Venom Kicks Spidey’s Ass
I am very much looking forward to seeing Venom in this summer’s Spiderman 3. The trailers improved drastically from one to the next like they intended them to get better, and we even get to see more bits of Venom as we go along. But will he be as badass as he was in the comics? Topher Grace’s slim figure is all the topic of a potential weak Venom.
So Topher himself has something to say about it. Filmwad quotes:
“He kicks Spider-Man’s ass,” Grace grinned, reflecting on his black-suited supervillain. “It was interesting, and it was hard. I had to do a lot of working out, which is very new to me. … I play a bad guy, so that was a very different experience for me, acting-wise.”We’re sure he had to work out a lot, but we’re still skeptical as to how it’s possible to go from tiny Eric Foreman to massively over-ripped Venom. I guess we’ll have to wait for the DVD extras like everyone else.
Now if it were not for Topher playing Venom, I would have suggested him to replace Tobey when he hangs up the webby tights. In the right light the two look very similar.
But here we have some assurance that Venom will open up a can and take a piece outta Spidey.
This is very good news indeed.
1. Jason replies at 29th March 2007, 9:44 pm :
were you in any DOUBT???
I mean its the alien symbiote that is the power/strength…I don’t think the person playing Venom necessarily HAS to be huge…
I’m sure it will all work out fine :)
2. Kristina replies at 29th March 2007, 9:55 pm :
What I wanna know is….how LONG does he kick his ass. It would be beyond funny if everyone went in there expecting Wrestlemania and they got a YouTube girlfight instead.
3. Jay replies at 29th March 2007, 10:08 pm :
It’s gonna be bad-ass.
It may not happen until the finale battle royal, but it will definitly be awesome.
4. parker replies at 29th March 2007, 10:58 pm :
i think this film will fuckin rock, the story looks great way better than the previews ones ;)
the only thing i don’t like is the film’s version of venom, he’s too skinny, he looks exactly like spidey in the black suit but only with an ugly face. I was hoping to see a bigger venom more frightening and muscular.
Has anyone notice that?
5. Ash1138 replies at 30th March 2007, 12:46 am :
I completely agree with the idea of Topher Grace as a great consideration to replace Tobey for future Spider-man flicks. Not only does he have a similar look (which is much more important than say in James Bond sequels), but also because he’s not quote-unquote “a star.” Big license properties like this always run into problems when they cast A-list actors to star in them. Most A-list actors smartly don’t want to be type-cast and so rarely are willing to do more than a few films (if at all). A-list actors already demand top-dollar and smartly demand huge money to appear in sequels to billion-dollar franchises. Topher Grace seems like a guy who would not be hard to wrap up for at least three films and at an economical price.
Unfortunately, he’s no longer a consideration. He’s Venom, and I can’t think of a worse casting choice. I’m sure if I forget the comics and pretend I don’t know squat about Venom, he’ll deliver a solid performance. I have faith in Sam Raimi. But my faith in Sam Raimi comes from not only his brilliant directing but also due to the brilliant casting of the films thus far.
It’s strange to see all these Spider-man character so expertly brought to the silver screen (btw Sandman couldn’t have been better brought to life) and then see an Eddie Brock who is so UNLIKE what we know from the comics.
6. DarkKinger replies at 30th March 2007, 12:49 am :
The bigger question: Can Spider-Man 3 kick Pirates of the Caribbean 3’s ass?!
7. Simick replies at 30th March 2007, 2:06 am :
Eddie Brock is slim. Venom is not. Big difference. The casting is fine.
8. Ash1138 replies at 30th March 2007, 2:11 am :
Nope.
Three films in history have eclipsed the one billion dollar mark and none of them are Spider-man. But…one of the IS a Pirates movie.
Both will be huge successes but Spider-man still has that comic-book stigma attached to it that keeps a lot of people from seeing it or allowing themselves to enjoy it. Meanwhile Pirates is riding on the Jurassic Park business model of being open to just about every single demographic there is.
9. Ash1138 replies at 30th March 2007, 2:15 am :
Simick:
In the preview I saw, Venom has the same slim build as Spidey. The reason Venom is “supposed” to be big is because Eddie Brock is big. The casting is about as fine as picking a name out of the hat. I can argue that Will Smith would have been equally a good choice to cast as Venom in that he would be as completely random as Topher Grace is.
10. Jason replies at 30th March 2007, 2:24 am :
Instead of making assumptions, lets just wait for the movie to be released and see it how Raimi sees it. He’s done well so far…
11. Viddy replies at 30th March 2007, 2:50 am :
Yeah, as far as I remember, Brock starts working out hard as his obsession with Spidey grows, until he becomes quite massive. I mean, the symbiote didn’t make Parker massive, did it? he had his same slim build, although he was stronger.
I like Grace as Brock. I don’t mind the Spidey movies that much because I’m not a huge Spider-Man fan by any means. Of course I enjoy the character.
We’ll see in May, won’t we.
12. Kaneda979 replies at 30th March 2007, 5:47 am :
Awsome. Glad to hear Grace thinks they did a good job of making Venom badass in the film. I for one can’t wait to see him as Venom. I think hes a good actor and can handle some dark comical lines I’m sure he’ll throw at Peter/Spidy in the film. And I can’t wait to hear him say,
“We are Venom!”
Atleast I hope he does and they better get the voice right too.
And from what they’ve shown in the trailer, I can’t wait to see him act out Brocks hatred for Peter. When I saw him praying to God in that church to kill Parker in the trailer for the first time, I jumped up and shouted, “YES!” Cuz thats exactly the kind of poerful hatred I wanted Venom to have in the movie.
True he won’t be as big as Venom of the comics, but he does still have a good size to him in the Venom pics that have started coming out latly. He for sure looks bigger then Spidy still.
Besides, I can’t really think of anyone big that looks like Eddie Brock and can act well, can you? And they’d have to start out normalish size and then bulk up for when Brocks anger gets to that point.
I was more worried that they wouldn’t keep the Venom symbol on his chest the same or near the same and that they wouldn’t get his mouth/tongue, slime, and eyes right. And from what I’ve seen they’ve managed to get it pretty damn close, which made me happy. I still don’t know if he’ll have the slime and the tongue isn’t as exaggerated as I was hopping for.
But also all I’ve seen is concept art and other early designs, so still a chance it’ll turn out more of what I want. What I’m really scarred of though is that we wont see Venom in full on scarry mode but a few times in the film, maybe even only once. Hopfully it will be more then that though.
Also I think the film is going to have to be 2 and a half hours or more to fit all these character’s story time in. I only hope that it will be over 2 hours long.
All I know is I can not wait to see this movie. As much as I want to see Transformers. Venom fucking rules.
Thank you sooo much Todd McFarlane for creating this amazing villian. WOOT!
13. RMags replies at 30th March 2007, 7:31 am :
i heard on an interview on tv with kirsten dunst that noone is even talking about Toby Maguire quitting the spider-man movies. noone on the set is, she said that started from rumors online.
14. Simon replies at 30th March 2007, 12:28 pm :
“We’re sure he had to work out a lot, but we’re still skeptical as to how it’s possible to go from tiny Eric Foreman to massively over-ripped Venom.”
Ed Norton in ‘American History X’ anyone? Its possible and not too difficult as long as you eat a lot and work out frequently. Anyone can do it with good training. Anyway as the first poster said it’s Venom in his symbiote form that is huge. It will be fine I’m sure.
15. Klendathu replies at 30th March 2007, 12:38 pm :
Seriously, all I want is a scene in which Kurtwood Smith calls Venom a dumbass, is that too much to ask?
16. Parker replies at 30th March 2007, 5:10 pm :
i agree with Ash1138, venom is slim, he got the same size as spidey :S
Topher Grace as Venom is cool, it doesn’t matter how thin, slim or whatever, cuz he’s a good actor so i know he’ll do a great job as Eddie Brock.
My concern is the Venom suit, the slim venom suit. We need a big scary venom, with a voice ala Spiderman Animated Series and with nasty teeth, toungue and everything.
It takes the fun away once venom is turned into a slim venom :(
17. Rodney replies at 30th March 2007, 5:16 pm :
“We’re sure he had to work out a lot, but we’re still skeptical as to how it’s possible to go from tiny Eric Foreman to massively over-ripped Venom.”
Yeah, cuz CGI is so limited. I wonder how they got Grace to open his mouth that wide to put in all the extra teeth and that long tongue too?
18. Kaneda979 replies at 31st March 2007, 6:19 am :
“Yeah, cuz CGI is so limited. I wonder how they got Grace to open his mouth that wide to put in all the extra teeth and that long tongue too?”
LOL, true that, true that. :)
19. Kristina replies at 31st March 2007, 11:40 am :
Can Venom do me a favor and bite Kirsten Dunst’s head off? Please?
Aunt May too, while you’re at it.
20. shadopup replies at 31st March 2007, 2:45 pm :
It’s true that Eddie Brock in the original comics is big and is a body builder. He was also a journalist and not a photographer as it seems to imply in this movie. In fact as he naturally builds more muscle, the symbiote magnifies its total strength accordingly.
However, in the Ultimate Spider-man comics (by Bendis) which is an entirely separate continuity (think of it as a reimagination) apparently Brock is a skinny guy whom is actually childhood friends with Peter. I’m not entirely sure about all the details since I don’t read it.
I suspect they chose Topher Grace because he looks so similar to Tobey and put him as a photographer to further cement their similarities. It’s basically being set up as what if Spider-man had to fight himself.
Really Eddie Brock as a character was pretty shallow, the appeal was with his powers as Venom, a villain whom was in all physical aspects superior to Spidey with added power of camouflage and spider-sense immunity (but weakness to fire and sonic waves) and his singular goal was to kill Peter Parker, nothing else.
If you remember in the comics, Norman Osborne comes up with a spray that temporarily nullifies Peter’s Spider-sense, it’d be awesome if Harry in the movie came up with that too (though how he’d figure that out I don’t know)
The movies have already deviated from the comics in significant ways so I don’t see this one as going overboard.