Venom is one of those rare comic book movies that has managed to turn around much of the public perception towards it. Initially debuting to confusion from many fans who wondered how a non-Spider-Man Spider-Man movie could work, the announcements of Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, and Riz Ahmed joining the cast (as well as an intriguing R-rating) have gotten many of us incredibly excited. Now it looks like there's yet another reason to start getting ready for the solo Venom movie, as new rumors have suggested that Sony is digging deep into the Venom well for an adaptation of the seminal 1993 story arc, Venom: Lethal Protector.
This report comes to us from Omega Underground, which suggests that the upcoming Venom film may take inspiration from the Venom: Lethal Protector comic book story arc. Seeing Venom and Spider-Man agree to stop fighting one another (on the condition that Eddie Brock gives up his criminal activity), the story sees the black-clad villain move to San Francisco and fall in with a group of mole people. However, things quickly go wrong for Venom when the father of someone that the symbiote hurt finds him and hires a group of superpowered mercenaries called The Jury (who use power armor based on stolen Stark Industries designs) to take him down.
We also know that production on Venom is gearing up to move to San Francisco for a portion of its shooting schedule, so the similarity of the northern California setting seems to lend credence to the possibility of a Lethal Protector adaptation. Casting calls for the film have also reportedly indicated that the production has sought out actors to portray mercenary characters in the movie, so it's not a huge stretch to possibly assume that Sony is looking for its live-action version of The Jury.
Finally, the comic book arc also sees Venom go toe-to-toe against several different symbiotes. Given the rumored presence of Anne Weying a.k.a She-Venom (the rumored role for Michelle Williams), and Carnage (the rumored part for Riz Ahmed) in the film, it seems like a somewhat likely scenario -- even though those are not two of the symbiotes fought in Lethal Protector.
It's worth mentioning that the use of the Venom: Lethal Protector story arc may continue to raise questions about the specific continuity of the Venom solo movie. Lethal Protector has tenuous connections to Iron Man because of the origins of The Jury's armor, and Spider-Man does indeed appear at multiple points throughout the story. Venom's specific links to the overall Marvel Cinematic Universe have been hard to pinpoint throughout the film's development, so we will have to wait and see how faithful the potential adaptation of Lethal Protector becomes as the project comes together.
Tom Hardy will don his Venom suit when Sony's solo symbiote spinoff swings its way into cinemas on October 5, 2018. Until then, check out our 2017 movie premiere guide and our 2018 movie premiere guide to see what the next year has in store!
