Jon Schnepp of Collider’s Movie Talk Podcast revealed Tom Holland was seen on set for Sony’s upcoming Venom stand-alone film, a film Kevin Feige insisted had zero connection to the MCU. The stipulations that bind Sony and Marvel's landmark deal were always sort of euphemistic. Since its inception, both parties expressed extensive plans for their respective Spider-Men, whilst hastening to say their worlds would steer clear from each other.
Holland’s web-slinger is already a fan favorite of the MCU, and all indications suggest the actor is going to play ball for a while. Even after the Marvel deal, Sony producer Amy Pascal plans on forging ahead with her Spidey-Verse. Planned films also include a Silver Sable film, the Venom film, in addition to an Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse animated film, which comes out later this year.
We know Silver Sable has plenty of her own adventures in the comics without the web-head, and a lot of them work just fine. Venom is a little different though. They’re doing some interesting stuff with the symbiote in the books lately, but for most of his career, he was an aesthetically cool but boring character, who only really works as physical embodiment of Peter's interpersonal and internal struggles. Venom is just a big hulking monster.
That isn’t to say the upcoming Venom movie is going to suck if Spider-Man isn’t in it, but I will be a lot more at ease if it turns out he was, specifically the Spider-Man of the MCU.
There are downsides to Holland’s character, of course, namely how it relates to the carefully crafted universe that Kevin Feige and Co. established thus far. Does Holland’s inclusion mean Tom Hardy’s Venom is officially a part of the MCU? I guess we’ll find out sooner than later, but Sony doesn’t have the best track record. If Marvel allows the precedent that Sony can produce in-house movies occasionally associated with the MCU, it can only end badly.
Stay tuned as the Venom movie develops.
