Tom Hardy Teases ‘Venom’s Gruesome Kills

It’s easy to forget after so many Marvel movies in 2018 that Sony is releasing its adaptation of Venom this fall, just in time for the Halloween season. In a new EW feature on Venom, star Tom Hardy described why his alien-human hybrid character is too violent to be a traditional hero, and the truly gruesome ways Venom chooses to dispatch bad guys.

According to Hardy, Venom’s human host, reporter Eddie Brock is “an everyday kind of guy,” who we know pursues truth in his journalism with tenacity (a character just some fans object to); however, when he comes into contact with the alien symbiote, “he’s inherited this massive ego, this beast.”

The combination of clashing personalities will result in Venom, who will carry Brock’s (somewhat) noble inclinations getting a new Venom-style interpretation, taking out foes in ways that don’t fit the mold of your typical Marvel hero:

“There’s that biting-off-heads issue,” Hardy admits, “which is not what you would expect from, say, Captain America taking down a crook.”

That little tease of some gruesome kills should be a thrill for fans of the classic version of Venom’s character, which very much followed that dark kind of crime-fighter logic.

The newly-released image of Venom in full close-up only further proves that director Ruben Fleischer is not shying away from the horror (and body horror) elements of this film and character – which is a much-needed positive. So far, the fact that Venom is not connected to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and seems to be making some big deviations from canon, has hardcore fans feeling ambivalent towards the film. The real goal, of course, is attracting a mainstream crowd; Venom‘s combination of horror, and a comically violent Deadpool-esque tone, could definitely score big with audiences.

So far, Venom has been on a slow but steady rise in terms of anticipation and buzz. While all the talk of Avengers: Infinity War, Deadpool 2, and Ant-Man and the Wasp has been going on, the Venom trailer has racked up more views than any other Spider-Man movie. Additionally, teases of a larger franchise future have already gotten fans invested in giving Venom room to grow beyond one film. Woody Harrelson has already been teasing a larger role (possibly as Carnage) in Venom 2; while Sony has already announced another horror-themed Spider-Man spinoff, with Jared Leto starring as Morbius The Living Vampire. With Tom Holland’s Spider-Man rumored to pop-up here and there, Venom is already looking like a sandbox Marvel fans want to start playing in.

We’ll know for sure when Venom hits theaters on October 5th.