie, with Ruben Fleischer set to direct. Hardy was Oscar nominated for his role in The Revenant, and is soon set to star in Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk. Meanwhile, Fleischer has pedigree in the horror genre, having directed Sony’s comedy horror, Zombieland and, most recently, The Santa Clarita Diet over on Netflix, a show that became renowned for its graphic gore.
Venom has long been a staple of Marvel‘s villain roster, and fans are eager to see him in a standalone movie. The character is an alien form that must have a human host for survival (which is where Hardy comes in as Eddie Brock). The alien gives its host incredible powers, leading to some truly terrifying events. In fact, given Venom’s history, and Fleischer being attached as a director, we could well be looking at an R-rated movie.
Tom Hardy is Eddie Brock in #Venom, the upcoming film from Sony’s Marvel Universe releasing October 5, 2018 – production starts this fall. pic.twitter.com/OZQqDEvoum
— Sony Pictures (@SonyPictures) May 19, 2017
Hardy has already played a comic book villain, when he took the role of Bane, in The Dark Knight Rises, but this will be his first time leading a comic book movie. Sony have been keen to get their own comic universe going based off of Spider-Man, for quite some time, and the confirmation of Hardy and Fleischer’s involvement is a huge step in the right direction. Many assumed the October release date set by Sony was ambitious with no star and director announced, but now it seems as though a Venom movie could be a very dark, and terrifying, reality.
With Spider-Man rights set to return to Sony at the end of Marvel‘s Avengers 4, could we be looking at a future where the two Tom’s (Holland and Hardy) face-off against one another? Possibly, but Marvel could well try to keep Spidey on their side, of course. Either way, the casting of Hardy is an exciting announcement, and the future of Venom in a Sony, Spider-Man based universe, is bright.
Venom will be released on October 5th, 2018
Featured Image: 20th Century Fox
