‘Venom’ Director Addresses the Much-Maligned Trailer That Didn’t Show Venom

Venom director Ruben Fleischer revealed the controversial premiere teaser trailer concealed its titular anti-hero because the VFX weren't yet ready.

"I'm really pleased with the way the marketing for this film has gone. I think the trailer guys have done a great job of building anticipation. The first trailer was truly a teaser," Fleischer says in Total Film Magazine.

"I think it did tease everybody. That's why people were pissed, because they wanted more. The truth is, the VFX weren't ready, so that's the main thing. But I also think it's good to leave them wanting more. Isn't that the first rule of entertainment, that you leave them wanting more?"

Subsequent trailers showed star Tom Hardy's Eddie Brock transform into the hulking, big-toothed half-man-half-alien creature, revealing a comic book-accurate look ripped straight from the pages of Marvel Comics.

"Hopefully people will be excited they get to see him in all his glory, and won't be disappointed by it," Fleischer said.

"But they've also been, you know, really eager to see it. It's a sign of excitement that the marketing department has been able to build through the process. If they'd given everything away at first blush, I'm not sure that people would still be invested."

Early tracking reports released by Box Office Pro have the Spider-Man-less Marvel adaptation tracking for an opening somewhere in the neighborhood of $55 million — $85 million, results that would top the Sandra Bullock and George Clooney-led Gravity for best-ever October opening.

The first entry in Sony's planned contained universe — officially dubbed "Sony's Universe of Marvel Characters" — Venom is the studio's attempt to utilize a library of 900-something Marvel Comics characters to spin a web and realize a shared continuity in the vein of Marvel Studios' Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Hardy has inked a three-movie deal, typically an industry standard for major IPs, which could see the star reprise the role in two subsequent Venom sequels or appear elsewhere in the SUMC, which aims to expand with solo flicks for Spider-Man frenemies Morbius, Black Cat, and Silver Sable.

Starring Hardy, Riz Ahmed (Rogue One), Michelle Williams (The Greatest Showman), Ron Cephas Jones (Luke Cage), and Jenny Slate (The LEGO Batman Movie), Venom opens October 5.