“Venom: The Last Dance” has swayed into theaters.
The third – and potentially final – chapter of the “Venom” saga, which began in 2018, sees Tom Hardy and his alien symbiote BFF come under attack from a ruthless government agency (led by Chiwetel Ejiofor) and some marauding alien beasts, sent by an ancient space deity (Andy Serkis). It’s pretty much exactly what you would expect from one of these movies, although with noticeably more heart, thanks to Eddie’s involvement with a family (Rhys Ifans, no stranger to “Spider-Man” lore, is the father). It’s both goofier and much sweeter than the earlier installments. And ripe for much discussion.
TheWrap spoke to writer/director Kelly Marcel, who has been with the franchise since the beginning, and star Tom Hardy about this latest entry in the franchise, what made Marcel such a great choice as director and whether or not they’d ever want to make a hard-R “Venom” feature.
You have both been on this “Venom” journey together. What was that experience like? And Kelly how did you decide to direct this one?
Kelly Marcel: Sony asked me if I would direct it. I kind of looked at Tom. Tom was like, “You’ve got to do it. You’ve got to do it.” So, yeah, it was a really beautiful, lovely journey to be able to take it all the way from inception, all the way through to the end, and really make it what Tom and I intended it to be. It was great.
What makes Kelly such a great collaborator?
Tom Hardy: I’ve been collaborating with Kelly since I was twentysomething. I’m 47 now. Kelly knows where all the bodies are buried, creatively. She knows all the souls are. There’s very few people in the creative space that I know and trust who understand what I’m trying to articulate when I’m struggling and can go, “Yeah, I understand where you’re going with that,” and then manifest in a way that I go, “Oh, thank God, I’m not mad.” I mean, I am, but I’m not that mad. And it’s always been that way.
That’s twentysomething years of evolving and working. We did “Bronson” together. Kelly wrote all of “Bronson” and from that moment, we’ve always wanted to play surrealism and naturalism and the chaos and the colorful nature of the panorama of optionality that comes with bonkers. Whether that’s R rated with “Bronson,” or if that’s in this situation with a bombastic character like Venom and Eddie. In the panoply of superheroes of Marvel, she has a unique voice and a unique sensibility to her, from “Saving Mr. Banks” all the way through to “Bronson” to “Venom.” Her mind is incredible and she can conjure ideas.
And unlike me, she can be succinct, and her choices are very deft and quick. Not only that, I’ve worked with seriously well respected directors and I’ve never felt as comfortable on a set. But with somebody like Kelly, her level of professionalism is so high that the fact that she wouldn’t need to do a short film or an advert to prep and show her skill and capability as a director, this is her first movie like she came in and handled a sequel of a huge franchise. And it’s arguably the best of all of the “Venom” films. It’s a testament to her. And I just feel that I’m really impressed with myself that I spotted her all of those years ago, that I could ride in on her wings. I just like walk on down and under the under the canopy of Kelly’s greatness.
That’s so interesting because this does feel like the most madcap installment but also the most emotional.
Marcel: We are utterly mad in the way that we riff with each other and the ideas that we come up with, like you should hear some of the ones that didn’t make it. And then also, of course, there’s love and emotion in this one. When we’re very, very committed to these characters. We love these movies. We’ve given our heart and soul to them and it is about friendship and it is a testament to our friendship as well. There’s a lot of love here that goes into these.
Did you ever think of going full “Logan” and making a dark, gritty, R-rated “Venom” movie?
Hardy: Oh yeah!
Marcel: We’re desperate to do that! Desperate!
Hardy: We’ve already got that. We envisioned that on “Venom 2.” We’re already there. We’re quick as well. It’s like we’ve got four or five movies already on the side, in different tones, with multiple characters. If you ask us to do something. We’re not shy, but we have to edit down to what the mission statement is. We’re both busy heads. If we say we’re going to do something, we mean it.
“Venom: The Last Dance” is in theaters now.
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