It later introduces itself to Eddie as Venom and explains that the comet is searching for planets where the symbiotes can possess and devour the inhabitants. This leaves the symbiote inside Eddie as the only known surviving specimen.ĭrake sends mercenaries to retrieve the symbiote from Eddie, but it manifests around his body as a monstrous creature that fights off the attackers. Drake exposes Skirth to the remaining captive symbiote, killing both. Dan Lewis, discovers the symbiote on examining Eddie. He reaches out to Anne for help, and her new boyfriend, Dr. Eddie escapes and soon begins displaying strange symptoms. Eddie attempts to rescue Maria, but the symbiote possessing her transfers to his body without him realizing, leaving her dead. She helps Eddie break into the research facility to search for evidence, and he learns that an acquaintance of his, a homeless woman named Maria, is one of the test subjects. Eddie is approached by Dora Skirth, one of Drake's scientists, who disagrees with his methods and wants to expose him. Six months later, Drake's symbiosis trials are closer to success, although one of his symbiotes dies due to carelessness. Consequently, Anne ends her relationship with Eddie. Eddie confronts Life Foundation CEO Carlton Drake about the trials, leading to Eddie and Anne both losing their jobs. Investigative journalist Eddie Brock reads about these human trials in a classified document in the possession of his fiancée Anne Weying, an attorney preparing a lawsuit defense for the Life Foundation. The Life Foundation recovers the other three and transports them to their research facility in San Francisco, where they discover that the symbiotes cannot survive without oxygen-breathing hosts, which often fatally reject the symbiosis. The probe returns to Earth with four samples, but one escapes and causes the ship to crash in Malaysia. While exploring space for new habitable worlds, a probe belonging to the bio-engineering corporation Life Foundation discovers a comet covered in symbiotic lifeforms. It is followed by two sequels: Venom: Let There Be Carnage, which was released on October 1, 2021, and Venom: The Last Dance, which is scheduled for release on October 25, 2024. Despite being negatively received by critics, Hardy's performance and the character's relationship with Venom was praised, and the film became the seventh-highest-grossing film of 2018, earning over $856 million worldwide and setting several box office records for an October release. Venom premiered at the Regency Village Theater on October 1, 2018, and was theatrically released in the United States on October 5.
Ludwig Göransson was hired to compose the film's score, marking his second Marvel film after Black Panther (2018). The film was primarily inspired by the comic book miniseries Venom: Lethal Protector (1993) and the story arc " Planet of the Symbiotes" (1995). Filming took place from October 2017 to January 2018 in Atlanta, New York City, and San Francisco. In March 2017, Rosenberg and Pinkner were set to write, with Fleischer and Hardy added in May Marcel subsequently joined to rewrite the script. Sony also intended for the Venom film to share the world of Marvel Cinematic Universe's Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), but ultimately distanced the film from Spider-Man. In March 2016, work began on a new version that would start a new shared universe featuring the non-Spider-Man Marvel characters that the studio possessed film rights to. In the film, struggling journalist Eddie gains superpowers after becoming the host of an alien symbiote, Venom, whose species plans to invade Earth.Īfter Venom's appearance in Spider-Man 3 (2007), Sony attempted to develop a spin-off film based on the character, which was stalled (due to issues with the company's ongoing Spider-Man franchise). It stars Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock and Venom alongside Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed, Scott Haze, and Reid Scott. The first film in Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU), it was directed by Ruben Fleischer from a screenplay by the writing team of Jeff Pinkner and Scott Rosenberg, along with Kelly Marcel. Venom is a 2018 American superhero film featuring the Marvel Comics character of the same name, produced by Columbia Pictures in association with Tencent Pictures, Marvel, Arad Productions, Matt Tolmach Productions, and Pascal Pictures, and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing.