Sony's Venom is one of the most intriguing comic book films hitting theaters in a year full of them. The Spider-Man villain-turned-antihero is a favorite of comic book fans, scratching that same itch as characters like Wolverine, a badass, no-nonsense brawler with a super cool look. Playing Venom and his alter-ego, Eddie Brock, will be none other than former Bane, Tom Hardy. With the film arriving in October we have yet to see anything from it, until now. Take a look below to see Tom Hardy as reporter Eddie Brock, sans symbiote, in Sony Picture's Venom.
Judging by this picture, which was revealed at Brazil Comic-Con, Tom Hardy's Eddie Brock will get in the muck and mire to get his story. Think more April O'Neil than Ron Burgundy. Tom Hardy has a rough look about him in this image, giving you the sense that this Eddie Brock is a seasoned and worldly reporter. I wouldn't be surprised if he is something of a fearless maverick in the film, chasing down stories that others shy away from or tell him to cease. He's got a sweet little notebook here, too, which raises the question of what story Eddie Brock will be looking into in this film and will that play a role in how he eventually becomes Venom.
Of course everyone wants to know what Tom Hardy's Eddie Brock will look like once he bonds with the symbiote to become venom. But I wonder if we won't see that until we get a trailer or maybe even nearer release. The character is being created by CGI using performance capture from the very physical actor. That sort of thing doesn't lend itself to stills and is best conveyed while in motion. While the dam hasn't broken yet, it is leaking and as we get closer and closer to the October release we'll get more looks at Venom and hopefully be encouraged that the character will finally get the cinematic portrayal he deserves.
There are still a lot of questions surrounding this film and this image doesn't give us much to go on. We basically know nothing about the story yet or how well Venom will work as a standalone character without Spider-Man to contend with. Eddie Brock has played the antihero in the comics so there is precedent for this approach and crafting a story around an antihero can provide for some really cool character driven stories. The murkiness of comic book cinematic universes these days leaves a lot of open questions. Spider-Man returned to prominence by joining the MCU and with the help of Marvel's creative team, but this film is separate from Spidey and the MCU. Hopefully with the talented people involved and everything looking good so far, Venom will provide a daring and unique taking on the genre, similar to Logan or Deadpool.
Venom is directed by Ruben Fleischer, of Zombieland fame, and boasts a solid cast including, Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams and Riz Ahmed. Venom swings into theaters on October 5th. For all of this year's biggest movies, check out our release guide.
