‘Final Destination: Bloodlines’ filmmakers Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein will make a ‘Venom’ animated movie.
Tom Hardy is aboard to produce.
The movie is at an early stage.
Having managed to get a movie trilogy out of slavering, ravenous Spider-Man character Venom, Sony is looking to keep the franchise alive in the animated realm.
The directors have become an in-demand duo since ‘Bloodlines’ helped to shock the horror movie series back to life with $315 million in box office receipts.
Venom, created by writer Bill Michelinie and artist Todd McFarlane, was famously introduced as a villain in 1988’s ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ No. 300, and quickly became a fan-favorite as well as one of his arch-nemeses. He got his first solo comic in 1993.
Sony produced three ‘Venom’ movies starring Tom Hardy as down-on-his-luck journalist Eddie Brock, who bonds with the symbiote. The eponymous first arrived in 2018, followed by sequels ‘Venom: Let There Be Carnage’ in 2021 and 2024’s ‘Venom: The Last Dance.’
Hardy is aboard the new movie as a producer alongside live-action team Amy Pascal, Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach, alongside Kelly Marcel, who wrote on all three of the movies and directed ‘The Last Dance.’
There’s no word on a plot for the animated movie at this early stage –– Sony is in the process of opening a writers’ room to develop ideas, run by Lipovsky and Stein.
The pair are also at work with Chris Columbus on a new ‘Gremlins’ movie. They are also developing to direct the original thriller ‘Long Lost’, described as ‘What Lies Beneath’ meets ‘Rosemary’s Baby’ and set up at Universal with Amblin Entertainment producing.
When will the new ‘Venom’ movie be on screens?
Given the development stage, Sony has yet to confirm a release date for the potential movie.
Venom in Columbia Pictures ‘Venom: The Last Dance’. Photo: Sony Pictures.
Aaron Taylor Johnson in Columbia Pictures and Marvel ‘Kraven the Hunter’. Photo: Sony Pictures.
Spider-Man is a cultural icon and one of the most popular comic book superheroes of all time!
The character has appeared on the big screen many times in both animation and live-action, where he has been played by Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield and currently, Tom Holland in the MCU.
The character has appeared in several ‘Avengers‘ movies and has had spinoffs made from other Spider-Man characters like the ‘Venom‘ trilogy, ‘Morbius,’ ‘Madame Web‘, and ‘Kraven the Hunter,’ which opens in theaters on December 13th.
In honor of the new release, Moviefone is counting down the best Spider-Man movies of all-time, including ‘Kraven’.
For this list, we are only including feature length live-action or animated appearances from the wall-crawler that premiered theatrically, including the ‘Avengers’ movies, as well as spinoffs like ‘Madame Web’ and ‘Kraven’.
Aaron Taylor Johnson in Columbia Pictures and Marvel ‘Kraven the Hunter’. Photo: Sony Pictures.
Kraven the Hunter is the visceral, action-packed origin story of how and why one of Marvel’s most iconic villains came to be. Aaron Taylor-Johnson plays Kraven, a man whose complex relationship with his ruthless father, Nikolai Kravinoff (Russell Crowe), starts him down a path of vengeance with brutal consequences, motivating him to become not only the greatest hunter in the world, but also one of its most feared.
Forced to confront revelations about her past, paramedic Cassandra Webb (Dakota Johnson) forges a relationship with three young women (Sydney Sweeney, Isabela Merced and Celeste O’Connor) destined for powerful futures…if they can all survive a deadly present.
Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker / Spider-Man in ‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2.’ Photo: Sony Pictures Releasing.
For Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield), life is busy. Between taking out the bad guys as Spider-Man and spending time with the person he loves, Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone), high school graduation cannot come quickly enough. Peter has not forgotten about the promise he made to Gwen’s father to protect her by staying away, but that is a promise he cannot keep. Things will change for Peter when a new villain, Electro (Jamie Foxx), emerges, an old friend, Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan), returns, and Peter uncovers new clues about his past.
(L to R) Topher Grace and Tobey Maguire in ‘Spider-Man 3’. Photo: Sony Pictures.
The seemingly invincible Spider-Man goes up against an all-new crop of villains—including the shape-shifting Sandman (Thomas Haden Church). While Spider-Man’s superpowers are altered by an alien organism, his alter ego, Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire), deals with nemesis Eddie Brock (Topher Grace) and also gets caught up in a love triangle.
One of the most compelling and conflicted characters in Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters comes to the big screen as Oscar® winner Jared Leto transforms into the enigmatic antihero Michael Morbius. Dangerously ill with a rare blood disorder and determined to save others suffering his same fate, Dr. Morbius attempts a desperate gamble. While at first it seems to be a radical success, a darkness inside him is unleashed. Will good override evil – or will Morbius succumb to his mysterious new urges?
Carnage in 2021’s ‘Venom: Let There Be Carnage.’ Photo: Sony.
Tom Hardy returns to the big screen as the lethal protector Venom, one of Marvel’s greatest and most complex characters. Directed by Andy Serkis, the film also stars Michelle Williams, Naomie Harris and Woody Harrelson, in the role of the villain Cletus Kasady/Carnage.
Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock and Venom in 2018’s ‘Venom.’ Photo: Sony.
Investigative journalist Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) attempts a comeback following a scandal, but accidentally becomes the host of Venom, a violent, super powerful alien symbiote. Soon, he must rely on his newfound powers to protect the world from a shadowy organization looking for a symbiote of their own.
Andrew Garfield in ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’. Photo: Sony Pictures.
Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) is an outcast high schooler abandoned by his parents as a boy, leaving him to be raised by his Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen) and Aunt May (Sally Field). Like most teenagers, Peter is trying to figure out who he is and how he got to be the person he is today. As Peter discovers a mysterious briefcase that belonged to his father, he begins a quest to understand his parents’ disappearance – leading him directly to Oscorp and the lab of Dr. Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans), his father’s former partner. As Spider-Man is set on a collision course with Connors’ alter ego, The Lizard, Peter will make life-altering choices to use his powers and shape his destiny to become a hero.
Tom Hardy stars as Eddie Brock/Venom in Columbia Pictures ‘Venom: The Last Dance’. Photo: Courtesy of Sony Pictures.
Eddie (Tom Hardy) and Venom are on the run. Hunted by both of their worlds and with the net closing in, the duo are forced into a devastating decision that will bring the curtains down on Venom and Eddie’s last dance.
(L to R) Tom Holland and Robert Downey Jr. in ‘Avengers: Endgame.’ Photo: Marvel Studios.
After the devastating events of ‘Avengers: Infinity War,’ the universe is in ruins due to the efforts of the Mad Titan, Thanos (Josh Brolin). With the help of remaining allies, the Avengers must assemble once more in order to undo Thanos’ actions and restore order to the universe once and for all, no matter what consequences may be in store.
Tom Holland in ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’. Photo: Marvel Studios.
Following the events of ‘Captain America: Civil War,’ Peter Parker (Tom Holland), with the help of his mentor Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), tries to balance his life as an ordinary high school student in Queens, New York City, with fighting crime as his superhero alter ego Spider-Man as a new threat, the Vulture (Michael Keaton), emerges.
Tom Holland in ‘Avengers: Infinity War.’ Photo: Marvel Studios.
As the Avengers and their allies have continued to protect the world from threats too large for any one hero to handle, a new danger has emerged from the cosmic shadows: Thanos (Josh Brolin). A despot of intergalactic infamy, his goal is to collect all six Infinity Stones, artifacts of unimaginable power, and use them to inflict his twisted will on all of reality. Everything the Avengers have fought for has led up to this moment – the fate of Earth and existence itself has never been more uncertain.
(L to R) Jake Gyllenhaal and Tom Holland in ‘Spider-Man: Far From Home.’ Photo: Marvel Studios.
Peter Parker (Tom Holland) and his friends go on a summer trip to Europe. However, they will hardly be able to rest – Peter will have to agree to help Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) uncover the mystery of creatures that cause natural disasters and destruction throughout the continent.
(L to R) Anthony Mackie, Paul Rudd, Jeremy Renner, Chris Evans, Elizabeth Olsen and Sebastian Stan in ‘Captain America: Civil War.’ Photo: Marvel Studios.
Following the events of ‘Age of Ultron,’ the collective governments of the world pass an act designed to regulate all superhuman activity. This polarizes opinion amongst the Avengers, causing two factions to side with Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) or Captain America (Chris Evans), which causes an epic battle between former allies.
(L to R) Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst in ‘Spider-Man’. Photo: Sony.
After being bitten by a genetically altered spider at Oscorp, nerdy but endearing high school student Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) is endowed with amazing powers to become the superhero known as Spider-Man.
(L to R) Tobey Maguire and Alfred Molina in ‘Spider-Man 2’. Photo: Sony.
Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) is going through a major identity crisis. Burned out from being Spider-Man, he decides to shelve his superhero alter ego, which leaves the city suffering in the wake of carnage left by the evil Doc Ock (Alfred Molina). In the meantime, Parker still can’t act on his feelings for Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst), a girl he’s loved since childhood. A certain anger begins to brew in his best friend Harry Osborn (James Franco) as well.
Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) returns for the next chapter of the Oscar®-winning Spider-Verse saga, ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.’ After reuniting with Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld), Brooklyn’s full-time, friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is catapulted across the Multiverse, where he encounters a team of Spider-People charged with protecting its very existence. But when the heroes clash on how to handle a new threat, Miles finds himself pitted against the other Spiders and must redefine what it means to be a hero so he can save the people he loves most.
(L to R) Tom Holland, Andrew Garfield, and Tobey Maguire from ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home.’ Photo: Marvel Studios.
Peter Parker (Tom Holland) is unmasked and no longer able to separate his normal life from the high-stakes of being a super-hero. When he asks for help from Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) the stakes become even more dangerous, forcing him to discover what it truly means to be Spider-Man.
2018’s ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.’ Photo: Sony Pictures Releasing.
Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) is juggling his life between being a high school student and being a spider-man. When Wilson “Kingpin” Fisk (Liev Schreiber) uses a super collider, others from across the Spider-Verse are transported to this dimension.
Aaron Taylor Johnson in Columbia Pictures and Marvel ‘Kraven the Hunter’. Photo: Sony Pictures.
Are we finally done with of the Sony Universe of Spider-Man Movies Not Featuring Spider-Man for good? We can only hope, because 2024 has surely brought us the nadir of this cash-grabbing MCU-adjacent nonsense with ‘Madame Web’ and now ‘Kraven The Hunter.’ Yet another pointless origin story for a Spider-Man villain that really serves no purpose without Spider-Man to fight against, ‘Kraven The Hunter’ wastes a serviceable performance from Aaron Taylor-Johnson (playing his second Marvel character in less than 10 years following his appearance as Quicksilver in ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’) and smashes any hope of a real Kraven-Spidey face-off in the foreseeable future.
Like ‘Madame Web,’ ‘Morbius,’ and the ‘Venom’ movies, ‘Kraven The Hunter’ is dragged down by a laziness that infects every aspect of the production. A badly written script, lousy editing, miserable-looking CG, underwhelming acting, and even sloppy dialogue looping (yes, just like in ‘Madame Web’) hinder the film’s modest attributes, like Taylor-Johnson’s work and the occasional flash of electrifying violence. And it’s all directed by J.C. Chandor – who’s made some good movies, like ‘A Most Violent Year’ – with the energy of a weak wind blowing across a desolate Siberian plain (where much of the film takes place).
Story and Direction
‘Kraven the Hunter’ director J. C. Chandor.
‘Kraven The Hunter’ makes its points with such thudding heavy-handedness that the movie produces unintentional laughter almost from the start. Russian martial music blares over the opening scene to make sure we know we’re deep in the Russian countryside, as a transport brings the title character (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) to a prison that would make Rikers Island look like the Four Seasons.
Kraven is there on purpose, however, to execute a Russian gangster operating within its walls, a plot point that will make more sense later as we first must endure an extended flashback from 16 years earlier. Here we meet the younger Kraven, real name Sergei Kravinoff (Levi Miller), who is pulled out of school along with his half-brother Dmitri by their brutish father Nikolai (Russell Crowe), who informs his sons that their mother has taken her own life because she was “weak.”
Dad decides that accompanying him on a hunt is just what the grieving boys need, although the rather timid Dmitri prefers singing and doing uncanny vocal impressions of Nikolai and others (he’s a “real chameleon,” as he and others tell us two or three times, just in case we don’t get the hint). Sergei is gravely injured by a legendary lion his dad has been tracking, and although he nearly succumbs to his wounds, a combination of the lion’s blood with a mystical potion given to him by a young African girl named Calypso — who just happens to be there with her parents — brings the young man back from the brink and imbues him with a range of special powers (enhanced strength and speed, better hearing, and eyes that change color).
Also bestowed somehow with a new moral code by that heady brew, Sergei decides he’s not going to join his father’s business and takes off for the Siberian wilderness, where he sets up house in a dome-like cabin left behind by his mother and protects the local animals from poachers. Now grown into the impressive shape of Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Kraven hunts bad guys as a sort of mercenary but is soon called back to help defend his estranged father, who’s being threatened by a man he once dismissed named Aleksei Sytsevich (Alessandro Nivola), whose bizarre skin condition and own monstrous powers have led him to be called the Rhino.
Aaron Taylor Johnson in Columbia Pictures and Marvel ‘Kraven the Hunter’. Photo: Sony Pictures.
“A man who kills a legend becomes a legend himself,” gravely intones Nikolai at one point, as ‘Kraven’ deploys all the usual cliches about fathers and sons and the definition of “real” masculinity. Perhaps J.C. Chandor envisions this all as some sort of operatic Russian crime epic, but he’s undercut every step of the way by a ludicrous, coincidence-filled script from Richard Wenk, Art Marcum, and Matt Holloway (the latter two are credited on the first ‘Iron Man’ for Marvel Studios). Kraven/Sergei steps out of his brother’s apartment for a nap just as a bunch of the Rhino’s thugs come to kidnap him; Kraven calls a now-grown Calypso (Ariana DeBose) to warn her that the Rhino is coming for her just as she happens to look outside her office and see those same thugs bursting in. Plot points are simply stacked atop each other without any real development just to clumsily get people from point A to point B.
Speaking of Calypso, who works as a lawyer, why does Kraven need her help in tracing bad guys if he’s supposedly the world’s greatest hunter? Why does her one notable fighting skill happen to come in handy just when Kraven needs it most? Does she even need to be in the story? And why the hell is the Foreigner (Christopher Abbott), an assassin who can hypnotize people by staring at them and counting to three, necessary here when the plot is already weighed down with multiple villains?
In the end, these questions don’t matter because the rest of the film is so haphazardly done. For starters, there’s a CG lion that looks like it was discarded on a zip drive by someone at Disney and found by somebody else working on ‘Kraven.’ In fact, all the animals look terribly fake, a common problem in CG that’s exacerbated here by the sheer amount of them. And let’s not get started on the final version of the Rhino, who looks like the VFX folks just digitally stuck a horn and some rough gray skin over the superstructure of Rhys Ifans’ Lizard and called it a day.
We can harp on the film’s other problems – shockingly sloppy dialogue looping (especially when Chameleon, I mean Dmitri, sings in different voices), shockingly dumb dialogue, and unshockingly predictable plot turns like Sergei getting his powers from magic blood, an idea that goes back to the Andrew Garfield era of Spider-Man. But all these other issues pale next to the movie’s main drawback: it’s just dull. Chandor can’t wring anything resembling real energy out of these tired old tropes, and the movie just grinds along for better than two hours like a broken-down train groaning into its final station.
The Cast
(L to R) Aaron Taylor Johnson and Russell Crowe in Columbia Pictures and Marvel ‘Kraven the Hunter’. Photo: Sony Pictures.
If there is a saving grace to ‘Kraven The Hunter,’ it’s the title character himself. Aaron Taylor-Johnson does a very commendable job against the odds; even though this is a far cry from the Kraven of the comics in many ways, he does have a moral code, a sense of honor, and a thread of compassion that’s in conflict with his naturally violent tendencies. Taylor-Johnson is also quite physically suited for the role, even if the editing of the fight scenes leaves something to be desired (maybe he just said the hell with it and figured he’d use this for his James Bond audition tape). Kraven’s ultimate objectives are vague and kind of muddled, but that’s the script’s fault.
Fred Hechinger (seen this fall as the mad emperor Caracalla in ‘Gladiator II’ and the sadistic Harper in ‘Nickel Boys’) also does a decent job as Dmitri, although his eventual transformation into the Chameleon at the end is rushed and jarringly handled. One great shame about this movie is that it wastes three classic members of Spidey’s rogues gallery – Rhino, Chameleon (the very first villain Spider-Man ever faced!), and Kraven himself – on a movie that does these illustrious villains little justice.
The rest of the cast doesn’t fare very well. Alessandro Nivola ingests the scenery as the Rhino, camping it up and all but twirling his moustache, while Russell Crowe alternates between phoning it in and chewing the sets around him as well, his heavy Russian accent like something out of a Cold War movie. As for Ariana DeBose, there’s no nice way to say it: she’s just bad here, spouting every line in flatly declarative fashion as if she’s reading them for the first time. She seems lost at sea, but again, that may be a function of the script, which offers no real function for Calypso.
Final Thoughts
Aaron Taylor Johnson in Columbia Pictures and Marvel ‘Kraven the Hunter’. Photo: Sony Pictures.
The sad part about ‘Kraven The Hunter’ is that Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s fur-clad killer might have made a formidable nemesis for the current Tom Holland iteration of Spider-Man (in fact, Kraven was allegedly the back-up plan for ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ if the multiversal thing didn’t work out). But this laughable movie all but ensures that this version of Kraven won’t cross over into Spidey’s corner of the MCU, despite the handful of painfully obvious Easter eggs scattered throughout the film.
As we noted above, we can only hope that the seven-year excursion into mediocrity that was the Sony Spider-Man Universe Not Featuring Spider-Man, which began in 2018 with ‘Venom,’ ends here with Kraven’s first and last hunt. The whole idea – to create a universe of movies starring Spider-Man villains without having Spider-Man show up in them – was a misfire from the beginning, the brainchild of two producers (Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach) desperate to hang onto whatever piece of the Marvel pie they could. Nearly half a billion dollars in production costs and six films later, their slice of that pie is moldy and spoiled and needs to go into the trash.
‘Kraven The Hunter’ receives 2.5 out of 10 stars.
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What is the plot of ‘Kraven The Hunter’?
The son (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) of a Russian crime lord (Russell Crowe) rejects his father’s empire and sets out to track down criminals on his own and enact justice upon them, using his enhanced powers to make himself a feared and powerful hunter of men.
Who is in the cast of ‘Kraven The Hunter’?
Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Sergei Kravinoff / Kraven
Ariana DeBose as Calypso Ezili
Fred Hechinger as Dmitri Smerdyakov / The Chameleon
Alessandro Nivola as Aleksei Sytsevich / Rhino
Christopher Abbott as the Foreigner
Russell Crowe as Nikolai Kravinoff
‘Kraven the Hunter’ opens in theaters in October.
List of Movies and TV Shows in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe:
Tom Hardy stars as Eddie Brock/Venom in Columbia Pictures ‘Venom: The Last Dance’. Photo: Sony Pictures.
Let’s be clear about one thing: when we say that ‘Venom: The Last Dance’ is the best of the three movies starring Tom Hardy as both former reporter Eddie Brock and the voice of the alien symbiote that lives inside him, we’re talking about a very low bar. ‘Venom’ (2018) and ‘Venom: Let There Be Carnage’ (2021) were genuinely painful to sit through, with the latter in particular being unwatchable gibberish. ‘The Last Dance,’ written and directed by Kelly Marcel (from a story by Marcel and Hardy), is nonsense too – but it leans all the way into its ridiculousness from the start, which gives it a big advantage.
Whereas it was never fully apparent in the previous two movies, this time it seems like everyone is in on the joke – not just Hardy. So thin on plot that it’s practically transparent, ‘Venom: The Last Dance’ wants you to laugh at it from the start – which makes for a better time and even allows room for a smidgen of heart here and there.
Story and Direction
(L to R) Director Kelly Marcel and Tom Hardy on the set of Columbia Pictures ‘Venom: The Last Dance’. Photo: Laura Radford.
“Story” is a decidedly loose term here. As explained to us at least twice during the course of the film, the symbiotes (the species to which Venom belongs) have imprisoned their creator, a superbeing named Knull, on the planet Klyntar because he aims to destroy them as well as the rest of the universe (we’re kind of hazy on why, what else is new). The only way for Knull to break free is if he can obtain a “codex” – which looks like just a glowing light – that appears on symbiotes when they’re fully activated within their hosts. Only Venom has the right codex, so Knull sends an army of grotesque aliens called xenophages to find and kill our favorite symbiote and get the thingamajig.
Eddie and Venom, on the lam from the law and the government, are hiding out in Mexico, where we left them at the end of ‘Let There Be Carnage.’ After that quick trip to the MCU universe we saw during the post-credits scene of that film (“I’m sick of this multiverse s**t!” exclaims Venom when they return, echoing numerous moviegoers), they’re back in the Sony Spider-verse when Knull’s first tracker arrives (why they only come one or two at a time is a mystery that’s never adequately explained). The xenophage sets off in pursuit of our pals, a task made difficult by Venom deliberately remaining mostly a voiceover for the first 30 minutes or so of the film.
Meanwhile, a secret government operation located in a facility deep below Area 51, headed by Dr. Payne (Juno Temple) and General Strickland (Chiwetel Ejiofor), is tasked with collecting as many symbiotes as possible. They’ve already got Detective Mulligan (Stephen Graham), who was infected in the previous film, but they want Venom as well. Between Strickland and his forces and Knull’s xenophages – who are all eventually going to clash — it’s no wonder that Eddie can barely keep a pair of shoes on his feet for more than five minutes.
(L to R) Director Kelly Marcel and Tom Hardy on the set of Columbia Pictures ‘Venom: The Last Dance’. Photo: Laura Radford.
That description gives the narrative more credit than it may deserve. For its first half, ‘The Last Dance’ is a loosely connected string of bits, jokes, and ideas, with Eddie and Venom bickering more like an old married couple than ever before (“I want to see a Broadway show!” rumbles the symbiote as they discuss their sketchy plans to hide out in New York City). Their back-and-forth – with Hardy once again literally talking to himself in an admittedly impressive comic performance – is as ludicrous as ever, but a little more endearing. Because the film starts from a place of absurdity and stays there, the half-formed collection of skits that passes for a plot goes down easier this time.
The rest of the film finds Eddie/Venom turning a horse into a symbiote, catching a ride with a hippie family led by one-time ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ super-villain Rhys Ifans in a psychedelic Volkswagen van, and taking a side trip to Vegas that serves no purpose except to allow Venom to participate in a dance sequence. All of it leads to an extended climax in which the plot strands, such as they are, unravel in an orgy of CG mayhem.
Marcel, making her directorial debut after toiling for years as a screenwriter, opens up the action more than the previous films, dumping Eddie in the Southwest and giving us the occasional nice vista to take in. But the entire third act takes place in one dark, bland military location, recalling the smallish feel of the first two films, and while she has a solid sense of place during the action scenes, the preponderance of CG-generated monsters in the third act turns much of the climax into sludge.
Yes, there is a bit of heart involved as well, with Eddie and Venom potentially facing the end of their marriage – sorry, we mean parasitic relationship – but none of it really matters. Whatever entertainment value ‘Venom: The Last Dance’ has all comes down to the fact that it revels this time out in its own dumbness, and is better off for it…as far as that goes.
The Cast
(L to R) Juno Temple and Chiwetel Ejiofor star in Columbia Pictures ‘Venom: The Last Dance’. Photo: Laura Radford.
This is the Tom Hardy show through and through. Juno Temple and Chiwetel Ejiofor are accomplished actors, but their characters are barely fleshed out beyond “stock scientist” and “stock soldier,” with Temple given some half-baked back story about she and her brother getting hit by lightning on a beach. Rhys Ifans’ Martin is the only other character who gets some significant runway, but even his character – along with his ever-patient wife and annoying kids – contributes pretty much nothing meaningful to the story.
Hardy, on the other hand, fills the screen, and even though Eddie isn’t the most articulate guy on the planet (although he’s a regular Chatty Kathy compared to Hardy’s grunting, mumbling motorcycle club leader in ‘The Bikeriders’), he’s clearly just letting rip here and having the time of his life without a thought about whether any of it makes a lick of sense. His throw-it-all-at-the-wall work across all three ‘Venom’ films may end up being the oddest sustained performance of any actor’s career.
Final Thoughts
Tom Hardy stars as Eddie Brock/Venom in Columbia Pictures ‘Venom: The Last Dance’. Photo: Courtesy of Sony Pictures.
As we stated at the beginning, ‘Venom: The Last Dance’ is not a good film – but it is a marginally more satisfying experience than its predecessors. Maybe it’s the crazy, old-school British comedy feel that Marcel and Hardy somehow filter their twisted superhero movie through, or perhaps it’s Eddie’s surprising admission that Venom is “his best friend,” but this one feels a little more bearable.
Having said that, three movies is enough. ‘The Last Dance’ does bring Eddie and Venom’s journey to a conclusion, although the post-credits scenes, of course, leave room for more. But Sony’s universe of Spider-Man villain movies without Spider-Man has been running on empty for a long time, and the ‘Venom’ franchise should go out now on what passes for probably the highest note it’ll ever hit. Let it be the last dance indeed.
‘Venom: The Last Dance’ receives 5.5 out of 10 stars.
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What is the plot of ‘Venom: The Last Dance’?
Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) and his alien symbiote Venom are on the run – not just from government authorities and law enforcement, but from Venom’s creator, the powerful entity known as Knull.
Who is in the cast of ‘Venom: The Last Dance’?
Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock/Venom
Chiwetel Ejiofor as General Rex Strickland
Juno Temple as Dr. Payne
Rhys Ifans as Martin
Peggy Lu as Mrs. Chen
Stephen Graham as Patrick Mulligan/Toxin
Venom in Columbia Pictures ‘Venom: The Last Dance’. Photo: Sony Pictures.
The third ‘Venom’ Movie’s title is ‘Venom: The Last Dance’
Tom Hardy is back to star, with co-writer Kelly Marcel directing.
This new film will now be released in October.
Things are changing for the third movie in the successful (though seemingly despite itself) ‘Venom’ franchise –– and for once in the increasingly beleaguered superhero genre, it’s more in a positive direction. Not only has the film been moved forward in terms of its release, but we now know it’ll be called ‘Venom 3: The Last Dance’.
‘Venom’ has proved to be one of the few bright spots of Sony’s Marvel-adjacent Spider-Man universe. While they have never been the biggest hit among critics, the Tom Hardy-starring movies have certainly scored with audiences, as the box office figures have shown.
So what can we speculate based on that title? ‘The Last Dance’ suggests the end of the story for now, but also the potential for a musical element. Given the bizarre partnership of man and symbiote that are a key point of the movies, we could certainly posit a crazed musical sequence.
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What’s the story of ‘Venom’ so far?
Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock and Venom in 2021’s ‘Venom: Let There Be Carnage.’
Launching in 2018 with the first movie, ‘Venom’ sees Hardy as Eddie Brock, an investigative journalist struggling to keep his career afloat and hang on to his crumbling social life.
His world is already falling apart before he’s accidentally infected with the alien symbiote, which takes over his body and causes him to become a violent creature that is only too happy to eat people.
Eddie eventually forges an unlikely partnership with the creature that shares his body, and they end up fighting evil (and occasionally, yes, still eating people) together.
Though the original ‘Venom’, directed by ‘Zombieland’s Ruben Fleischer, scored some awful reviews, it was a big box office hit, earning more than $850 million dollars.
Naturally, Sony commissioned a sequel, which saw Kelly Marcel, a long-time friend/collaborator of Hardy working together with the actor to write the script (they’d taken over from previous writers Jeff Pinkner and Scott Rosenberg on the first movie, sharing credit that time).
2021’s ‘Venom: Let There Be Carnage’ saw actor-turned-director Andy Serkis taking over the director’s chair, with Eddie and Venom facing off against violent, psychopathic serial killer Cletus Kasady (Woody Harrelson), who merges with another symbiote and becomes the terrifying monster known as Carnage.
It was another blend of less-than-enthusiastic reviews but still healthy box office, ending up with a little over $500 million.
Who is making ‘Venom 3: The Last Dance’?
(L to R) Director Andy Serkis and Tom Hardy on the set of 2021’s ‘Venom: Let There Be Carnage.’
Even with the latest title news, there are few plot details available for the new movie. We can expect some of the usual hand (tentacle?) wringing about whether he’s an antihero or a slavering, sarcastic alien beast, and probably some of the comedy for which the franchise has been known so far.
For the third, Marcel has stepped up to direct, which might seem like a daunting task, but we’ll wait and see how it works out. Juno Temple, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Clark Backo are all among the cast joining Hardy on screen this time.
Juno Temple in ‘Ted Lasso,’ now streaming on Apple TV+.
Would you swap the comfy hugs and aphorisms of ‘Ted Lasso’ for the potential terror and loss of life you risk when you appear in a ‘Venom’ movie? Juno Temple doesn’t really have a choice, since the Apple TV+ series is –– at least as far as anyone will say –– ending with its current third season and Temple has to keep her career expanding.
The actor, who plays the upbeat Keeley Jones on ‘Lasso’, is, according to Deadline, now making a deal to appear in ‘Venom 3,’ which will see Tom Hardy back as down-on-his-luck, scruffy journalist Eddie Brock and (thanks to voice work and lots of CGI) the alien symbiote that shares his body
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What’s the story of ‘Venom’ so far?
Launching in 2018 with the first movie, ‘Venom’ sees Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock, an investigative journalist struggling to keep his career afloat and hang on to his crumbling social life.
His world is already falling apart before he’s accidentally infected with the alien symbiote, which takes over his body and causes him to become a violent creature that is only too happy to eat people.
Eddie eventually forges an unlikely partnership with the creature that shares his body, and they end up fighting evil (and occasionally, yes, still eating people) together.
Though the original ‘Venom’, directed by ‘Zombieland’s Ruben Fleischer, scored some awful reviews, it was a big box office hit, earning more than $850 million dollars.
So of course, Sony commissioned a sequel, which saw Marcel and Hardy working together to write the script (they’d taken over from previous writers Jeff Pinkner and Scott Rosenberg on the first movie, sharing credit that time).
2021’s ‘Venom: Let There Be Carnage’ saw actor-turned-director Andy Serkis taking over the director’s chair, with Eddie and Venom facing off against violent, psychopathic serial killer Cletus Kasady (Woody Harrelson), who merges with another symbiote and becomes the terrifying monster known as Carnage.
It was another blend of less-than-enthusiastic reviews but still healthy box office, ending up with a little over $500 million.
(L to R) Director Andy Serkis and Tom Hardy on the set of 2021’s ‘Venom: Let There Be Carnage.’
Details are mostly scarce on the new ‘Venom’ outing, especially in regard to the story. Obviously there will be more chaos from Eddie/Venom, and a big new threat for him to face. Expect some of the usual hand (tentacle?) wringing about whether he’s an antihero or a slavering, sarcastic alien beast, and probably some of the comedy for which the franchise has been known so far.
Kelly Marcel, a long-time friend/collaborator of Hardy and the screenwriter of movies such as ‘Saving Mr. Banks’, the first ‘Fifty Shades Of Grey’ (and a Story By credit on Disney’s ‘Cruella’), worked on the script for the first movie, then wrote the script for the second.
For the third, she’s stepping up to direct, which might seem like a daunting task, but we’ll wait and see how it works out. There’s no release date on the books yet for ‘Venom 3’.
Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock and Venom in 2021’s ‘Venom: Let There Be Carnage.’
Donald Glover attends the 74th Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 8, 2017 in Beverly Hills, California. Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images.
Donald Glover is finally ready for his Spider close-up.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the ‘Community’ veteran and ‘Atlanta’ creator/star is on board to star in and produce a currently untitled movie featuring obscure ‘Spider-Man’ villain the Hypno-Hustler.
So who is this little-known baddie? Created by Bill Mantlo (who also created Rocket Racoon, who has gone on to be a key part of Marvel’s ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ movies), and artist Frank Springer, Hypno-Hustler was a disco-era character who first appeared in ‘Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man’ No. 24 in 1978. His real name was Antoine Delsoin, the leader of a band called the Mercy Killers and used hypnosis technology in his instruments on his audience in order to rob them.
It doesn’t sound like the source material for the greatest cinematic villain, but in Glover’s hands it should be something fun––he’s not a creative type who sticks to the basics.
The new Spider-Universe movie is at an early stage right now; it doesn’t have an announced title but we do know who hatched the idea to turn the character into a movie: Myles Murphy, the son of actor and comedian Eddie Murphy, is on board to write the project.
Glover’s history with ‘Spider-Man’ stretches back at least a decade, though. His ‘Community’ character Troy was seen wearing Spider-Man pajamas in the episode “Anthropology 101”. Fans jumped on the idea that he could be ideal to play Miles Morales in a future Spidey films.
(L to R) Donald Glover and Tom Holland in ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming.’
Still, Glover did get to play Miles, albeit in voice form, in TV series ‘Ultimate Spider-Man’ in 2015.
And while the live-action cinematic Spider-universe stayed Parker-central with 2017’s ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming,’ Glover appeared briefly as a character named Aaron David, who Spidey encountered while the man was trying to by advanced weapons from the Vulture’s crew. A deleted scene from the movie suggested that Aaron was Miles Morales’ uncle (Mahershala Ali voiced the character more officially in ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’).
This is the latest development in Sony’s ever-expanding batch of movies based in the world of the web-slinger, even if most of them won’t feature the (Spider) man himself.
With two ‘Venom’ films and ‘Morbius’ already out in the world, the future for Sony is certainly entangled in a web. Movies on the way include ‘Kraven the Hunter’, due October 6th next year, followed by ‘Madame Web’ on February 16th, 2024. In development, meanwhile, are ‘El Muerto’, a third ‘Venom’ and a slate of TV series set in the same universe.
Marvel Comics’ Hypno-Hustler. Photo courtesy of Marvel.com.
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Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock and Venom in 2021’s ‘Venom: Let There Be Carnage.’
The director’s chair for the ‘Venom’ movies, far from being the usual folding option, must be on some sort of violent swivel. How else to explain the constant change in filmmaker behind the first two, and now third movie in the franchise?
This latest change does at least represent some stability behind the camera though, as Deadline reports that Kelly Marcel, who has been a writer and producer on both previous films, is now on board to direct the third for Sony’s expanding Marvel-based movie universe.
Launching in 2018 with the first movie, ‘Venom’ sees Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock, a down-on-his luck investigative journalist struggling to keep his career afloat and hang on to his crumbling social life.
His world is already falling apart before he’s accidentally infected with an alien symbiote which takes over his body and causes him to become a violent creature that is only too happy to eat people.
Eddie eventually forges an unlikely partnership with the creature that shares his body, and they end up fighting evil (and occasionally, yes, still eating people) together.
Though the original ‘Venom’, directed by ‘Zombieland’s Ruben Fleischer, scored some awful reviews, it was a big box office hit, earning more than $850 million dollars.
So of course, Sony commissioned a sequel, which saw Marcel and Hardy working together to write the script (they’d taken over from previous writers Jeff Pinkner and Scott Rosenberg on the first movie, sharing credit that time).
(L to R) Director Andy Serkis and Tom Hardy on the set of 2021’s ‘Venom: Let There Be Carnage.’
2021’s ‘Venom: Let There Be Carnage’ saw actor-turned-director Andy Serkis taking over the director’s chair, with Eddie and Venom facing off against violent, psychopathic serial killer Cletus Kasady (Woody Harrelson), who merges with another symbiote and becomes the terrifying monster known as Carnage.
It was another blend of less-than-enthusiastic reviews but still healthy box office, ending up with a little over $500 million.
And the post-credits scene of ‘Let There Be Carnage’ sees Eddie and Venom being drawn in the MCU, where he identifies Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, though the end of ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ sees the pair sent back to their own dimension, leaving behind a tiny fragment of the symbiote to cause chaos for the main Marvel heroes (at least, we figure that’s the plan).
Despite her experience with the ‘Venom’ movies, and her long working partnership with Hardy, with whom she started out in a theatre group, Marcel would seem to be an unlikely choice to direct the next one.
She hasn’t directed a movie before, and the effects-heavy workload of a superhero film can be daunting. Still, Marcel has plenty of experience on films, including writing the likes of ‘Saving Mr. Banks’, the first ‘Fifty Shades Of Grey’ and snagging a Story By credit on Disney’s ‘Cruella’.
More recently, she has been busy as showrunner on Apple TV+ series ‘The Changeling’, which should be on screens this year.
Hardy teased that the third ‘Venom’ script was in progress via Instagram back in June, and we knew that Sony wanted to push ahead with the franchise. So now Marcel will be carrying even more responsibility.
Sony has yet to confirm a release date for the new movie, but we can’t see it being ready before 2024.
Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock and Venom in 2018’s ‘Venom.’
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Emma Roberts attends the 89th Annual Academy Awards at Hollywood & Highland Center on February 26, 2017 in Hollywood, California. Photo: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images.
As with much of Sony’s non-animated, non MCU-connected Spider-Man universe output, we’re still not sure what to expect from ‘Madame Web’. Aside from digging into the comic books to ferret out potential plot nuggets, and divine possible character choices, it’s a mystery. Especially since the studio has staunchly refused to release so much as a logline at this early stage.
What we’ve had to go on so far is the casting, and the latest word has now made it into the world: Emma Roberts is joining the ensemble, according to Deadline.
She joins a cast that already includes Dakota Johnson (who has the lead role, and presumably plays a version of the title character – more on that below), Sydney Sweeney, Celeste O’Connor, Isabela Merced and Tahar Rahim. There are zero details on who anyone is playing just yet.
SJ Clarkson, who has worked on shows including ‘Jessica Jones’ and ‘Succession’, is making her film directing debut here, with Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless writing from the script and replacing an earlier draft by Kerem Sanga.
Originally created by writer Denny O’Neil and artist John Romita Jr., Madame Web first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #210, which was published in November 1980.
Known as Cassandra Webb, she is usually depicted as an elderly blind woman suffering from a chronic neuromuscular disease that makes it difficult to move and breathe, and as such, she’s connected to a life support system that looks like a spider web. The clairvoyant character has telepathic, precognitive, and astral projection abilities and once helped Spider-Man find a kidnap victim.
It doesn’t exactly sound like the basis for a thrilling superhero outing, but Madame Web’s history has crossed path with various heroes. Plus, as you might expect from a comic book character, there has been more than one holder of the title.
mo Photo courtesy of Marvel Entertainment.
In Amazing Spider-Man #636, Madame Web transfers her powers into a younger woman, Julia Carpenter, who takes over the role and oversees storylines such as Spider-Island, which finds all of Manhattan’s population developing Spider powers.
The younger character sounds like who Johnson will be playing, though of course at this stage it’s anyone’s guess what the movie team will pick and choose to use in the final story. What if, for example, that younger cast points to a variety of potential Madame Webs… or is it Madames Web? Probably not.
This, of course, is the latest evolution on Sony’s plan to keep its live-action Spider-spin-offs growing. They’ve been a hit and miss affair so far: the ‘Venom’ movies overcame negative critical reactions to generate big box office (a third is in the early stages)meanwhile ‘Morbius’ has… not so much.
Next up is ‘Kraven the Hunter’, starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, a ‘Silk’ TV series, and likely much further down the line, a potential ‘Sinister Six’ team up of Spider-villains.
For now, then, ‘Kraven’, ‘Madame Web’ and the next ‘Venom’ are carrying the hopes of Sony’s Spidey time.
Directed by Daniel Espinosa (‘Safe House’), the movie stars Jared Leto (‘House of Gucci’) as Dr. Michael Morbius, who suffers from a rare blood disease and experiments with a dangerous cure that afflicts him with a form of vampirism.
The result is a somewhat incoherent film that has no real purpose (other than to set up possible sequels) and feels like it was made in the 1990s. However, as a fan of Marvel, I did find some of the characters and stylized action sequences interesting, but ultimately, it was not enough to make me recommend this movie.
The film begins by introducing us to Dr. Michael Morbius (Leto), who suffers from a rare blood disease and is desperately seeking a cure, which he thinks he has found from studying bats. On the verge of finding a cure oversees, we flashback to Michael’s childhood growing up in a group home where he was raised by Nicholas Morbius (Harris), along with his surrogate brother Milo (Smith), who also suffers from a similar disease. Michael dedicates himself to his studies and vows to one day find a cure and save both himself and Milo.
We then cut back to present day where Morbius and his fiancée Dr. Martine Bancroft (Arjona) decide to experiment with what Michael thinks could be the cure. Michael takes it, but then begins to transform into a vampire. He is not vulnerable to light but does need blood to survive.
After several mysterious deaths where the victims have been drained of their blood, FBI agent Simon Stroud (Gibson) begins to suspect Morbius. Afraid of what he’s becoming, Michael refuses to share the “cure” with Milo, which the latter is not happy about. But, is Michael the real killer? Or is it someone else? Now, Morbius must discover the truth for himself, while protecting Martine and finding a way to stop himself from becoming a monster.
With nods in the film to several different Spider-Man movies from the past, fans weren’t sure what “universe” this movie was going to take place in. Without spoiling anything, I think I can safely say that ‘Morbius’ takes place in the ‘Venom’ universe, which actually makes a lot of sense. The film is aesthetically very similar to ‘Venom,’ and certainly shares the same DNA in addition to the same universe.
Like ‘Venom’ and its sequel, ‘Morbius’ seems like an older movie, something we would have seen in the late 90’s or when Sam Raimi was making his ‘Spider-Man’ movies. It’s rough, crude at times, and doesn’t fit into the slick and fun Marvel movies we expect in 2022, especially after the brilliant ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home.’
Although, there is a connection to the MCU in ‘Morbius,’ that is revealed by a not so secret cameo in the movie’s two end credit scenes. Without giving too much away, I will just say that the scene allows an MCU character to now exist in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe. While the explanation doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, even in a world of multiverses, I do appreciate the addition of this legendary actor and his strong character and look forward to whatever new Sinister Six iteration they are clearly planning.
Digging into the problems with the screenplay written by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless, the relationship between Michael and Milo, which is central to the film, needed to be explained better. Yes, they were surrogate brothers and best friends, but there seemed to be something else at the core of their relationship, whether intentional or not. Were they lovers? Is that why Milo seems so jealous of Michael and Martine’s relationship? There was definitely something there, but it never gets explored, which is disappointing. If that is the case, making that clearer would have brought higher stakes to all of Milo’s actions.
Also unclear is what happens to Adria Arjona’s character at the end. I don’t want to give anything away, but let’s just say “something” happens to Martine at the end of the movie that is never explained or visited again. I thought it was being left open for a twist in the final fight sequence, or possibly an end credit scene, but sadly it wasn’t and any questions you have about the character will have to wait for the inevitable sequel.
I also feel that the quick pacing and editing of the film was somewhat sloppy and led to the movie being incoherent. There were too many flashbacks that interrupted the main story and were ultimately only added for exposition and character set up.
But there are some elements of the film that I enjoyed. The superhero aspects of the story worked, even if Morbius was a villain and not a hero in the comics. Jared Leto gives a strong and dedicated performance as Michael Morbius, which is worth watching even if he plays him differently from the source material. Leto’s Morbius cares about human beings and refuses to take a life, which is in stark contrast to how the Spider-Man villain is normally depicted. Director Daniel Espinosa also chose some really cool effects to demonstrate Morbius’ vampire-like abilities.
In the end, Leto’s commanding performance, the character, and the superhero genre are not enough to save ‘Morbius’ from being a disappointing Marvel movie. With a weak script, bad dialogue, silly supporting characters, and lack of strong pacing and tone, ‘Morbius’ is a cinematic mess and the type of movie that only hardcore Marvel fans will understand and enjoy.
Venom, created by writer Bill Michelinie and artist Todd McFarlane, was famously introduced as a villain in 1988’s ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ No. 300, and quickly became a fan-favorite as well as one of his arch-nemeses. He got his first solo comic in 1993.
