Spider-Man’s grand solo debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe was very much a high school comedy in the style of John Hughes, but Sony’s upcoming Venom movie is looking to some very different filmmakers for inspiration. Specifically, two masters of body horror and the grotesque: David Cronenberg and John Carpenter.
A Wednesday story on Variety about Sony’s planned Spidey-verse mentioned some of the studio’s specific plans for Venom, which will tell the story of the alien symbiote and its human host, Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock. Ruben Fleischer, perhaps best-known for directing Zombieland, is helming the film.
“There’s a dark element to [Venom] and a wit that has always appealed to me,” he told Variety, explaining that his movie about the black, toothy parasite and its host will explore the pair’s Jekyll and Hyde relationship — and then some.
“They become almost a third being, which is what Venom is,” Fleischer explained. “There’s a famous quote: ‘You’re Eddie Brock. I’m the symbiote. Together we are Venom.’”
Columbia Pictures President Sanford Panitch went on to say that the film is inspired by the work of Cronenberg (The Fly, Scanners) and Carpenter (Halloween, The Thing). Looking to the work of those two horror geniuses makes Venom sound like it’ll be disquieting and gross, which might be why Panitch noted that the flick will have “more pop and fun.”
Man, 'The Fly' is such a good, gross movie.
Venom is set for an October 5 release date.
