DECEMBER 12, 2017 3:00pm PT by Borys Kit
Woody Harrelson in Talks to Join Tom Hardy in 'Venom'

If he boards the production, it would mark a reunion with the actor and his 'Zombieland' director Ruben Fleischer.

Woody Harrelson may become entangled in Venom's web.

The actor is in talks for an undisclosed role in Venom, the Tom Hardy-led Spider-Man offshoot from Sony.

Hardy is starring as the popular Marvel Comics antihero with Riz Ahmed, Michelle Williams and Jenny Slate also on the roll call.

If a deal is made, it would mark a reunion for Harrelson with helmer Ruben Fleischer, who directed the actor in the hit 2009 zombie comedy Zombieland. Venom is already deep into production — filming began in October — and rumors of Harrelson's involvement have swirled on-and-off.

Sony, which had no comment, will release Venom on Oct. 5, 2018.

Avi Arad, Matt Tolmach and Amy Pascal are producing the project.

Harrelson starred in War for the Planet of the Apes and can be seen in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, which is generating considerable buzz this awards season. He also has a part in next year’s Han Solo film, Solo: A Star Wars Story.

Venom: First Look at Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock and Full Brazil Comic Con Panel Video - IGN First

Hardy promises to "deliver the best Venom that I possibly can muster."

Terri SchwartzJan, 11 2018
All month long, IGN First is spotlighting the Films to Watch in 2018. Today, we take a look at Sony's Venom, a much-anticipated upcoming film starring Tom Hardy as the lethal protector and directed by Zombieland's Ruben Fleischer.

With Sony's upcoming Venom, the studio is branching out from the Spider-Man universe with a darker take on the iconic Marvel anti-hero.

Details about the movie have been kept top secret, with a closed set and only a few behind-the-scenes images. 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. Check out the photo below, and click through to get a closer look at the full-sized image.


There's a lot to unpack from this photo, most notably that it shows us Eddie out on the job as a reporter. But that's not the only IGN First debut we have around Venom.

Hardy and director Ruben Fleisher offered fans the first big tease at Venom at Brazil Comic Con Experience in December, but that was an experience limited to the people in the room. For the first time available online, IGN is happy to reveal the full panel to the world -- including a sneak peek at the Atlanta sets of Venom. Check out the panel video below:

At the panel, Fleisher confirmed the comics storylines Venom will be inspired by. "We want to be as true as possible to the comic with our film," he said. "But our story is primarily based on the Lethal Protector and the Planet of the Symbiotes book."

Written by David Michelinie and drawn by Mark Bagley, as well as Ron Lim and Sam Delarosa, Venom: Lethal Protector was a six-episode limited series that notably reinvented Venom from a Spider-Man villain to a Marvel Comics anti-hero. In it, Venom moves from New York City to San Francisco after coming to an agreement with his former foe Spider-Man.

As for Planet of the Symbiotes, 1995's five-issue comic explores Eddie Brock's relationship with his symbiote and the influence it has on him. Also written by Michelinie, Planet of the Symbiotes follows Venom fighting an army of symbiotes with the help of Spider-Man and Scarlet Spider.

In the Brazil Comic Con video, Hardy is visibly excited to be talking about Venom, offering fans his promise to do the beloved Marvel character justice. "I just wanted to say that I give you my word of honor that I’m going to do everything that I can to deliver the best Venom that I possibly can muster," he said.

Filming for Venom continues on location in San Francisco later in January. In Ruben Fleischer's Venom, one of Marvel's most enigmatic, complex and badass characters comes to the big screen, starring Academy Award-nominated actor Tom Hardy as the lethal protector. In addition to Hardy, Venom stars Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed and Jenny Slate. The film hits theaters October 5th.

‘Venom’ Rumored to Include Cameo from Tom Holland’s Spider-Man

Production is currently underway on Sony’s Venom movie starring Tom Hardy. Fans wondered how you could have Venom without Spider-Man, who is kind of the progenitor of the character in the comics. The whole reason Venom has Spider-Man-like powers is because the alien symbiote went to Peter Parker first and when Peter rejected the symbiote, it found Eddie Brock, thus creating a darker, more muscular, and drool-ier version of Spider-Man. But we heard repeatedly, especially out of the Spider-Man: Homecoming junket, that the new Spider-Man played by Tom Holland exists in a separate universe than Venom and all the other Spidey spinoffs Sony has in the works.

Today on Movie Talk, Jon Schnepp said he heard a very different story and that Holland’s Spider-Man will in fact be in Venom:

“Spider-Man is going to be in Venom. For the last couple of months, we’ve been hearing how Sony is keeping it all separated, and Spider-Man is in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but every other character that’s in the Spider-Man universe is separate. All I’m saying is that Spider-Man—and I’m talking about Tom Holland’s Spider-Man—is going to be in Venom.”

Holland along with producers Kevin Feige and Amy Pascal both said that Spider-Man wouldn’t appear in Venom, and that it wouldn’t even be a cameo role. And when you think about it, that makes a lot of sense. Think of all the complications that arise once you say Spider-Man and Venom exist in the same universe. For starters, Venom is going to be Rated-R, so now Disney has the Spider-Man character appearing in an R-rated movie. Secondly, every future MCU movie featuring Spider-Man now carries the burden of, “Where’s Venom?” So now you’re saddling your future Spider-Man movies with Venom stuff even though Feige and Co. aren’t involved with the making of those Venom movies.

It just doesn’t really add up. I could see, at best, a mention of Spider-Man or maybe a costumed Spider-Man where the costume design is different enough from Homecoming that there’s no confusion, but to firmly put Tom Holland into Venom just opens a can of worms that both Sony and Disney probably don’t want to deal with.

We’ll find out if this rumor turns out to be true when Venom opens on October 5th.