Finally, Tom Hardy weighs in on the Venom crossover with Spider-Man that never got to be. Venom originated as one of Spider-Man’s most famous villains, and despite Marvel Comics’ attempts to rebrand the character as an anti-hero and give him his own rich mythology, Venom is forever linked to Spider-Man in fans’ minds. Ever since the release of Venom in 2018, fans have been hoping for some crossover between Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock / Venom and Tom Holland’s Peter Parker / Spider-Man. Despite a promising tease at the end of Venom: Let There Be Carnage that found Eddie Brock transported into the MCU, the post-credit scene of Spider-Man: No Way Home showed Venom transported back to his universe, with The Last Dance picking up that storyline.
Speaking with The Playlist, Hardy was asked about any plans to have Venom crossover with Spider-Man. Hardy spoke about how the Venom: Let There Be Carnage post-credit scene was the closest they could reasonably get, alluding to some behind-the-scenes issues that kept the two from crossing over. Hardy said his significant motivating factor for trying to get Venom and Spider-Man to cross over was for the kids, both his own but also young superhero fans. Regarding a Spider-Man and Venom crossover, Hardy said:

“We got close. We got as close as I could possibly imagine getting, apart from doing a film together, which I would have loved to have done because that just means so much fun…Fundamentally, for me, it would be for the kids. Because, you know, as much as adults love superhero films, as you can tell by the box office when they’re successful, I think I’m constantly reminded by children how important these characters are. And they don’t know why their favorite characters aren’t in films together.”

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Hardy spoke about the limitations he and the creative team behind the Venom trilogy were given. Due to the Sony Pictures/Marvel Studios contract that allows Spider-Man to appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and for MCU characters to appear in Spider-Man productions, the solo films based around Spider-Man supporting characters had to follow. Despite the limitations, Hardy enjoyed his tenure playing Venom. Hardy said:

“We were given a set of boundaries, and we were just really privileged to be able to play with a much-beloved IP like Venom in a way that we were allowed to play and in that [regard], we did what we could and what we loved doing. We poured all of ourselves into it within the remits of what we were allowed to do with him. And so the enjoyment of the work outweighed the limits of our possibilities with him because we just focused on what we were allowed to do. And we loved doing it.”

Can Venom Meet Spider-Man in ‘Avengers: Doomsday?’

Sony Pictures

When it was first announced that Sony was making a solo Venom movie, there were many questions regarding whether it would be connected to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Some rumors say that Tom Holland filmed a cameo for Venom, but Marvel Studios rejected it. However, this rumor has never been authenticated. Even with Venom opening the same year as Avengers: Infinity War and Venom: Let There Be Carnage opening two months before Spider-Man: No Way Home, Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures kept firm boundaries between what each respective film could and could not reference.
For now, it appears that Hardy’s tenure as the Lethal Protector is over. Venom: The Last Dance was marketed as the final film in the trilogy, which included a bittersweet goodbye between Eddie Brock and the alien symbiote. While the film did end with a tease for Venom’s return, Sony Pictures seemed to have canceled plans for their poorly-named Spider-Man Universe after the critical and financial flops of Madame Web and Kraven the Hunter in 2024. Despite Venom: The Last Dance being released between those two films and performing better, it did underperform compared to the previous two films in the franchise, suggesting audiences were getting fed up with the lost potential of Venom and Spider-Man crossing over. Venom: The Last Dance was the final outing for Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock.
Yet, anything is possible in a multiverse. With Avengers: Doomsday bringing back various cast members from the 20th Century Fox X-Men films, that opens the door for other non-MCU Marvel movie actors to return. Even though Tom Holland is not yet confirmed to return for Avengers: Doomsday, many fans expect his announcement for the cast soon. If not, he will likely be a big player in Avengers: Secret Wars. Rumors for Secret Wars suggest a massive Marvel multiversal team-up, possibly leaving the door open for Hardy to reprise his role as Venom and finally share the screen alongside Holland’s Spider-Man. It might have taken ten years since Hardy first signed on to play Venom in 2017, but it would be well worth the wait to see Venom and Spider-Man finally fighting one another, or likely alongside each other, in what could be the MCU’s epic finale.
Source: The Playlist

Venom

Release Date

October 5, 2018

Runtime

112 Minutes

Sequel(s)

Venom: Let There Be Carnage