Riz Ahmed in Talks to Join Tom Hardy in Spider-Man Spinoff ‘Venom’
Justin Kroll Film Reporter @krolljvar
AUGUST 9, 2017 | 05:29PM PT

Riz Ahmed is in early talks to join Sony’s “Venom” movie.

Ruben Fleischer is directing the spinoff of the Spider-Man franchise, and Tom Hardy is attached to star.

While details on Ahmed’s role have not yet been revealed, sources say that he’ll be playing a popular Marvel Comics character. Sony had no comment on the casting.

Sony has already made it clear that “Venom” will play no part in the Spider-Man universe, and that the film will stand on its own.

Scott Rosenberg (“Jumanji”) and Jeff Pinkner (“The Dark Tower”) will write the script for “Venom,” with Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach producing the movie, along with Amy Pascal. Palak Patel and Eric Fineman are overseeing the project for Columbia Pictures.

“Venom” is set to hit theaters on Oct. 5, 2018.

Since his inception in 1988, Venom has been one of “Spider-Man’s” most popular characters, making it a top priority for the studio to get the movie off the ground. Venom made his first big-screen appearance in Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man 3,” where he was portrayed by Topher Grace.

Throughout the history of Marvel Comics, Venom has appeared alongside Spider-Man, Iron Man, Deadpool, Hulk, and other Marvel Comics characters.

Ahmed is coming off a banner year, both on the television and film front. He starred in HBO’s critically acclaimed “The Night Of,” which earned him a SAG and Emmy nomination, and followed that up with “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.” He also appeared in “Jason Bourne” opposite Matt Damon.

Ahmed’s other credits include the Toronto Film Festival movie “The City of Tiny Lights” and a recurring role on Netflix’s “The OA,” as well as a guest starring role on HBO’s final season of “Girls” that earned him rave reviews. He just wrapped production on “The Sisters Brothers” opposite Jake Gyllenhaal, Joaquin Phoenix, and John C. Reilly.

He is repped by CAA and Kate Bryden of Gordon and French in the U.K.

Michelle Williams to Star in ‘Venom’ Opposite Tom Hardy
By Justin Kroll @krolljvar Justin Kroll

Michelle Williams is in talks to star opposite Tom Hardy in Sony’s “Venom” movie.

Riz Ahmed is also on board with Ruben Fleischer directing.

Sources say Williams would play a district attorney and possibly Hardy’s love interest. Sony had no comment on the casting.

Sony execs and Fleischer had been meeting with multiple actresses for the part for the past month, with production beginning next month. Sony recently released the trailer for Ridley Scott’s “All the Money in the World,” which is already generation Oscar buzz for Williams.

The studio has already made it clear that “Venom” will play no part in the Spider-Man universe, and that the film will stand on its own.

Scott Rosenberg (“Jumanji”) and Jeff Pinkner (“The Dark Tower”) will write the script for “Venom,” with Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach producing the movie, along with Amy Pascal. Palak Patel and Eric Fineman are overseeing the project for Columbia Pictures.

“Venom” is set to hit theaters on Oct. 5, 2018.

Since its inception in 1988, the alien symbiote has been one of “Spider-Man’s” most popular characters, making it a top priority for the studio to get the movie off the ground. Venom made his first big-screen appearance in Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man 3,” where he was portrayed by Topher Grace.


Throughout the history of Marvel Comics, Venom has appeared alongside Spider-Man, Iron Man, Deadpool, Hulk, and other Marvel Comics characters.

In recent years, Williams has focused more on prestige pics. Her last big studio film was Disney’s “Wizard of Oz” prequel, “Oz the Great and Powerful,” in 2013. The Academy Award-nominated actress is coming off one of the best-reviewed performances of her career, in “Manchester by the Sea,” which earned her an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress.

Her upcoming films include Todd Haynes’ “Wonderstruck,” Fox’s musical “The Greatest Showman on Earth,” and Scott’s “All the Money in the World,” all of which could figure in the awards season conversation.

She is still attached to star in the Janis Joplin biopic “Janis” as well as spy drama “All the Old Knives” opposite Chris Pine.

Williams is repped by WME and Brillstein Entertainment.

Scott Haze in Talks to Join Tom Hardy in 'Venom' (Exclusive)
Who will he play? No one will say.
by Bjarne Jonasson

The web of Venom has entangled another actor.

Scott Haze, who appears this month with Miles Teller in the war drama Thank You for Your Service, has joined the project, which is part of Sony’s universe of Marvel-licensed characters.

Tom Hardy is starring as the Marvel antihero with Riz Ahmed, Michelle Williams and Jenny Slate also on the roll call. Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland) is directing.

Character details for Haze are being kept in, um, a haze.

Carnage is the villain in this piece, and although rumors had Ahmed in the role, the studio has said that is not so.

Avi Arad, Matt Tolmach, and Amy Pascal are producing Venom, which is set to open Oct. 5, 2018.

Haze is an actor, writer and director who broke out with the 2014 adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's Child of God, directed by James Franco. He also appeared in Midnight Special with Michael Shannon. In addition to Thank You for Your Service, Haze can also be seen opposite Josh Brolin in Sony’s Only the Brave, which bows Friday.

Haze, who also directed the documentary Mully, released by Fathom earlier this month, is repped by CAA, Thruline Entertainment and Jackoway Tyerman.

Andy Serkis was asked about whether or not he believed that performance-capture roles deserve their own award category, that's when the esteemed actor let this new detail about Hardy's VENOM slip out: “Acting is acting, and the more actors – like Steve Zahn… and Karin Konoval who plays Maurice in ‘War For The Planet of the Apes’ – the more A-list actors that come on board, like Mark Rylance playing The BFG, or a lot of actors in the new Marvel films… Tom Hardy is playing a new character using performance capture. It all points up ‘what is the nature of acting?’ and there is no difference between acting wearing a costume and make up, or wearing a motion capture suit. That’s plain and simple, it just needs awarding bodies to understand that.”

Sony Pictures took the stage at Comic-Con Experience 2017 in Sao Paulo, Brazil earlier today, and while the panel served as the splashy debut for the first trailer for the animated Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse movie, Sony also took a minute to tease the upcoming live-action Venom movie. While no footage or even an image was revealed, Director Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland) appeared live via satellite to fans to shed some light on what to expect, while Tom Hardy popped into frame at the end to surprise folks.

Hardy will be portraying the title character of the long-in-the-works adaptation at least partially using motion-capture, but as of right now that’s about all we know from the film. However, during his message Fleischer revealed the movie is primarily based on two comic book runs: Lethal Protector and Planet of the Symbiotes.

Venom: Lethal Protector is a six-issue comic book series by David Michelinie and Mark Bagley that was released in 1993. The story sees Venom and Peter Parker agreeing to leave each other alone as long as Venom doesn’t commit any more crimes, so Venom packs up and leaves NYC for San Francisco—indeed, Hardy revealed that this Venom movie takes place in San Francisco. In the comic arc, Venom ends up teaming up with Spider-Man to tackle five new offspring of the Venom Symbiote: Scream, Phage, Riot, Lasher, and Agony. But we know that this movie will not feature Spider-Man—at least not Tom Holland’s Spider-Man—so don’t expect a 100% comics adaptation.

Planet of the Symbiotes, meanwhile, was a five-issue comic arc written by Michelinie that was published in 1995 under the Amazing Spider-Man banner. That story found Earth invaded by an army of symbiotes with Venom teaming up with Spider-Man and Scarlet Spider to stop them.

So, taking into account that these two comics serve as the primary inspiration for the Venom movie, the story likely finds Venom newly adjusted to San Francisco living and battling an invasion of alien symbiotes of some sort, although it’s been rumored that Carnage is the primary villain, so he may also fit in there somewhere.

The Spider-Man of it all remains a mystery beyond the confirmation that Tom Holland’s Peter Parker is definitely not an official part of this universe, but Into the Spider-Verse seems to be introducing the idea of a multi-verse, so it’s possible the Venom movie takes place in a dimension separate from the Spider-Man: Homecoming one, thereby sidestepping the issue of continuity.

While filming on Venom is underway, the film is very much under wraps. The confirmed cast includes Riz Ahmed, Michelle Williams, Jenny Slate, Reid Scott, and Scott Haze, but we don’t know who, exactly, these actors are playing beyond vagaries (Williams is reportedly filling the role of a district attorney and love interest; Slate is reportedly playing a scientist).

We’ll no doubt find out more in the coming months, but it’s still a ways off. Venom will hits theaters on October 5, 2018.