Heath Ledger’s portrayal of The Joker contributed greatly to the extraordinary box office success of Warner Bros.’ The Dark Knight, but can a super-villain carry an entire film? According to The Hollywood Reporter, Sony Pictures is pondering that question as it begins early development on a Spider-Man spin-off focusing on the Venom character played by actor Topher Grace in Spider-Man 3.
Venom first appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #299 in April of 1988. Created by writer David Michelinie and artist Todd McFarlane, Spider-Man’s menacing doppelganger emerges when Peter Parker’s rival, Eddie Brock, comes in contact an alien symbiote that takes the form of black space goo. Venom has shown up in animated form in a number of TV series, including Spider-Man: The Animated Series, Spider-Man Unlimited and now The Spectacular Spider-Man.
With director Sam Raimi and stars Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst iffy about returning for another round, Sony is desperately seeking a way to keep the Spider-Man franchise alive. Spider-Man 4 is being developed for 2011, but the studio apparently wants to mine the property further. Writer Jacob Estes (Mean Creek) was given the difficult task of weaving a script around the web slingers arch nemesis, but may be replaced by new scribes as the studio looks at a different direction for the pic.
Casting for Venom is up in the air right now. Sony may bring Topher Grace back for the sake of continuity, or get a bigger name on board. Since the alien symbiote can attach itself to any human host, the script may ultimately center on a character other than Eddie Brock.
