As expressed in my recent episode of Cinema Royale, I've got serious misgivings about Sony's plan to create a cinematic universe of Spider-Man supporting characters, without Spidey having anything to do with it. It appears the ground floor of this thing will be the Venom movie they announced last year and was recently given a date in 2018. While they also have a Black Cat/Silver Sable teamup in the works, Venom appears to be central figure of this universe, and now we're learning some details on their approach. To be fair, they make a lot of sense.
According to Collider, Venom is being planned as an R-rated movie. Meanwhile, My Entertainment World categorizes it as an action/horror/sci-fi that will begin shooting this fall. If true, this means Sony is attempting a vastly different universe than what Marvel has right now, one that may take a darker tone similar to Marvel's Netflix shows. Despite beginning as Spider-Man's nemesis, Venom sort of broke away and became his own thing, even going through stretches where he was depicted as a horror character. He's an alien symbiote with powers that would fit perfectly in an Invasion of the Body Snatchers-style flick, so I dig where they COULD be going here.
On the other hand, it's sad to have a Venom movie without his natural nemesis, and all I can think about is the wasted potential. I also can't shake the feeling Sony is moving too far too fast on this, the same mistake they made with The Amazing Spider-Man.
Venom is set to open October 5th 2018 but still doesn't have a star or director, so they gots to get movin' on that.
