The current state of Venom 2 – as far as who will be in the director’s chair – is currently up in the air. The reason being that the previous film’s director, Ruben Fleischer, is not returning due to scheduling conflicts for other projects. To his credit, the trailer for his next film, Zombieland: Double Tap – which just dropped its first trailer the other day – is expected to be a smash hit due to the cult following from the first film, so he isn’t doing too bad already. Still, Sony still needs a director for Venom 2 and according to The Hollywood Reporter, they have several candidates lined up.
Among the filmmakers in line to direct the next big-screen adaptation for the Marvel anti-hero is none other than the immensely talented Andy Serkis. Some of our readers may not know Serkis by name, but they have for sure seen his face and definitely have heard his voice. More recently, he was seen playing Ulysses Klaue for the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Black Panther and Avengers: Age of Ultron. Prior to that, he provided the voice of Gollum in both the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit trilogies, as well as the voice of Caesar in the new Planet of the Apes franchise. While this choice may seem left field on the surface, few people know that Serkis actually has some experience in the director’s chair.
Exclusive: Sony meets with @andyserkis amid #Venom2 director hunt https://t.co/RBF5Q4sclr pic.twitter.com/8q8EnTOUGS
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) July 26, 2019
Andy Serkis made his directorial debut with the film Breathe, starring former Spidey Andrew Garfield and America’s Lisbeth Salander, Claire Foy. He bounced back the following year with a big Netflix production of a Jungle Book adaptation called Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle.
It is also worth noting that alongside Serkis, Rise of the Planet of the Apes director Rupert Wyatt and Bumblebee director Travis Knight are also in contention.