Tom Hardy Compares 'Venom' Character to Ren and Stimpy

If you're looking for something to compare Venom too, you might not immediately think of Ren & Stimpy, but Tom Hardy explains why the comparison works.

Hardy will be bringing Eddie Brock to the big screen in Sony's Venom solo film, and early trailers show how different the voices will be between Brock and his symbiote counterpart. In a new interview with EW, Hardy reveals his Venom dynamic is similar to a Nickelodeon favorite...Ren & Stimpy.

"It's a bit like Ren and Stimpy, you know?" Hardy said, laughing. "They have different sounds. I always saw Venom as sounding like a James Brown lounge lizard, and Eddie Brock is kind of…" — he switches to an aw-shucks American accent — "I don't know, an everyday kind of guy. But he's inherited this massive ego, this beast."

It might seem odd to juxtapose Ren & Stimpy against Venom, but once you think about it for a bit...okay it's still weird, but you get the point. For those who aren't familiar with that Ren & Stimpy, it followed a dimwitted but lovable Chihuahua and cat duo who had all sorts of weird adventures on Nickelodeon from 1991 to 1996.

Don't expect any Ren & Stimpy slapstick from this take on the Marvel character though, as this version will focus on the unique relationship between host and symbiote according to Venom director Rueben Fleischer.

"Usually a human gets imbued with powers or an alien comes from outer space and has to figure out how to live on our Earth," Fleischer says. "But this is really about a relationship between two people who have to work together to create this hybrid symbiotic relationship."

Venom will put Tom Hardy in the role of Eddie Brock, a reporter who is investigating the Life Foundation, a business associate of his girlfriend Annie, played by Michelle Williams. The Life Foundation's leader Carlton Drake (played by Riz Ahmed) reveals they discovered an alien life form called symbiotes that have the ability to bond to human hosts. Unfortunately for Eddie, one ends up bonding to him, but he soon learns it is sentient, and when it takes over he becomes the lethal protector Venom.

Venom stars Tom Hardy (Eddie Brock), Michelle Williams (Anne Weying), Woody Harrelson, Riz Ahmed (Dr. Carlton Drake), Jenny Slate, Scott Haze, Michelle Lee (Donna Diego), Wayne Pere (Dr. Emerson), Christian Convery (Joey), and Reid Scott.

Venom hits theaters on October 5.