‘Venom’ Movie: Spider-Man Spin-Off About Anti-Hero Revived, Will Joe Manganiello Star?


Venom is officially under development for the big screen!

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the Spider-Man spin-off film focusing on the iconic antihero is now on the list of priorities for Sony.

The report states that Dante Harper was brought on board to write the script for Venom. Matt Tolmach and Avi Arad are also on-board to produce and oversee the development of this highly-anticipated film project. Instead of creating a single movie, Sony is approaching Venom with the goal of building a franchise around the popular anti-hero — just like they did for everyone’s favorite, friendly neighborhood web-crawling superhero.

The question then becomes, “Who will play Venom?”

If it is done correctly, Venom could easily take its leading actor and turn him into a franchise star. The same way that both Spider-Man franchises made stars out of Toby Maguire and Andrew Garfield. The same way that Deadpool quickly turned Ryan Reynolds into a leading franchise star, as well.

Even if the actor is relatively unknown, starring in a blockbuster hit featuring one of the most popular Spider-Man villains of all time could seal the deal and make him a Hollywood star overnight.

The question, though, still remains: “Who will play Venom on the big-screen in his own film?”

When the average Spider-Man fan thinks of Venom, he or she will likely picture a Hulk-like muscular beast covered in an alien symbiote. You may picture his sharp teeth, fangs, and overall intimidating appearance when placed side-by-side to Peter Parker/Spider-Man.

Based on Venom’s history in the Marvel Comic Universe, he has been portrayed by two primary characters: Eddie Brock and Flash Thompson. Instead of focusing on new faces, speculation may at least cause one to think about the actors that have played either of those characters in the past.

Most Spider-Man fans will likely remember actor Topher Grace’s poorly reviewed attempt at portraying Eddie Brock and Venom on the big-screen in the 2007 Sam Raimi-directed film, Spider-Man 3.

On the other hand, between the two Spider-Man movie franchises, there have been two actors that played Flash Thompson: Magic Mike XXL actor Joe Manganiello (in the Sam Raimi trilogy) and Secret Circle actor Chris Zylka (in the Marc Webb-directed franchise).

When you focus on which of the three actors have the most star power and overall potential to turn Venom into a hit movie, chances are that most people will choose Joe Manganiello as the best of the group.

He has the ideal stature, body type, and is known for his muscular physique — a major highlight of the overall Venom image.

Details about which direction Sony will take with Venom in regards to the character or cast have not yet been revealed. However, it is at least nice to know that — after years and years of being put on the back-burner — Venom actually has a solid chance of making it to the theater.

[Photo by Michael Buckner/Getty Images]

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