It’s here – our first look at Venom.
Well, sort of… but it’s not as interesting as you might expect.
A new image of Tom Hardy from the upcoming Venom movie has been unveiled over at IGN… but to be honest, it just looks like Tom Hardy is playing, well… Tom Hardy. Yeah.
“Details about the movie have been kept top secret, with a closed set and only a few behind-the-scenes images,” they explain. “That’s why IGN is thrilled to offer this exclusive first official still from the movie, which shows Tom Hardy as main character Eddie Brock in the upcoming film.”
Take a look for yourself in the image below:
Not exactly stretching the imagination, is it?
Venom was first introduced in the comic books in The Amazing Spider-Man #300 back in 1988. Originally conceived as a supervillain, the Venom symbiote eventually bonded with disgraced journalist, Eddie Brock. Notably, Brock is a powerhouse, with bulky shoulders and a real presence… but Tom Hardy’s version looks fairly average.
At least, in his human form.
Presumably, the notebook and pen shows us Eddie Brock on the job as a journalist, so it looks as though Venom will be sticking with some of the character’s comic book origins. Quite how the symbiote comes to bond with Eddie Brock remains to be seen… but this seemingly innocuous image is a lot more than metts the eye. In fact, it hides some big hints about what to expect from the Venom movie.
And it’s all in the notebook.
Three entries, handwritten in Brock’s notebook, shed some light on the upcoming film.
The First – “So how exactly does the Life Foundation go about testing its pharmaceuticals?” Clearly, this is setting up the Life Foundation as the primary antagonist in Venom… and the subject of Brock’s investigation. And it could be at the Life Foundation where Eddie Brock ends up bonding with the mysterious symbiote… especially if he ends up snooping around under the cover of darkness.
Of course, the Life Foundation also exists in the comic books – a shadowy survivalist group which believes the end of the world is coming. And they create five horrific beings – Agony, Phage, Riot, Lasher and Scream – to protect themselves in a post-apocalyptic world.
Obviously, these beings are all spawned from the Venom symbiote.
Will Venom go up against these other abominations? Well, it’s looking likely.
Especially when you look at the second entry…
“What about the allegations your empire is built on?” it reads. This seems to suggest that Eddie Brock is interviewing the CEO of Life Foundation, Carlton Drake. Believed to be played by Riz Ahmed, he’s responsible for creating the five new symbiotes in the comic books… and it’s all starting to point towards this intriguing storyline for the Venom film.
The last entry is a curious one…
“That you recruit the most vulnerable of us to volunteer for the testing that more often than not end up [killing/hurting] them?
Presumably, the Life Foundation’s experiments have been yielding tragic results… that is, until Eddie Brock ends up hosting the Venom symbiote. Quite how that comes about remains to be seen.
But the Venom movie is becoming more interesting by the day.
Venom stars Tom Hardy, Riz Ahmed, Michelle Williams, and Woody Harrelson.
Ruben Fleischer is directing the film, based on a script by Kelly Marcel, Jeff Pinkner, and Scott Rosenberg.
Venom heads to cinemas on 5 October 2018.
