Summary
- Venom almost crossed over with Spider-Man in No Way Home, but it never materialized due to studio complications.
- The differing personalities and portrayals of Venom and Spider-Man made the crossover difficult to envision.
- The complex relationship between Sony and Marvel, as well as conflicting character rights, pose challenges for potential crossovers.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is open to a world of potential right now due to the multiverse storyline. Various heroes and villains have been able to genuinely appear in recent years who would never normally have been showcased, and that could have impacted Marvel Studios’ Spider-Man movies.
Tom Holland shared the screen with various former superhero stars in Spider-Man: No Way Home, which was a lot of fun to see. However, he almost got the chance to do it with an iconic Spider-Man villain in Tom Hardy’s Venom.
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Tom Hardy Reveals How Close Things Came
It Seemed Like They Were Destined To Meet On The Grandest Stage
From the moment that Hardy took on the role of Venom, there has been a lot of speculation regarding the possibility of him appearing in a Marvel Studios movie. The character is a significant one in this franchise, but because he’s being used by Sony, they’re not able to just throw him out there to mix it up with Holland’s character. Instead, they would’ve needed to use Hardy and the version that Sony had created, and that was even teased within the movies. During Venom: The Last Dance’s post-credits scene, Venom was sent from his own universe to that of Holland’s. That got people excited about the possible crossover, but only for Spider-Man: No Way Home, to send him back without the two iconic characters meeting. It was disappointing, and Hardy revealed to The Playlist’s The Discourse podcast how close that came to being a reality.
He said, “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.” That tease has had lots of people speculating ever since, but while it might seem like a good idea on paper, the reality could’ve been very different.
Venom And Spider-Man Are Very Different Personalities
It Would Have Been Tough To Bring Them Together
Venom has traditionally been seen as a major nemesis for Spider-Man in the comics and other movies, but Sony’s trilogy of Venom films switched things up slightly. While he had aggressive tendencies and an unhinged nature, he was essentially turned into an antihero, which was necessary for him to work as a lead character in a trilogy of films. However, putting that version of Venom into the Marvel world would have been hard to imagine. Fans would’ve expected him to be a villain, but that’s not how Hardy would’ve been presented, and that is where the situation could have become messy overall.
Hardy’s character was also very different in terms of personality, attitude, and overall presentation when compared to the cleaner Spider-Man that Marvel has created with Holland. It’s hard to imagine how those characters would’ve worked together on-screen, regardless of the talent that both actors obviously would’ve brought. The fact that it never ended up happening proves that there were obstacles that couldn’t be overcome, whether that was down to the script or who was going to be making all the decisions. This is why it never ended up materializing, and while it might have been a fun visual moment, it’s not something that would’ve worked in the long term.
Sony And Marvel Struggle To Work Together
There Would Have Been Lots Of Compromises From Each Side
Ultimately, it’s easy to see how Venom and Spider-Man being together on-screen would get a lot of interest. But it’s also clear that it would’ve been a disaster. Sony and Marvel might’ve worked together with the rights to certain characters, such as Spider-Man himself. While various former heroes from their films have appeared, such as Wolverine and Beast. However, they haven’t always had the perfect working relationship, and that’s something that continues to this day. It was recently revealed that Spider-Man is unable to appear in any of Marvel’s television shows, while Kingpin cannot show up in any of the movies. That proves that things aren’t totally smoothed over with this working relationship, and that is going to be the case forever, as it’s challenging for them to work as one.
That’s why it’s likely that having Venom and Spider-Man working in the same movie would be almost impossible. Both characters are strong within their own franchises. Therefore, the idea that one of them might have to compromise to make the other one look stronger, it’s hard to imagine either studio backing down. Venom’s character in the Sony movies isn’t the traditional villain that Marvel would likely want Hardy to be either, which would have provided another roadblock. While he’s a character, Marvel fans absolutely want to turn up in a Spider-Man film, the idea of Hardy’s version turning up wouldn’t have been the crossover that everyone intended it to be.
