One day a superhero movie will “go lighter” – perhaps with some Buzz Berkeley song-and-dance numbers or a Mel Brooks cameo – but it’s safe to say that Sony’s planned **Venom **spinoff will not be that movie. Sloughing off into the untapped corners of the Spider-Man universe with Alex Kurtzman at the helm, the studio has even murkier terrain and a proper anti-hero movie in mind.
“The idea,” Kurtzman told MTV, “is that you can do things with Venom that you can’t do with Spider-Man”. The suited incarnation of shamed journalist Eddie Brock will be no-one’s idea of a straight-up crusader for justice, stressed the writer/director. “Venom is the representation of every line that will get crossed. He’s a much darker character.”
How the next phase of Sony’s Spideyverse falls into place still remains to be seen. The Sinister Six movie is steaming ahead, with the malevolent sextet teased in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (as was Venom, although his role in that movie will be marginal at most), and **The Amazing Spider-Man 3 **pushed back to 2018.
Kurtzman, of course, also has the small matter of a Mummy reboot to oversee for Universal, before busying himself with Venom. His advice for his colleagues on** Spidey 3**? “I think as long as it keeps staying true to character, and true to who Peter is, and putting him in interesting and complicated situations, it’ll survive. Because it’s so beloved – everybody loves Spider-Man.”
For the full low-down on Venom, head to our Who's Who on the Sinister Six.