We’re getting closer to the release of Marc Webb’s The Amazing Spider-Man, which is allowing Sony to better explain how this reboot of the Web Head’s cinematic legacy fits into past films (and possible future films).
I’ve seen Webb’s film, and can talk about it closer to release date. What I can say at this point is that it is a reset of Spidey’s origin, with a fresh take on some of the character’s pivotal biographical moments. The radioactive spider bite. The death of Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen). His first kiss with true love Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone). They’re all there … just different, and part of a marginally different Spider-Man universe that dares to stand on its own.
As a result, characters we saw in Sam Raimi’s three Spider-Man movies aren’t as off-limits as we might have assumed. In fact, Amazing Spider-Man producers Avi Arad and Matthew Tolmach let it slip over the weekend at the film’s press junket that Spidey’s hulking rival Venom could play a significant role in potential sequels … after he gets his own film.
Speaking with Hollywood.com, Tolmach said that their next film would center on Eddie Brock, who eventually becomes Venom when he comes in contact with an aggressive alien symbiote. And the Venom movie could eventually tie in to the work they are doing on Amazing Spider-Man, or, as Tolmach says, they’d “live together in peace someday,” the way the individual Marvel Studios lived together in an Avengers universe.
When asked about the Venom movie, Arad clarified, “It's an Eddie Brock story. We want to be as close to the comics as possible. Especially in Eddie Brock's story. But again, pseudo-science is becoming science. All these tidbits about webs, artificial webs, is a huge industry now. Spiderwebs have unique qualities that will be huge for communications, fibers, and so forth. So we have taken the approach that we want to make the huge amazing movie about Eddie."
And, eventually, Brock theoretically could find himself in a Spider-Man sequel, doing battle with – or fighting alongside – Andrew Garfield’s wallcrawler.
What do you think? Can they do Venom justice without first introducing the alien symbiote? Is it time for Marvel to mount a Secret Wars project? I know, I know. Too much. For now, just be happy that Spidey’s back on screen beginning July 3 … and rejoice in the fact that he might be joined by Venom in the near future.
Follow along on Twitter @Sean_OConnell and @Fandango
