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What on Earth is going on with Sony's Venom movie?

Photo credit: Sony
Photo credit: Sony

From Digital Spy

It feels like Sony has been on a mission to surprise us. First, out of the blue, it announced a movie starring Spider-Man villain Venom – one that will apparently not feature the web-slinger himself.

Then followed the revelation that Silver & Black, a film starring Spider-Man allies/antagonists Black Cat and Silver Sable was also in development.

But who are these characters? And how will the films fit into Sony's new, Tom Holland-starring, MCU-centric world?

What is going on?

The short answer seems to be: no one knows.

And by that, we don't just mean that we are in the dark. We're including Holland himself, as well as his Spider-Man: Homecoming director Jon Watts. Holland didn't even know that the Black Cat/Silver Sable film was in the works until he was told during an interview with MTV.

Early reports were clear on there being no relation to the newly-rebooted Spider-Man whatsoever.

"It's not connected to the Marvel world, so that's really intriguing... what that will be," Watts told Fandango. "I don't know anything about it. It's not connected, so there's not that overlap." "Intriguing" is right, Jon.

Kevin Feige also confirmed that it's not part of the MCU and there's "no plans to include [Venom] in the MCU right now."

But then we have producer Amy Pascal claiming the movies "are all playing in the world we are creating for Peter Parker".

The pair eventually came together to clarify that while the characters will not show up in the MCU, their stories are still set "in the same reality". We think that by this they mean that the characters are operating in a world where Spider-Man exists. Holland won't be showing up in Venom, but Pascal and Feige said that the pair could cross paths... eventually.

Multiple Spider-Man: Homecoming sequels are being considered, but the series apparently has only a limited shelf life in the MCU, and could completely part ways with Marvel Studios' cinematic universe after Holland's second solo film (or perhaps the end of a trilogy). Perhaps after that, Holland's world will dove-tail with the spin-offs.

What's happening with Venom?

Photo credit: Marvel
Photo credit: Marvel

Venom is essentially the anti-Spider-Man, possessing all his nemesis's regular powers (only better) plus some alien shapeshifting abilities and (in some versions) a hunger for human brains.

The character started out as Eddie Brock, a frustrated reporter who bonded with the black alien suit (called a 'symbiote') that Spider-Man had rejected after he realised that it was affecting his behaviour, and not in a positive, making-him-friendlier-and-more-caring sort of way.

Those of us who have had the misfortune to watch the Tobey Maguire-starring Spider-Man 3 in 2007 will remember Topher Grace taking on the Venom/Brock role, which got the basic origin right if nothing else.

Tom Hardy has signed on to star as Venom/Brock, with established Spider-Man producers Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach on board alongside Zombieland director Ruben Fleischer. Fifty Shades of Grey screenwriter Kelly Marcel has now also been added to the roster. October 5, 2018, has been earmarked as a release date, so Sony are going to have to get a move on.

He will be facing off against another symbiote, the serial killer Carnage, with the film drawing from classic horror directors like John Carpenter and David Cronenberg.

There are also rumours that a female symbiote, in the comics known as She-Venom or 'The Bride of Venom' might be appearing. She's the alter-ego of Ann Weying who in the comic is a successful lawyer and Brock's ex-wife, with That Hashtag Show reporting that the filmmakers are looking for an actress between the ages of 25 and 32 to play the character.

Michelle Williams, Jenny Slate, Riz Ahmed and Reid Scott have all been reported to be in talks for the movie.

What's happening with Silver & Black?

Photo credit: Marvel Comics
Photo credit: Marvel Comics

Black Cat is Felicia Hardy, a kind of less-villainous version of Catwoman with "probability field manipulation" powers and a sometimes flirtatious, sometimes antagonistic relationship to Spider-Man. Felicity Jones briefly played her in Amazing Spider-Man 2, but her chances of returning don't look good.

Silver Sable is the lesser-known of the two. She is a mercenary and hunter of war criminals from the Eastern European country Symkaria (probably a neighbour of Sokovia) whose real name is – naturally – Silver Sablinova. Her relationship to Spider-Man is similar to Black Cat's, including the obligatory flirting.

Silver & Black has signed African-American director Gina Prince-Bythewood (Beyond The Lights), who also directed the first episode of Marvel Studios' new show Cloak and Dagger. Tomach and Pascal are producing, with a script from comics and movie writer Chris Yost and Westworld co-creator Lisa Joy. Stars and release date are yet to be revealed.

Photo credit: C Flanigan / FilmMagic / Getty Images
Photo credit: C Flanigan / FilmMagic / Getty Images

"I wanted to tell the story of two damaged women who are at war with each other but need each other to survive," Prince-Bythewood told Variety.

"Superhero movies have now transcended [the point] where they're no longer superhero movies per se; they are essentially genre movies. It's not so much that characters have a cape and fly. In Silver & Black, these two women are modern and cool... They may wear costumes, but [they're] very real and very grounded."

Films starring Spider-Man villains Kraven the Hunter and Mysterio are also rumoured to be in development.

Interestingly, Venom has technically been in development since before the Andrew Garfield-starring Amazing Spider-Man franchise imploded. A female-led film was also announced back in 2014, and Silver & Black is presumably an offshoot of that.

It will be released on February 8, 2019.

What problems might Sony face?

The greatest problem facing Sony will be establishing a shared universe based on Spider-Man villains and supporting characters if Spider-Man turns out to not be at its centre. Venom especially has always existed as a sort of evil version of Peter Parker, and it isn't clear exactly what the character would be without that comparison to draw on.

It can't help but beg the question: What is the point of a Spider-Man spin-off universe that has nothing to do with Spider-Man?

Venom also has to overcome the bad press of Spider-Man 3, with which he is intrinsically associated. His solo film will have to knock it out of the park if it wants us to forget that previous mistake and embrace the new take on the character. The character is inherently neither funny nor down-to-earth gritty, so finding success is unlikely to be as easy as simply imitating the success of Fox's recent smashes Deadpool and Logan.

How can they fix them?

Photo credit: 20th Century Fox
Photo credit: 20th Century Fox

Comedy and grit may not be the way to go, but there are still other avenues to explore. Venom may already be moving in the right direction, with rumours of an R-rated, horror-themed take on the property. The idea of being possessed and transformed by an evil alien presence is, after all, inherently horrific.

And Deadpool and Logan do represent the possibility for superhero movies to succeed with only minor connections to their parent franchise. Fox had the benefit of essentially developing these films for years in one way or another, so Sony will have their work cut out for them. But success is not impossible.

It is also interesting to note that, ahead of the first screenings of Ryan Reynolds and Jake Gyllenhaal-starring science fiction horror Life, there was a theory that it could turn out to be a surprise Venom prequel.

That didn't happen, but it did raise the idea of novel and interesting ways to explore the origin of Venom and the other characters. We've seen plenty of bog-standard superhero/supervillain origins in 21st century cinema. An unexpected approach would do much to make this Spider-Man-less Spider-Man universe a worthwhile venture.

What does the future hold?

Photo credit: Sony Pictures / Marvel Studios
Photo credit: Sony Pictures / Marvel Studios

The third Spider-Man spin-off that never officially went away was the Sinister Six film, a supervillainous team which Sony was clearly preparing for with Amazing Spider-Man 2's multiple antagonists.

It's a fair bet to assume that the disconnect between Tom Holland's Spider-Man and the rest of these films was Marvel-mandated after the agreement to make him part of the MCU. But if Spider-Man is destined to move away from the MCU after the Homecoming sequels (the second part of the trilogy is scheduled for 2019), then there might be a chance of bringing him back under the same umbrella after that. He might not be much use in establishing the world of Venom et al, but he would then be able to help bolster it further down the line.

The alternative would be to recast Spider-Man (again), which would make that Sony's third time to do so in the space of a decade. That's not an option that will win much confidence from fans.

There will be a lot of hard work in Sony's superhero-related future, but if they're up to the challenge, they could just pull it off.


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