Yes, Sony is developing a Venom movie.
Not that this hasn’t been tried before. New Line owned the rights to Venom in the late 90s and did absolutely nothing with it, now it seems that the character’s lackluster adaptation in Spider-Man 3 has lead to a Sony coup on the symbiote.
Word is that Topher Grace is out as Eddie Brock as the studio thinks he can’t handle a movie of this size himself (which is odd, because he can). Also, a previous Venom script by fairly-green scribe Jacob Estes is out and a new writer is being sought to take Venom in “a different direction.”
So where does this leave us, the Marvel fans?
Well, for one, this bodes ill for the 2011 Spider-Man 4 we’ve been hearing about, since it’s perfectly feasible that a good Venom script would eclipse the return-to-form Spidey 4 needs to be for Sony after they renewed their rights to the character from Marvel Studios (who you know is just waiting to integrate their biggest character into their unified universe). Much like X-Men Origins: Wolverine is going to spice-up the X-Franchise that Bret Ratner drove into the ground, Venom would ideally boost Spider-Man in time for 4 to roll around.
Also, there is the fanbase who saw one of their favorite characters relegated to a second/third class villain (venom got less screen time than Sandman, and was less important then Green Goblin 2). Are they going to flock to another possible pillaging of one of their favorite villains.
Also, how can a Venom movie exist without Spider-Man? So much was left unresolved between Brock and Peter Parker in 3 that some reference must be made. It would be acceptable to add in another Marvel rogue, but since Marvel Studios has taken off with Iron Man and The Hulk, they would be smart to hold their properties close to the chest.
If you want to know what a compelling Venom story looks like, free of all the studio bullshit that will likely mar this film into mediocrity, check out the new trailer for the video game Spider-Man: Web of Shadows.
Symbiote Wolverine? That we can get behind.
