WhenVenomhits theaters on October 5th, it will have been a long time coming. Hollywood has been trying to bring the titular Marvel Comics character to the big screen for ages, with various different iterations from a number of filmmakers having been developed and then scrapped along the way. The version that finally made it to the big screen hails from directorRuben Fleischer(Zombieland) withTom Hardyin the lead role as Eddie Brock, but given Sony Pictures’ collaboration with Marvel Studios on the Peter Parker character as played byTom Holland, thisVenommovie had to come togetherwithoutthe character’s traditional foil.
Whether it’s successful remains to be seen, but before we get to theVenommovie that does exist, I wanted to take a look back at the other attempted adaptations of this character over the years.
To go back to the beginning ofVenom’s proposed life on the big screen, you have to go back to the beginning of Spider-Man’s life on the big screen. A feature film adaptation of the webslinger was in the works for decades, withJames Cameronfamously at one point attached to direct, but it didn’t come into complete focus until 2000, when Columbia Pictures hiredSam Raimito directSpider-Manafter landing the rights to the character and comics via a deal with MGM.
But just before that deal went through, in 1997, aVenommovie was actually being developed at New Line Cinema.David S. Goyer, who at the time was coming off the screenplay forThe Crow: City of AngelsandThe Puppet Masters, had been tapped to write the script with Carnage serving as the main antagonist. Alas, that iteration went bust when Columbia Pictures/Sony obtained the rights and released Raimi’sSpider-Manto acclaim and massive box office success in 2002.
WhileSpider-Man 2brought Doc Ock into the fold as the antagonist, Venom’s big debut came in 2007’sSpider-Man 3, the much-malignedSpider-Mansequel that put an end to Raimi’s iteration of the franchise. In fact, Venom was not originally supposed to be a part of the movie. Raimi wanted Vulture to be the film’s antagonist, bringing to the screen what he saw as a very cinematic villain. While Eddie Brock was planned as being part of the movie, Raimi had no interest in introducing Venom, citing the character’s “lack of humanity.” This was unacceptable for producerAvi Arad, who pointed to Venom’s popularity throughout the 90s as proof the character was overdue to appear in the films.
Arad’s arguments won out and Raimi was essentially forced to include Venom inSpider-Man 3, but in the finished film it’s clear that Raimi’s heart isn’t in the Venom story at all.Topher Gracefilled the role of Brock/Venom, who is set up as a foil for Peter Parker throughout the movie.Spider-Man3grossed nearly $900 million after opening in May 2007, but reviews were unkind, specifically with regards to the Venom storyline.
Despite this, Arad announced aVenomspinoff in July of the same year, and that film went through a number of screenwriters includingDeadpoolscribesPaul WernickandRhett Reese. Wernick and Reese’s script was adarker, more grounded, and more realistic takeon the character, although at the time the studio was still undecided as to whether Grace would be back in the role or if they’d recast.
At the same time that thisVenomspinoff was being developed, Sony was also working on gettingSpider-Man 4off the ground.Gary Ross, a noted script doctor at the time and the filmmaker behindPleasantville, was brought in to do some work onSpider-Man 4, which Raimi hoped would course-correct the franchise. Sony sparked to Ross’ work andhired him to write and directVenomin October 2009, at which point it became clear that Grace would not be returning to the role. And whileSpider-Man 4was being prepped to begin production in 2010, Sony had also hiredJames Vanderbilt(Zodiac) to go ahead and writeSpider-Man 5andSpider-Man 6, which could potentially reboot the franchise.
Indeed, just a few months later, in January 2010, Sony announced thatSpider-Man 4was being scrappedand the franchisewas being completely rebooted. As it turns out, Vanderbilt had already been working on a script forThe Amazing Spider-Manas a “backup” while creative conversations between Raimi and Sony were not going well. Raimi and his cast walked away, and Sony set out to start theSpider-Manfranchise from scratch.
This threw a bit of a wrench into theVenomspinoff as Sony now had to focus on getting theSpider-Manfranchise off the ground again, so Ross departed to go makeThe Hunger Games. But in March 2012, a few months beforeThe Amazing Spider-Manhit theaters, it was announced thatVenomhad new life asJosh Trankentered negotiations to direct, fresh off the success of his found footage superhero movieChronicle. Trank never actually closed his deal, though, andThe Amazing Spider-Mandebuted to less enthusiastic reviews and milder box office than Sony had hoped, so once again plans forVenomwere retooled. Trank, meanwhile, moved on to Fox’s disastrousFantastic Fourreboot.
This time around, asAlex KurtzmanandRoberto OrciwroteThe Amazing Spider-Man 2and mapped out the rest of the franchise, they decided it was time for theVenommovie to finally, actually happen. In December of 2013, ahead of the May 2014 release ofAmazing Spider-Man 2, Sony Pictures announcedgrand, sweeping plansfor the future of theSpider-Manfranchise. Kurtzman, Orci, andEd Solomon(Men in Black) were announced as the writers forVenom, with Kurtzman poised to make his directorial debut on the project, while Kurtzman, Orci, andJeff Pinknerwould tackle writing duties onThe Amazing Spider-Man 3. At the same time,Drew Goddardwould write and direct aSinister Sixmovie, focusing on the villains from the franchise.
Precisely none of these movies ever happened, and theVenomfilm in this iteration never even got past a broad outline stage.The Amazing Spider-Man 2hit theaters in May and was pretty heavily savaged, not just for the storytelling but the copious stage-setting for future movies. That July, Sony delayedThe Amazing Spider-Man 3by two years and bumped upSinister Sixfor a proposed release in November 2016.
Then in November of 2014, everything changed. The Sony hack revealed that Sony executiveAmy Pascalhad been in discussions with Marvel Studios presidentKevin Feigeabout teaming up on a Spider-Man movie. The following February,the deal was announced—Marvel Studios would take the creative lead on a newSpider-Manreboot, while Sony would still pay for and distribute the movie. In exchange, this new Spider-Man would appear in a number of MCU films, includingCaptain America: Civil WarandAvengers 3and4. This meant that theAndrew Garfieldfranchise was dead, but questions loomed as to what would happen to Sony’s other non-Spider-Man characters.
Indeed, in March 2016 theVenommovie was revived once more, but this time with a major complication: Sonycould not usethe now-wildly popularTom HollandPeter Parker, as that character was being shared with Marvel Studios’ MCU franchise. Sony’sVenommovie would have to go it alone.
Sony got a big boost in talent when Tom Hardy agreed to star withZombielandandGangster Squadfilmmaker Ruben Fleischer signed to direct after a search that also includedAdam Wingard(You’re Next). And whileinitial plansforVenomwere to craft an R-rated start to a new franchise, one with a smaller budget in the vein ofLoganandDeadpool, that ultimately didn’t end up being the case—potentially so that if Marvel Studios changes its mind about a crossover down the road, the PG-13 Venom would fit right in.
At long last theVenommovie now exists, with the aim to launch its own franchise. It’s been a complicated, hit-or-miss road to this point, but hopefully for the fans this adaptation ofVenomwill have been worth the wait.
