From Bane To Venom: Tom Hardy Officially Cast As Eddie Brock

“Spider-Man: Homecoming” is swinging to theaters soon, and Sony has once again started to build on the hype surrounding Spidey’s imminent big screen return. The studio is laying down an expanded “Spider-Man” universe minus the partnership with Marvel. The famous alien symbiote Venom has been in development for a while and now we’ve just learned that Tom Hardy will star as the titular character with “Zombieland” director Ruben Fleischer to helm the film.

Tom Hardy Crossing From DC to Marvel For Venom Role

It’s very shocking and surprising to hear about Hardy changing roles from his previous supervillain Bane in Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight Rises.” But according to Deadline, Hardy is a big fan of the character and clearly thinks that there’s a lot of work that can be put in for “Venom.”

Tom Hardy is Eddie Brock in #Venom, the upcoming film from Sony’s Marvel Universe releasing October 5, 2018 – production starts this fall. pic.twitter.com/OZQqDEvoum

— Sony Pictures (@SonyPictures) May 19, 2017

2007’s “Spider-Man 3” featured the character as an alien symbiote that requires a human host to live and gives great power with little responsibility for the host.

Given that Marvel will not be involved in the movie, we can confirm that Tom Holland’s “Spider-Man” will not show up just yet. But with Sony also developing a Black Cat and Silver Sable spinoff, Venom and “Spider-Man” will most likely be involved very soon.

Venom Movie Gets An R-Rating

Few details have been revealed by Sony on Tom Hardy’s Venom casting other than it’s release date and R-rating. This is a bold and decisive move by the studio given the successes of the other superhero films with an R-rating. With the Marvel Cinematic Universe focusing on a more wholesome take on their heroes, Sony’s own cinematic universe might be heading for a darker and more intense portrayal of “Spider-Man” and his other villains. But with “Spider-Man” not a part of the film, it kind of looks and sounds weird for an anti-hero be outed without a protagonist to fight against.

With Venom being a sole property of Sony and not being a part of the Sony-Marvel deal, the studio might be faced with unappetizing options: either make an off-screen reference to “Spider-Man” without ever showing him or rewrite Venom’s origin where Peter Parker is never involved. But with these two options at hand, a Venom movie is pointless to even begin with.

It definitely is a weird choice to go down for Sony, but Tom Hardy casting as Venom is immensely exciting. We can’t wait to see how he makes an iconic villain even more iconic with his talented chops. Here’s BossLogic’s take on how the character would look like:

Worked on Tom Hardy as Venom with @comicbook today, personally I love the casting because I love tom 😀 pic.twitter.com/4indLVl10c

— BossLogic (@Bosslogic) May 20, 2017

The untitled Venom movie is set to hit theaters October 5, 2018.