Hollywood star Tom Hardy has gone viral on social media for his recent claims about the Spider-Man replacement inside Sony’s Spider-Man Universe.
On the one hand, there is the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Disney and Marvel Studios’ multi-billion dollar franchise. On the other, there is the not quite as successful (or popular) Sony’s Spider-Man Universe.
While Sony Pictures has owned the rights to the famous New York wallcrawler and his associated characters and entities for years and years, the iteration of Spider-Man in Kevin Feige’s MCU is one of the most celebrated in comic book movie history.
Long before Tom Holland stepped into the Spidey suit, two others had brought Peter Parker to life on the big screen. In 2002 there was Tobey Maguire, who appeared in Sam Raimi’s trilogy–Spider-Man (2002), Spider-Man 2 (2004), and Spider-Man 3 (2007).
Five years later, Sony once again rebooted the Spider-Man narrative, except this time, Andrew Garfield took on the role. He did so for both of Marc Webb’s entries, The Amazing Spider-Man (2014) and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014), co-starring with Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy, but the sequel’s poor reception caused further plans to be written off.
Then came Holland, who starred as the character in multiple MCU movies, including his own trilogy and two Avengers films. In Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), director Jon Watts brought back Maguire and Garfield to join Holland in a Multiversal adventure.
As the dust settles on Spider-Man in both the MCU and the SSU, another fan-favorite character is on his way to return.
Tom Hardy was last seen as Eddie Brock/Venom in the post-credits scene of Spider-Man: No Way Home, where he was eventually transported back to his own universe but not before inadvertently leaving behind a drop of the symbiote.
Prior to this, Hardy starred in his own Venom (2018) sequel, Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021), alongside Woody Harrelson as Cletus Kassady, AKA Carnage.
Neither Venom nor Venom: Let There Be Carnage were well-received by critics, but both proved to be box office successes. Ruben Fleischer’s Venom scored a huge $856 million, while Andy Serkis’ Let There Be Carnage beat the pandemic box office odds and netted over half a billion.
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Due to the commercial response to the SSU’s Venom series, a third movie is set to be released on October 25, 2024, just before Halloween. Venom: The Last Dance is written and directed by Kelly Marcel, who wrote the first two movies, and sees Tom Hardy reprise his role as Eddie Brock alongside Chiwetel Ejiofor, Juno Temple, Rhys Ifans, Peggy Lu, Alana Ubach, Stephen Graham, Clark Backo, and Cristo Fernández.
It is still unconfirmed as to whether Michelle Williams will return as Anne Weying in the third Venom movie.
Is Spider-Man in Venom 3?
An important character in the Venom mythos has been missing from every movie so far. Spider-Man, Venom’s longtime opponent, has not yet appeared in the SSU, but Tom Hardy’s recent comments have caused excitement online.
In an interview with Forbes, the British actor discussed the Venom movies and how the series has been received so far.
“People were going to judge us, you know? Marvel Universe under [Kevin] Feige’s management is doing so well,” Hardy said.
He continued: “Spider-Man has gone to Feige’s camp at Marvel. We have one [at Sony]! To me and Kelly [Marcel], it’s so important to pour in everything that we can to build on that opportunity. So by the third one now, Kelly is directing it, she’s writing – I’m attached to it at the hip and shoulder, like whatever you need, we’ll figure it out.”
Hardy’s comments have caused both confusion and excitement. Does the actor mean the SSU has its own version of Peter Parker that’s not Tom Holland? Or does he mean that Venom is actually the SSU’s “Spider-Man” character?
Either way, Hardy’s comments went viral, with one news outlet’s report on the matter gaining 2 million views and hundreds of comments on X (formerly Twitter).
While it may not have been connected to the greater SSU, Sony’s box office disaster Madame Web (2024) did introduce a new Peter Parker–although it seems that storyline will be going no further.
Hardy’s comment to Forbes has blown up online, with many fans on X claiming this so-called SSU Spider-Man is actually Andrew Garfield’s version of the character. That said, recent reports claim that a 10-year-old Peter Parker will be appearing in The Last Dance, replacing Garfield, Maguire, and Holland.
Despite the negative reception to The Amazing Spider-Man movies, Garfield’s performance as Peter Parker is beloved by many. This was further cemented upon his return to the character in No Way Home in 2021. Following his role in the MCU movie, many fans wished that The Amazing Spider-Man 3 would be brought back to the table.
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This is further heightened by reports that Garfield’s Peter Parker became stuck in Venom’s universe following the events of No Way Home. Although, the truth of this rumor is shaky at best.
There is also the case of Rhys Ifans, who played Dr. Curt Connors, AKA Lizard, in The Amazing Spider-Man alongside Garfield–his role in Venom 3 is still undisclosed…
It is possible that Venom: The Last Dance will bring Garfield into the mix, considering how well-received his return was three years ago. Only time will tell, though, and fans will have to head down to movie theaters in October to find out who this mysterious “Spider-Man” is.
Do you think Spider-Man will show up in Venom: The Last Dance? Let us know in the comments down below!
The movies making up Sony’s Spider-Man Universe are Venom (2018), Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021), Morbius (2022), and Madame Web (2024). Upcoming films include Venom: The Last Dance (2024) and Kraven the Hunter (2024) starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson.
This post Tom Hardy Goes Viral After Spider-Man Replacement Claims appeared first on Inside the Magic.
