The most popular character in the entire Spider-Man universe, just a shade under the wallcrawler himself, is Venom. The symbiotic villain turned anti-hero turned villain again was last seen in Spider-Man 3 played by Topher Grace in the...underwhelming final Spidey film from Sam Raimi, and rumors of a spinoff have persisted since long before that. Back in 2009, Gary Ross(Seabiscuit) was set to lead the film, but with plans for Spider-Man 4 canned and Sony turning to Marc Webb for the current reboot, we haven't heard anything on it since. Now it's looking like the project is being revived, with one of the hottest young directors in talks to take it on.
Josh Trank, the 27-year old director who hit it big with Chronicle, a low budget flick centered on superpowered teens, is in talks to lead the Venom spinoff. In the wake of his success we've heard his name thrown into the ring for a possible Fantastic Four relaunch headed up by Fox, but it appears Sony may lock him up first. The plan is to find a new writer, ignoring the draft written by Jacob Estes a few years ago, and to also recast the lead role of Eddie Brock. Sorry, Topher Grace fans.
For those who may not be up on their Spider-Lore, Eddie Brock was a journalist who was jealous and vengeful against Spider-Man. Becoming suicidal after being shown up by Spidey one too many times, Brock becomes merged with a gooey, evil alien symbiote becoming Venom. Venom would ultimately become a brain eating anti-hero, occasionally teaming up with Spidey, although his hatred would eventually resurface. It's that anti-hero version that would be the focus of the film, minus the brain eating. Probably.
Venom was a character who might've made for a great film a decade ago, but now I'm not sure sure. If Trank is going to stay in the world of super folks, Fantastic Four is probably the best way to go. Although it'll be interesting to see how much it would tie into The Amazing Spider-Man, if at all. [24 Frames]
