Does An Agent Venom Movie Work Without Flash Thompson?

For years, Sony has been trying and failing to get a solo Venom movie off the ground, either through introducing the character in previous Spider-Man Cinematic Universes, or simply developing solo films with no buildup. Thanks to the shared custody deal with Marvel Studios, the company is now on its to a third try, and it looks like it'll finally be the charm -- the film for everyone's favorite Symbiote character is actually a thing that'll be arriving late next year, with Tom Hardy in the lead role.

A big question that's been hovering over this film from the first announcement is how you make a story about Eddie Brock work without Spider-Man. Now, it seems that we've got our answer as recent set photos indicate that the movie will involve components of the character's recent Marvel Comics incarnation: Agent Venom.

Eddie Brock may be the longest running character to be called Venom, but he isn't the only one. Many have held the mantle, from the Scorpion to the son of a crime lord. (Neither of these ended well for either Symbiote wearer.) The most important, though, is Flash Thompson, aka Agent Venom. Despite the similar names, Agent Venom isn't a man who hates both Spider-Man and Peter Parker; he's the high school bully, and later good friend of Peter, and is the Marvel Universe's #1 Spidey fan.

Inspired by the heroic actions of the wall-crawler, Flash enlisted in the military, which eventually led to an injury that resulted in his legs being amputated below the knees. Later on, the military gets him the Venom Symbiote, allowing him to walk again and take on the moniker of Agent Venom while performing missions in the name of honor and duty. Flash and the Symbiote wound up having a rather eventful tenure together as Venom, becoming both an Avenger and Guardian of the Galaxy, a Space Knight, and managing to "heal" the Symbiote so it could regain its true, non-villainous nature. (Look, it's comics, just go with it.) It wasn't until last year that Flash lost the Symbiote, who then found its way back to Eddie, and thus, Venom became whole again.

Tom Hardy playing Eddie Brock and decked out in military gear is a heavy tease that elements of Flash's backstory will be transferred to the actor's character. That, in all honesty, isn't exactly abnormal in superhero media these days -- in fact, it's part of how legacy characters are updated for a modern time. Spider-Man Homecoming, for example, borrowed elements of Miles Morales' backstory to give to its young Peter Parker, right down to his best friend Ned (long theorized to be a version of Mile's friend Gangke), while Young Justice's Dick Grayson took his bo staff and technological genius from Tim Drake's Robin. Likewise, longtime Flash fans have noticed that Barry Allen has been borrowing Wally West's mannerisms and general shtick for quite some time.

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While it may make sense to Sony to mix and match different iterations of the Venom character, the studio has to be careful. Eddie and Flash aren't just different characters on a visual level; they have completely different narrative and emotional paths, both of which are on opposite ends of the Spider-Man spectrum. Brock's Venom is largely defined by his complete and utter hatred for the webhead. He sees him as the source of his life going to hell, from originally blaming Spidey for losing his job, to the cancer that eventually ravaged Eddie's body. As other writers have pointed out, their relationship is a rather twisted one that neither can ever truly escape, even though they've both matured in the years between their last breakup and recent separation.

The yin (well, relative yin) to Brock Venom's yang is Flash's Agent Venom. His feelings for Spidey were pure hero worship, gladly imitating him even though his legs were already seriously injured. To Flash, the idea of hurting Spider-Man was blasphemy, and the only times that he's actually fought his hero were in situations that weren't exactly ideal for him -- once, when Otto Octavius was piloting Peter's body, and a second time actually saw him fight Miles Morales for not being Peter. His and the Symbiote's stories are intertwined as ones of redemption; Flash getting a second chance at serving his country and being a hero like the man he idolized in his youth, and the Symbiote being bonded to someone who is not a complete psychopath for the first time in decades. Taking Agent Venom to space as a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy (which cannot happen under Sony and Marvel's current deal) was the equivalent of traveling to another country or city after being dumped and finding yourself a new lover. Doing so reoriented the Symbiote and put it on a path that, even though it's now reunited with Eddie, offers up new possibilities that were previously unavailable.

The different types of stories you have with the two most distinct Venoms -- one of hatred and revenge, another of love and redemption -- are why legacy characters exist in the first place, a legacy Sony simply doesn't have to build from. Even if you want to justify this as being a wholly new continuity, which allows for the ability to do whatever the writers please, combining Eddie and Flash's stories creates a scenario where a snake is just eating its own tail. It simply isn't an ideal situation. More problematically, it creates a rather awkward scenario for the MCU's version of Flash Thompson, currently played by Tony Revolori. That Flash is still a ways off from joining the military, but there will be a time when the character has to grow, and by taking a core component of his future character away from him, Sony may have unintentionally stunted the character's potential.

Sony and Marvel's shared custody of the Spider-Man universes has both its advantages and drawbacks. This method of combining elements of newer characters to use with the more well-established ones is understandable, but also runs the risk of damaging the potential futures of the younger characters when they eventually grow into their own. Just jacking someone else's backstory isn't as great a solution as it may seem, as there as some characters who are fundamentally tied to those elements. Whether Sony wants to admit this or not, Venom is certainly one of them.

Directed by Ruben Fleischer from a script by Jeff Pinkner and Scott Rosenberg, Venom stars Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock/Venom. Jenny Slate, Michelle Williams and Riz Ahmed will also star in the film, though their current roles are unknown. The film is targeted for release on Oct. 5, 2018.