The Sony Spider-verse kicks off in only a few short months with the release of Venom. The film will see Tom Hardy taking on the role of the first and most famous Venom, Eddie Brock. Since Sony's Spider-verse seemingly operates without Spider-Man himself, how Eddie Brock becomes Venom will be have to be different than the original origin story for the character. The trailers have given us some indication, and now a new image from the film teases how Eddie Brock bonds with the symbiote. Check it out below:
Originally, Eddie Brock becomes Venom almost by accident, when he is attacked by the symbiote in a church after Spider-Man discards the black suit. The symbiote is drawn to his anger and bonds with him, creating the first Venom. But if this image from Entertainment Weekly is any indication, the Venom film will have the symbiote forced upon Eddie Brock by Riz Ahmed's Dr. Carlton Drake. Even while strapped to a chair with a mad scientist glowering at him, it looks like Tom Hardy's Eddie Brock isn't scared, and is perhaps still arguing with his captor in this dire situation. His meddling will probably prove ill advised, if this is where he first bonds with the alien symbiote. Riz Ahmed looks truly sinister in this image and hopefully he will prove a menacing villain opposite the anti-hero.
The trailers have teased that Eddie Brock and Riz Ahmed's Dr. Carlton Drake will have an antagonistic relationship in this film, and this image shows just how far that enmity might go. In the trailers, journalist Eddie Brock is looking to expose Carlton Drake's horrible and fatal experiments on vulnerable people. It is obvious that Carlton Drake is either trying to achieve something specific with the symbiote, or simply experimenting to see what it can do. Perhaps, in looking to punish Eddie Brock by exposing him to the parasite, he discovers the one person that the symbiote is compatible with, and actually bonds to without killing. This would create for a very interesting dynamic, as Eddie Brock actively works against Carlton Drake, while Carlton actually needs to keep Eddie alive. But there's some speculation going on there.
This is a very dark origin for the violent character but he would be in good company, as plenty of heroes have been borne from experiments they were unwilling participants in. It also maintains that initially, Eddie Brock bonding with the symbiote wasn't a choice or some mantle he assumed, but was just something that happened. That helps to maintain the murkiness of the anti-hero persona, as he doesn't necessarily want to be doing what he's doing.
We still have a lot of questions about Venom and the Spider-verse as a whole, but hopefully some of them will be answered and maybe we'll even get a new trailer at San Diego Comic Con next week.
The symbiote spreads to theater screens when it opens on October 5th. For all of the biggest movies hitting theaters the rest of the year, take a look at our release schedule. Also check out our guide for everything coming down the pike in Sony's Spider-Man universe.
