With the recent addition of both Jamie Foxx's villain Electro and Benedict Cumberbatch's Doctor Strange, audiences are wondering exactly what kind of craziness Peter Parker will be getting up to in the upcoming sequel, Spider-Man 3. Well, the newest name churning in the rumor mill is Tom Hardy's Venom, with sources claiming that discussions are currently taking place to bring the Marvel anti-hero into the multiverse fray.
Reportedly, there is "general interest" from the studios for the Tom Hardy iteration of Venom to show up in Spider-Man 3, though nothing has been confirmed at this stage. Bearing in mind the direction that the Spidey sequel seems to be going in, it certainly makes sense that Sony is considering introducing some of their other Marvel-related characters to the universe alongside Foxx's return.
Details regarding the plot for Spider-Man 3 are now slowly being revealed, with Jamie Foxx's return as Electro from The Amazing Spider-Man 2 recently announced. Foxx confirmed his comeback via a now-deleted social media post saying, "can't wait for y'all to check this new one. And I won't be blue in this one. But a thousand percent badass!!! #swipeleft." It is unknown how exactly he will fit into proceedings, but the character's return is just one of the factors that have led fans to believe that Tom Holland's friendly neighborhood Spider-Man will be dealing with the madness of the Marvel multiverse.
Another major contributor to this theory came to light last week, with Benedict Cumberbatch confirmed to be joining Spider-Man 3 as Doctor Strange. Strange will reportedly be taking on the mentor role that was previously occupied by Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark and Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury. Strange has much experience with the multiverse in the pages of the comics, and the fact that his own upcoming sequel is titled Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness almost takes the fun out of Spider-Man 3 speculation.
The potential of a live-action multiverse even has some of the MCU members guessing, with Daredevil's Vincent D'Onofrio recently wondering whether his character, Wilson Fisk AKA Kingpin, will end up being brought in.
Production on Spider-Man 3 started up again recently and is due to begin filming in New York City as early as next week. Originally, Spider-Man 3 was set for a release date of July 16, 2021, as part of the much-anticipated Phase 4 of the MCU. Due to the ongoing global circumstances, the entire Phase has now been dramatically reshuffled as a result of Black Widow being delayed several times with the movie now due for release on November 6. The plan is to now have Spider-Man 3 swing into UK and US cinemas on November 5, 2021.
Tom Hardy first became Venom back in 2018, with fans wondering since whether he and the MCU's web-slinger will ever meet on screen. For not, the much-anticipated solo Venom sequel, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, brings back Woody Harrelson as the murderous criminal Cletus Kasady, who appeared in a Venom post-credits scene. Kasady obtains his own symbiote, and together they become the evil supervillain Carnage. The movie is being directed by Andy Serkis from a screenplay by Kelly Marcel, and stars Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock/Venom alongside Woody Harrelson, Michelle Williams, Reid Scott, and Naomie Harris. Venom: Let There Be Carnage is scheduled to be released in the United States on June 25, 2021, delayed from an initial October 2020 release date due to the ongoing global situation.
While it remains unknown which other Marvel characters, if any, will be added to the Spider-Man 3 roster, Venom would no doubt be a very welcome addition indeed. This most recent rumor comes to us from The Direct.