Venom Director Says Franchise Will Lead To A Spider-Man Crossover

MCU hero Spider-Man has had a rocky few months, following a lack of negotiation between Sony and Marvel. Eventually reaching an agreement for at least one more solo movie, fans now have hope for a continued partnership. That’s not the only universe that Spider-Man will be appearing in though, as Venom director Ruben Fleischer has revealed there are plans for a Spider-Man crossover in the Venom franchise.

Released last year, Venom starred Tom Hardy as the protagonist Eddie Brock and was met with weak critical reception. Faulting its messy narrative, lack of Venom, and disconnect from Spider-Man, Venom still went on to make over $850 million at the box office during its run, making it the biggest October released film of all time (until 2019’s Joker).

During an interview with Fandom, Fleischer made a comment of the critical backlash for Venom:

“If anything, I would have changed the critics’ reaction to it. I was really bummed that people didn’t like it because it’s a crowd-pleasing movie and I’m not sure if there was just blow-back against Sony or people just worship Marvel.

But I was really surprised that the critics [were gunning for it] because audiences really enjoyed the movie. And so many people who’ve seen it just appreciated that it was a fun superhero movie. So I was a little surprised. I don’t know what they were expecting.”

This, however, has not stopped Sony from wanting to use actor Tom Holland to reprise his role as Spider-Man in future Venom installments:

“That’s where it’s all going to lead. And that’s the exciting thing because we changed the origin of Venom… in the comics, he evolved from Spider-Man but because of the Marvel-Sony thing, we weren’t able to that.

And so the thing I think it’s building towards, and will be exciting to see, is when they actually do confront each other.”

Earlier this year, Spider-Man was under threat as deals fell through between Sony and Disney. As a negotiation was failed to be made, it was unclear what would happen to the web-slinging hero. A recent deal has ensured at least one more solo movie will be made along with another undisclosed film in the MCU, but it’s unclear how a Venom crossover will come into play. Though it’s unlikely the two will meet in the upcoming third Spider-Man installment, it’s possible they may converge in the upcoming Venom 2.

Venom 2 is due to hit theatres in 2020, directed this time by legendary motion capture actor, Andy Serkis. The third MCU Spider-Man movie is rumored to be released on July 16, 2021.