Spider-Man: Brand New Day marks a fresh start for Tom Holland’s Peter Parker/Spider-Man, bringing the fan-favorite superhero closer to his comic book counterpart. This fresh start could be over before it begins, however, if Marvel and Sony actually decide to merge Tom Hardy‘s Venom into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
During a recent appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast to promote Brand New Day, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige and Spider-Man franchise producer Amy Pascal were asked about the possibilities of Hardy’s Venom crossing over into Holland’s Spider-Man movies.
“It would be great, let’s put it that way,” Pascal remarked, before adding, “I have hope. We have hope.” As for Feige, he merely stated, “Always have hope.”
I’m not against Venom being introduced into the MCU in a future Spider-Man movie, but I will be if Marvel and Sony decide to use Hardy’s version instead of introducing their own unique adaptation. Hardy’s Venom represents the worst of Marvel and Sony’s last decade of Spider-Man movie ideas.
Tom Hardy’s Venom joining the MCU would be a step backwards for Tom Holland’s Spider-Man
The Venom trilogy was made during a time when Sony thought it could have its Spidey cake and eat it too. Let Spider-Man be in the MCU, but milk his villains dry by giving them their own origin movies without any ties to the web-slinging superhero. The results, as expected, leaned more to the negative than positive.
The Venom movies have their fans, but let’s be honest, they are not good movies. They made money, sure, but none of them managed to clear 60% on Rotten Tomatoes to get a “fresh” approval rating. All four of Holland’s Spider-Man movies are “certified fresh” on the review aggregator website with ratings over 90%. There’s a clear quality gap between these two franchises, but that alone is not why I don’t think they should crossover.
Hardy’s Eddie Brock and Venom have no ties to Peter Parker or Spider-Man. In the comics, and in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 3, that’s an important part of the character and his dynamic with the superhero. Hardy’s also much older than Holland, and Eddie really needs to be closer in age to Peter. They’re supposed to be rivals.
Hardy’s Venom managed to work despite the restraints Sony placed on the movies. However, to do the character justice, the MCU needs to properly introduce the symbiote, have it bond with Peter, and give him the black suit. Preferably, all of this could be achieved in the upcoming Avengers: Secret Wars.
Then, Spider-Man 5 could be the MCU’s take on, say, Kraven’s Last Hunt. Make an entire movie with Holland’s Spider-Man in the black suit while Peter contends with Eddie Brock, whether it’s at the Daily Bugle or with a love interest. These two storylines will come together at the end when Peter rejects the symbiote, while a post-credits scene will see the symbiote choose Eddie and bond with him, setting the stage for Spider-Man vs. Venom in a sixth movie.
With Brand New Day finally moving away from Marvel Studios’ reimagined aspects of Spider-Man — such as his ties to Iron Man, MJ being Michelle Jones-Watson, and Ned being Peter’s best friend instead of Harry Osborn — and reincorporating more of the character’s classic backstory, shoehorning Hardy’s version of Venom into the MCU would be terrible.
The less we think about Sony’s Spider-Man(less) Universe, the better. It’s time to let Hardy’s Venom die so that a more comic-accurate Venom can have his own “brand new day” in the MCU.
