Has ‘Venom’ Lost Its Potency?
According to Variety, director Gary Ross is in talks to write and direct a Venom spin-off movie for Columbia Pictures. Ross previously worked on a rewrite of the forthcoming Spider-Man 4 movie, and will begin the Venom script when the next Spidey film is done.
Venom Recast
Try as you may, most movie-goers cannot seem to forget the laughable performance Topher Grace put forth as Eddie Brock in Spider-Man 3. Largely unsuited for the role, Grace was chosen as a “similar-physiqued” opposite to Tobey Maguire’s web-slinger. Most fans at the time were well aware of the pressure exerted by Columbia Pictures execs on director Sam Raimi to finish off the storyline, essentially throwing in the Venom character at the last minute. The result was a rushed plot and a movie that did no justice to the beloved villain. Who can forget how Brock slowly and menacingly stalked Peter Parker and his family with all the secrets the suit gave him in the comic books? None of that was present in the film.
Restarting the Character
The best hope for Columbia Pictures is a reintroduction of the character. Although this may seem unlikely after Venom’s apparent demise by goblin bomb at the end of SM3, if they’re willing to start over, we’re willing to look away.
What do you think about the new Venom movie? Should director Gary Ross reintroduce the character, or attempt to carry on after what happened in SM3?
[Source: Variety]
great post as usual!
I think Topher Grace was largely unpopular, not because he didn’t know how to portray Eddie Brock or his counter-part Venom, but rather his physique simply wasn’t adequate. Here you have this lanky guy trying to be menacing in the way that a linebacker or a bouncer is supposed to be. It just doesn’t work well with the human psyche. Eddie brock, or even the venom portrait you show-hes overly muscular even to the point of being grotesque. I believe he would have faired uch better playing Carnage one of my personal favorite villians.