It's no secret that comic book movies are everywhere, with plenty of studios getting in on the action with their own cinematic universe. Sony's recent endeavors include the Oscar winning animated blockbuster Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, as well as Tom Hardy's raucous debut as Eddie Brock in Venom. While the latter didn't fare well critically, it connected with audiences and made a ton of money at the box office.
Given Venom's success, a sequel was all but guaranteed-- especially given the Woody Harrelson-revealing credits scene. Rumors have started swirling about possible directors to helm the sequel, taking over for Zombieland filmmaker Ruben Fleischer. One of the names that has been at the top of list is filmmaker/actor Andy Serkis, who has a ton of experience with motion capture and visual effects work. Now Tom Hardy has added fuel to the fire, posting (and then promptly deleting) a photo of Serkis with a vague caption. Check out his post below:
This photo comes from Tom Hardy's personal Instagram page (via Screen Rant), although he's since deleted the Andy Serkis tribute photo. While not outright confirming that Serkis would be helming Venom's highly anticipated sequel, his unprompted posting of the rumored director seems like suspect timing, given how the rumors have been swirling.
Reports about Andy Serkis' potential involvement in Venom 2 came a week ago, and the internet as been ablaze since. The rumor claims that Serkis is Sony's top pick to direct the Venom sequel, likely due to his long career in visual affect-dominated projects. But he's apparently not alone in the race to helm the project. According to the same report, Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ Rupert Wyatt and Bumblebee’s Travis Knight are also in talks to possibly get behind the camera for the Spider-verse.
All three of these directors make perfect sense, so it appears that Sony is looking for an experience director to handle Venom's sophomore run in theaters. Since the character exists solely through visual effects, it seems the studio is hoping to land a director who has experience on the matter. Rupert Wyatt obviously dealt with a ton of motion capture and effects for his Planet of the Apes sequel, while Travis Knight had a CGI protagonist and Bayhem on his hands for Bumblebee.
Of course, Andy Serkis has the most motion capture and visual effects credits on his long resume. As an actor, his mo-cap performance have brought life to Lord of the Rings' Gollum, Star Wars' Supreme Leader Snoke, and Planet of the Apes' Caesar to name a few. And as a director, he's recently helmed Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle, which relied heavily on visual effects (he also played the character Baloo).
Related: Venom Co-Creator Suggests Critics Were Too Old To Appreciate The Movie
Venom succeeded by bringing something unique to the genre, and not taking itself too seriously. Despite its flaws, the movie still really connected with audiences, and bringing something unique to the superhero genre. Whoever helms Venom 2 must try and replicate the same magic, while expanding the lore of the budding franchise.
It's unclear when Venom 2 will arrive in theaters, but CinemaBlend will keep you updated on the latest. In the meantime, check out our 2019 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.
