Is Venom Taking Inspiration from Ultimate Spider-Man?

This October, a new kind of movie monster will hit the big-screen. Only this time, this monster might just turn out to be an anti-hero. Yes, the Venom solo movie is finally happening, and it's coming very soon. The movie's first teaser trailer was released just this week and what it lacked in comic book action, it made up for in mood and character development. The trailer was a small character-centric piece that focused on a pre-symbiote Eddie Brock, played by Tom Hardy. It was a simple introduction to the story's direction, one that didn't even give us one glimpse of Venom.

While some may have felt letdown by this trailer, there were still many revelations that came out of it, if one were to look hard enough to find. After analyzing the clues left for us, CBR was able to surmise that there is a strong possibility that Eddie Brock will have cancer in the film, like the modern iteration of the character in the comic books. It's an important aspect of the character's story, and one of the sources of the strong bond between the man and the alien symbiote.

Now that we know a little more about the movie's general direction however, now that we have learned all we could from the short teaser, we wonder if Venom could also be looking at the Ultimate Spider-Man comic book series for inspiration.

It has already been confirmed that the movie will take inspiration from the Venom: Lethal Protector comic series as well as the "Planet of the Symbiotes" crossover from Amazing Spider-Man. But despite that, the teaser managed to keep the veil of the movie's secrecy firmly in place. We only caught a brief glimpse of the actual symbiote being kept safe in a containment contraption, in front of a team of scientists. Is it possible then than there is a third comic book inspiration at play here? Could it be that the Ultimate Universe has fueled part of the movie's story?

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Writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Mark Bagley's Ultimate Spider-Man series took place in the Ultimate Universe, a separate reality from the regular Marvel U -- one that explored Spider-Man's origins and famous stories in a streamlined fashion and in a much more modern world. It touched upon major story-beats from the Spider-Man mythos, but with fresh new twists and contemporary departures. One of the biggest differences between the regular Marvel U and the Ultimate title was that the Venom symbiote, which was originally a parasitic alien creature, was instead re-imagined as a next-level cure for cancer. In this universe, the symbiote was based in science -- it was a bio-suit, designed to heal its wearer from all manner of diseases.

This suit was actually created by a duo of scientists: Eddie Brock Sr. and Richard Parker, father of Peter Parker, aka Spider-Man. The suit became the source of a secret corporate war, before finding a host in both Peter, and Eddie Jr. While we don't expect the movie to follow the exact details of this Ultimate storyline, it does make us wonder if the movie might at least take some cues from it. After all, this wouldn't be the first time, considering that the Ultimate Universe served as a partial basis for many of Marvel's movies, from The Ultimates (the Ultimate Universe's version of the Avengers) to the X-Men.

In the case of the Venom film, we could be looking at the movie adapting the basis of Ultimate Venom to the screen. Since we know very little of the actual story of the film, it's entirely possible that the symbiote may not turn out to be alien in nature, as everyone has assumed. Since we do know that there will be a heavy corporate presence in the form of the dubious Life Foundation, perhaps the company is in the business of developing the next big pharmaceutical cure and potential weapon. If Eddie Brock's cancer is a catalyst in the film, this could be what brings him in the vicinity of the symbiote, and how the two become bonded.

This could even open the door for a potential tie-in to the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Spider-Man. While there have been no confirmation whether the movie takes place inside or outside of the MCU, a recent report claimed that actor Tom Holland had been spotted briefly on the set of Venom. This in turn sparked theories that maybe Holland had some role to play in the film, however small. Well, if Eddie Brock, in his symbiote investigation, stumbles onto files or documents that would pinpoint its two creators, it could propel him to seek out Thomas Parker, only to find his son, Peter. The two of them would then be in each other's respective paths, for better, or much, much worse.

Directed by Ruben Fleischer from a script by Jeff Pinkner and Scott Rosenberg, Venom stars Tom Hardy, Jenny Slate, Michelle Williams and Riz Ahmed. The film arrives Oct. 5, 2018.