During production on Spider-Man 3, Sony began developing a spin-off centered around Topher Grace’s Venom. However, when the threequel hit theaters and fans almost universally despised its portrayal of Venom (and, Venom movie finally got made with Tom Hardy playing the role of symbiote-infused journalist Eddie Brock.
Critics hated the movie, but based on its $856 million worldwide box office haul, audiences were the sequel’s highly anticipated release, fascinating details about the divisive movie have come to light.
Venom Was In Development Since The ‘90s
Producer Avi Arad started trying to get a Venom movie made in the ‘90s after noticing how well action figures of the character were selling. When Sam Raimi was working on Spider-Man 3, Arad forced him to include Venom, despite the fact that the movie was already overstuffed and Raimi had no interest in the character, for the sole purpose of setting up a spin-off.
Of course, this backfired when fans hated Spider-Man 3’s Venom and the spin-off was called off. Arad later developed a Venom movie as a spin-off from The Amazing Spider-Man franchise, but that got canceled when Spidey ed the MCU. Finally, Arad got to make a Venom movie as its own thing in 2018.
Tom Hardy Based His Performance On Woody Allen, Conor McGregor, And Redman
When Venom hit theaters, one of the first things that fans noticed was that Tom Hardy’s performance as Eddie Brock was very eccentric. That’s because it’s a combination of vastly different influences.
Hardy based his portrayal of Eddie on a mixture of the comic neurosis of filmmaker Woody Allen, the violent capabilities of martial artist Conor McGregor, and the zany persona of rapper Redman.
Ruben Fleischer Wanted To Direct A Superhero Movie Since Seeing Tim Burton’s Batman
Ruben Fleischer jumped at Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman movie.
Before Fleischer was hired, the producers considered You’re Next’s Adam Wingard and We’re the Millers’ Rawson Marshall Thurber for the director’s chair.
The Lobsters Had To Be Replaced With Plastic Ones
The scene in which Eddie goes to a fancy restaurant and climbs into the water tank with the lobsters almost cost Venom its “No animals were harmed...” disclaimer.
When Tom Hardy decided that he was going to climb into the tank in the middle of the scene (one of the actor’s many wild, off-the-cuff improvisations from the movie), the lobsters had to be replaced with plastic ones to avoid any accidental deaths or injuries.
Pedro Pascal And Matt Smith Were Considered To Play Carlton Drake
When the producers of Venom were casting the roles in the movie, Pedro Pascal, Matt Smith, and Matthias Schoenaerts were considered for the villainous role of Carlton Drake. In the end, Four Lions star Riz Ahmed clinched the part.
Tom Hardy Recorded Venom’s Lines Before Filming
Tom Hardy provided the voice of Venom in addition to playing Eddie Brock in live-action. He recorded all of his lines as Venom before shooting began.
This meant that Venom’s lines could be played to him through an earpiece when he was performing Eddie’s scenes opposite Venom. Hardy previously used this technique to play the Kray twins in the movie Legend.
The Opening Scene Was Originally Much Longer
The final cut of Venom opens with the Life Foundation shuttle crashing in Malaysia and the symbiote samples being found inside. In the original script, this opening sequence was much longer.
We would’ve seen the shuttle’s crew, including John Jameson, discovering a comet filled with symbiotes and collecting four of them as samples to take back to Earth.
Michelle Williams Signed On For The Chance To Work With Tom Hardy
Michelle Williams has said that one of the main reasons why she signed on to appear in Venom was the chance to work with Tom Hardy, of whom she’s a big fan.
After the movie came out and the cat was out of the bag that Anne became She-Venom during one pivotal scene, Williams was free to confide that that was another reason why she signed on.
The Symbiotes’ Planet Could’ve Appeared On-Screen
According to director Ruben Fleischer, Venom originally featured a scene that would take place on the symbiotes’ home planet. However, the scene was cut from the final version.
Maybe we’ll get to see the symbiotes’ planet in a sequel.
Tom Hardy Played Venom Because His Son Is A Huge Fan
Tom Hardy took the lead role in Venom because his son, Louis Hardy, is a huge fan of the character. Since Hardy usually appears in violent, adult-oriented movies, he wanted to star in a movie that his son could watch, so he decided to compromise with a PG-13 movie in which he bites people’s heads off.
The older Hardy was not very familiar with the Venom character, so his son had to coach him on how to faithfully bring Eddie Brock to the screen.
