With the holidays officially behind us, Venom star Tom Hardy is back at work on the upcoming Marvel film, taking a moment to share a photo on his Instagram page with producer Avi Arad.
The above photo is far from an official glimpse at the character, but Hardy does appear to be wearing some sort of military garb with kneepads, possibly confirming that the film will be at least somewhat inspired by the Agent Venom incarnation of the character.
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While this look is more recent for the character, Hardy recently shared with Comic Con Experience 2017 in Sao Paulo, Brazil that the storyline will be inspired by the 1993 six-issue miniseries Venom: Lethal Protector.
In this storyline, Venom and Spider-Man agree to a truce, resulting in Venom moving to San Francisco, California. Shortly after his arrival, the son of one of his victim’s hunts him down in hopes of extracting the secrets of the symbiote. Ultimately, five new symbiotes are created, birthing Scream, Phage, Riot, Lasher and Agony.
One tweak to this original story that some fans have anticipated is that Carnage will be one of the new symbiotes, as Riz Ahmed is rumored to be playing the character, potentially serving as Venom’s foe.
The upcoming film will be the first in the “Sony Marvel Universe,” which takes place in the same world as Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, despite that character not appearing in the film.
Another bold move that the upcoming Venom will take is it will be more sci-fi and horror-oriented, in addition to being R-rated.
Columbia Pictures president Stanford Panitch has previously teased that this film will feel more inspired by the works of filmmakers like John Carpenter and David Cronenberg, yet with “more pop and fun.” With Carpenter’s The Thing featuring a symbiote replicating researchers at an Antarctic base and Cronenberg regularly exploring the horrors of science going too far, these influences seem like appropriate filmmakers for Venom to borrow from.
Michelle Williams and Jenny Slate will star alongside Hardy and Ahmed, with rumors hinting at Woody Harrelson making an appearance. Zombieland‘s Ruben Fleischer is directing the picture.
Venom opens October 5.
[H/T Instagram, tomhardy]