The Venom franchise currently exists outside of a known Spider-Man universe, but fans lining up to see Tom Hardy as the titular symbiote all seem to be asking for a crossover between the wallcrawler and his constantly starving counterpart. Right now, that’s impossible to pull off, though Andy Serkis, the director of the upcoming Venom: Let There Be Carnage, teases fans that such a movie will happen… eventually.
Sony Pictures Entertainment held fans-only screenings for Andy Serkis’ Venom: Let There Be Carnage, with the director and lead star Tom Hardy swinging by theaters to participate in quick Q-and-A sessions. Prior to the screenings, Serkis did an Instagram Live with IGN and answered a question submitted by a fan about Venom and Spider-Man one day facing off, and Serkis replied:
Look, that's the question on everyone's lips. They want to know if Venom is gonna meet Spider-Man, but personally, it's never gonna happen. I'm only joking, of course it's gonna happen.
In a way, it can’t NOT happen. Venom is an extremely popular Marvel Comics character who was introduced in The Amazing Spider-Man books, but has since gone on to establish himself as an iconic solo character with a rich world of his own. Because the symbiote that bonds with Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) once belonged to Peter Parker, fans want to see these personalities crisscross.
But Andy Serkis does admit that bringing Spider-Man into the world right away would steal some important focus away from the characters that ARE in Venom’s world. And in continuing to answer the question, he addresses that issue by telling IGN:
Look, it depends when you want to get there, and also, what the appetite is. If people want more Venom stories, then, to jump straight to Spider-Man, you could be missing out on so many great supervillain characters in between now and then. So, in a way, by rushing to it, you might be closing the door.
Without revealing much, there are teases included in Venom: Let There Be Carnage that could easily continue to develop the world where Venom exists (one that likely includes Dr. Michael Morbius and Kraven the Hunter), and if Sony stayed on course, they wouldn’t need Spider-Man right away, because there are things storytellers could keep exploring for a few more films.
But Andy Serkis is right in saying that the appetite of the audience likely will dictate the direction that Sony goes with the Venom franchise… and it requires some participation from Marvel Studios, who currently are sharing Spider-Man with Sony in the MCU movies, which will continue with Spider-Man: No Way Home this coming December. Sony also moved Venom: Let There Be Carnage up to October 1, after bouncing the movie around its release calendar. Which means fans won’t have to wait that long to see how the relationship between Eddie Brock (Hardy) and Venom has developed.
