In Venom, Tom Hardy took on the role of Eddie Brock – the man under the symbiote – but who voices Venom in both Venom: The Last Dance's release.
Tom Hardy's performance as Eddie Brock has been widely praised as a highlight of the Sony Spider-Man Movie Universe. The energy and vocal shenanigans Hardy became known for through roles like Bane in The Dark Knight Rises and Alfie Solomons in Peaky Blinders were on full display. Hardy's commitment to playing the character is what helped the first two films be so successful, and will presumably continue that success with Venom: The Last Dance, which is set to conclude the trilogy. Venom is the beating heart of the films though, and how his voice came to be is impressive.
BOTH Actors Who Voiced Venom In Sony's Movies
Alongside playing Eddie Brock, Tom Hardy also lends his voice to Venom, pulling double duty and essentially talking to himself in virtually every scene. It is definitely impressive and the way Hardy commits himself to the role is one of the reasons those films are as successful as they are. Still, Tom Hardy didn't do it himself, at least for Venom. Veteran voice actor Brad Venable was also one of the voices of Venom in the 2019 film, but was uncredited.
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His work is also what makes Venom sound different in that first film, as his voice was layered with Tom Hardy's. Brad Venable was a veteran voice actor who worked in a variety of anime, movies, and video games. Some of his most notable performances are in One Piece, Dragon Ball Super, Detective Pikachu, and Fire Emblem: Three Houses. Sadly, Brad Venable ed away in 2021, and didn't record anything for Venom: Let There Be Carnage.
How Tom Hardy Built Venom's Alternate Voice
Hardy was already famous for his quirky vocal decisions, but his inspiration for Venom's voice came from some unexpected sources, even for him. In an interview with Screen Rant, Hardy outlined the numerous "ingredients" and inspirations as Venom's voice actor: "Redman, Busta Rhymes, and James Brown as ingredients and then I played with it to create the fusion of sort of what you hear, which sounds nothing like that, but initially was like a vibe or heartbeat that I wanted to bring to it. That kind of bombastic, playful, like dark, witty, clever, you know, honest, but with a power familiar friendly sound which is palatable."
Hardy isn't a stranger to doing over-the-top vocal performances, either. His turn as Bane in The Dark Knight Rises is one of the most iconic comic book movie villain voices ever, and he itted to letting his vocal work as Venom accidentally slip into his Bane character when he lost a bit of control in his performance in a 2022 interview on BBC Radio 1.
That particular combination may not have been obvious from Hardy's Venom voiceover, but the result was nonetheless unique and effective. Hardy was assisted by a cocktail of practical effects during recording, and his voice was layered during post-production both with itself and that of the late Brad Venable. This is partly why Venom's voice in Venom had such a low resonance and gargling nature. Tom Hardy's range is beyond impressive, but even he would struggle to create Venom's bassy growls with his unaltered vocal cords alone.
Why Did Tom Hardy’s Venom Voice Change For Venom 2?
As the Venom voice actor, Tom Hardy deliberately changed Venom's voice in Venom 2: Let There Be Carnage in order to reflect the symbiote's development throughout the Venom movie's overarching plot. Though as guttural as ever, Venom in the sequel spoke with a more upbeat lilt that lacked much of the previous menace.
Venom is begrudgingly domesticated, and Hardy cleverly lets this bleed into his performance.
Hardy wanted to better match the lighter tone and weirdness of the Eddie Brock-Venom dynamic, as well as highlight the evolution of Venom's character between Venom and Let There Be Carnage. The alien symbiote has spent a significant amount of time with Eddie. No longer the menacing xeno-horror he was when he arrived on Earth in Venom, the Venom of the sequel seems to have gained some humanity by osmosis. Venom is begrudgingly domesticated, and Hardy cleverly lets this bleed into his performance.
Hardy's work as Brock and the voice of Venom undoubtedly strengthens the argument for why the MCU needs Venom. That said, on a practical level, further differences came from more extensive post-production treatment and a shortage of diverse vocal layers due to Brad Venable's ing in 2021. Even with the slight shift in sound design between movies, Tom Hardy showed his amazing vocal range by constructing an instantly recognizable voice for Venom, whether it's the monstrous alien of Venom or the antihero Lethal Protector of Venom: Let There Be Carnage.
Venom's Voice Can Keep Tom Hardy In The MCU
Curiously, while Tom Hardy's Eddie Brock is back in his own little corner of the Sony-verse, a slither of the Venom symbiote remains in the MCU - and if it's still voiced by Hardy, it could be a way to keep him in the MCU. What's more, it opens the doors for the MCU to cast a new Eddie Brock, distinguishing their Venom from Sony's.
In the wake of Morbius and Madame Web's lackluster reviews, moving Tom Hardy's Venom to the MCU after Venom: The Last Dance could prove the most effective way to keep Sony's live-action anti-hero a focal element of superhero movies.
Disney could even opt to do the Flash Thompson version of Venom, with Spider-Man MCU actor Toby Revolori, while still keeping Hardy on board for the voice of Venom in Flash's head. Including Tom Hardy in a Spider-Man movie, even just as the Venom voice, is a guaranteed ticket seller, and both Disney and Sony likely know this.
With the existence of symbiotes in the MCU, Marvel can even combine Tom Holland's Peter Parker and keep Hardy as the Venom voice actor to develop the definitive live-action version of Symbiote Spider-Man. The two-Tom combo of Holland as Peter Parker and Hardy as the Venom voice in his head would be a surefire crowd-pleaser and likely make for both incredibly dramatic and comedic moments (a necessary feat to follow up the incredibly successful Spider-Man: No Way Home).
As long-time comic book readers know, with Avengers: Secret Wars on the horizon, there's a real possibility that Marvel will surprise audiences with the MCU debut of Symbiote Spider-Man somewhere down the line. It would be a solid strategy to have Tom Hardy do the voice of Venom in the MCU once more after his Venom: Let There Be Carnage post-credits scene if this is the case.
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Venom is an action sci-fi movie that stars Tom Hardy as the titular Marvel anti-hero. When the Life Foundation begins experimenting on alien lifeforms they find on a comet that landed nearby, Investigative Journalist Eddie Brock begins to investigate them. When an infiltration goes wrong, Eddie finds that one of the aliens has bonded to him, forcing him to learn to live with his new uninvited host. Giving him superhuman powers, the two begin to work together to stop the rest of the symbiote's invasive species.
- Writers
- Scott Rosenberg, Jeff Pinkner
- Franchise(s)
- Marvel
- Studio(s)
- Columbia Pictures, Marvel Entertainment, Arad Productions
- Distributor(s)
- Sony Pictures Releasing
- Main Genre
- Superhero
-
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Venom: Let There Be Carnage
5/10- Release Date
- October 1, 2021
- Runtime
- 97 minutes
- Director
- Andy Serkis
WHERE TO WATCH
StreamingRENTBUYVenom: Let There Be Carnage, directed by Andy Serkis, follows Eddie Brock, portrayed by Tom Hardy, as he struggles to coexist with the alien symbiote Venom. The film introduces the antagonist Cletus Kasady, a serial killer transformed into the menacing Carnage after becoming host to an alien symbiote.
- Writers
- Todd McFarlane
- Franchise(s)
- Venom
- Studio(s)
- Sony
- Distributor(s)
- Sony
- Main Genre
- Adventure
-
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Venom: The Last Dance
7/10- Release Date
- October 25, 2024
- Runtime
- 110 Minutes
- Director
- Kelly Marcel
Cast
Eddie Brock / Venom
Strickland
WHERE TO WATCH
StreamingRENTBUYVenom: The Last Dance is a film directed by an undisclosed director, featuring the character Venom in a thrilling narrative. The movie explores the alien symbiote's latest challenges and transformations as it navigates through a world full of danger and new adversaries.
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