Venom Comic Co-Creator Reveals What He Would’ve Done Differently With The Movie Trilogy, And I'd Totally Be Up For This Reboot

Last year’s Venom: The Last Dance closed out a chapter of MCU-buttressing history that the 2025 movie schedule, as well as the upcoming Marvel movies lineup, probably won’t see a return from. Despite arguably being the symbiote core of Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, Venom and other webslinger-adjacent baddies likely had their fates sealed by Kraven the Hunter's poor box office and audience reactions.

With that in mind, the MCU will probably want to bring the Lethal Protector back into the fold at some point. And considering what co-creator Todd McFarlane has said about what he’d do differently, I can’t knock this notion by a long tongue. Errr. by a long shot, rather.

Todd McFarlane’s Problem With How Sony Handled Venom Is Still Valid

On hand for Orlando’s Megacon event for a panel with Todd McFarlane, CBR reported the the creator of the cult comic classic Spawn discussed how he’d take a crack at Eddie Brock’s Symbiote-enhanced double life in live-action. But to truly understand why he holds his current opinion, one first needd to know what Mr. McFarlane thinks of the Tom Hardy trilogy.

Here’s Todd McFarlane’s views on how Sony handled Venom's three films, which I think plenty of fans could agree with, regardless of one's mileage. In his words:

As far as the current Venom trilogy is concerned, Mr. Brock and his Symbiote were a pair of goofy anti-heroes that may or may not have loved each other. The co-creator's comments about the character's turn to non-villainy are definitely reflected across the three Tom Hardy-starring films, which became increasingly more ridiculous as Venom and Eddie's relationship ebbed and flowed. So to have someone like McFarlane step in and turn Venom back into the comics' hellacious monster for the MCU? Yes, please.

While Venom’s Co-Creator Made His Peace With Tom Hardy’s Movies, I’d Still Watch An R-Rated Reboot

What we’ve called “The Great Venom Debate” in the past is a larger sticking point that we’ve seen recur throughout the history of Todd McFarlane’s work being adapted. Just as the 1997 film version of Spawn delivered a PG-13 version of the wildly graphic and hard-edged comic to the silver screen, the same happened with Venom.

Though McFarlane was “hands off” on Venom for his own reasons, here’s what his more hands-on approach would have been like:

History seems to be echoing itself at this current moment, as Todd McFarlane’s still developing Spawn reboot is the closest thing we’ve seen to the very R-rated creator reimagining a creation in his own image. While he doesn’t outright say it in this Megacon panel, I wouldn’t be surprised if the comic genius in question would grab that brass ring and bring his version of Venom to the movies.

Which would be kind of fantastic, especially if Todd McFarlane was given his mature-skewing dream ticket. I don't think it'd be the first bite of the apple, but eventually if the McFarlane saga became a hit, I'd bet that Carnage would be re-done in that R-rating we wished was present for Venom: Let There Be Carnage.

That potential, and any other hypotheticals, are something that probably sits off in the distance, especially with Spider-Man 4 on the fast track for July 2026, and the MCU’s other R-rated reboot Blade currently being stuck in a holding pattern. While the issue of older critics opinions on Venom may still be a bit of a problem by time this possibility is even considered, I think even the most cynical parties would buy a ticket to see how a McFarlane variant of his Marvel villain would play out.