Tom Holland's Peter Parker is firmly ensconced in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, leaving the chances of Spider-Man appearing in Sony's spinoff films -- its so-called Spider-Verse -- somewhere between slim and none. However, the studio may be planning to sidestep the wall-crawler by using Tom Hardy's Venom as a unifying element.
Esquire's new profile notes that if director Ruben Fleischer's Venom, premiering in October, performs well, Hardy would of course star in the inevitable sequels. But the magazine adds that he "may well appear" in other film's in this nascent cinematic universe, of which Venom is only the beginning.
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Silver & Black, featuring Spider-Man supporting characters Silver Sable and Black Cat, was announced, but the script is undergoing rewrites. Morbius, starring Jared Leto, and films centering on the villains Mysterio and Kraven the Hunter are also said to be in the works. Sony's desire to develop spinoffs date back to at least 2007, with the introduction of Venom in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 3. However, time and again, attempts to launch a shared cinematic universe featuring the web-slinger's supporting players and enemies have been frustrated. Now, with Venom, the studio finally has its chance. Not that Hardy gives much thought to the bigger picture.
“If the odds are stacked against Sony, that’s not my fucking business,” Hardy told Esquire. “It’s irrelevant.”
Swinging into theaters on Oct. 5, Venom is directed by Ruben Fleischer and stars Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock/Venom, Michelle Williams as Anne Weying, and Riz Ahmed as Carlton Drake/Riot.