Report by Brad Balfour
Film: “Venom: The Last Dance”
Director: Kelly Marcel
Cast: Tom Hardy, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Juno Temple, Rhys Ifans, Peggy Lu, Alanna Ubach, Stephen Graham
As a sequel to 2021’s “Venom: Let There Be Carnage,” “Venom: The Last Dance” — the fifth film in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe (SSU) — makes quite a splash. Intermixed with crazy antics and intoxicating SFX, the plot tries to make the parasitic/co-dependent relationship of Eddie Brock and Venom almost make sense.
The third and final installment of the Venom trilogy is written and directed by series vet Kelly Marcel, with Tom Hardy returning as Eddie Brock and Venom, as the two characters cope with being semi-merged. Alongside them, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Juno Temple, Rhys Ifans, Peggy Lu, Alanna Ubach, and Stephen Graham perform as the key cast. The plot follows Brock and Venom on the run from both this world and the symbiote’s world of origin.
After the events of “Venom: Let There Be Carnage,” Brock and the symbiote are fugitives being hunted by killers from both of their worlds. Brock was an investigative journalist who, by a fluke, became the host of Venom, an alien symbiote that imbues him with super-human abilities. Chiwetel Ejiofor, as General Rex Strickland, leads a team of soldiers who are tracking Eddie to try and capture Venom. Juno Temple is Dr. Payne, a scientist who also tracks Eddie and Venom but with a far more sympathetic and, ultimately, correct view of how they can and will save the world from mysterious and deadly Knull — the mastermind who wants to destroy all symbiotes.
In August 2018, Hardy was signed on to appear in this third and final Venom film. Sony Pictures began its development in December 2021, after the second film was released. Marcel and Hardy were writing the script, with Marcel making her directorial debut. New cast members, including Ejiofor and Temple, joined in mid-2023, and filming began at the end of June in Spain. Due to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, production halted and then was resumed that November after it ended. The movie was completed by the end of February 2024, and the title was revealed a month later.
Based on the Marvel Comics series, it began when the ebony goo attached itself to Spider-Man. The symbiote was originally introduced as a living alien costume in “The Amazing Spider-Man” # 252 (May 1984). The creature’s full first appearance as Venom took place in “The Amazing Spider-Man” #300 (May 1988). From there, it had a fully developed presence in the Marvel comics universe with numerous books featuring the alien shape-shifter.
Before “Venom: The Last Dance” premiered at the Regal Times Square in New York City on October 21, it was feted at New York Comic Con the week before. The film is being released in the United States on October 25, 2024.
This edited Q&A took place at New York Comic Con as part of a Sony Films showcase..
Q: It’s been like going on a long road through three films with a character that’s become so synonymous with your name, and one that you cherish.
Tom Hardy: Right. It’s been seven years to this day. I started on that day seven years ago, and now it’s nighttime. It’s time to go to sleep. No! I’ve absolutely loved playing Eddie and Venom. Again, it’s been one of the best things I’ve ever done in my life, so it’s sad to see him go.
Q: Kelly, what was the first step when you guys started to approach a Venom film? Where do you even begin crafting the story?
Kelly Marcel: We’re always starting with the comics and the books. Everything starts there. it’s always been about the lethal protector [in the] comics for us.
Q: Obviously, you’re a co-writer of the story on this one [besides being the lead.] You’re very involved in the creative process. When you’re hashing out the story, what is that like? What is the process in crafting a Venom story in the writer’s room?
Tom Hardy: I came up with these fantastic ideas [chuckles.] Like, literally. I have a fantastic idea. I’ve had five already, just as when I started talking. I’m still having them right now. Then what I’ll do is I’ll talk at Kelly. I’ll keep talking until Kelly says that’s enough. I’m like, “Yeah, she’s got it all.” Then Kelly goes away and comes back with things that I never thought of. But it’s all formatted perfectly, and I’ll pat myself on the back.
Q: Sifting through the genius of Tom Hardy.
Tom Hardy: Filtered through Kelly. My idea turned into something completely different. Is that accurate, Kelly? Would you like to set the record straight or is it spot on?
Kelly Marcel: No, that’s about how it goes. There were some drawings involved as well.
Tom Hardy: Yeah, I draw on the wall.
Q: You’re doing the drawings too?
Tom Hardy: 100%.
Q: Are you a good artist?
Tom Hardy: They’re illegible. It’s like something out of a beautiful mind. Sort of like mind maps, arrows and different colors. I just handed it in. Kelly knows what I’m saying.
Q: This is why it’s a beautiful partnership. You’ve been involved in film and TV in different capacities. But why was it important to be a creative partner in these films as opposed to [just being] an actor? That’s wonderful, to show up on set and do your job, but also to be a creative partner behind the scenes.
Tom Hardy: I’m a face puller. So it’s not really hard to turn up and pull faces. Acting, for me, is a mimetic art. That’s a craft in itself. Storytelling is super important from a nucleus point of view for many reasons. If you’re a storyteller, you’re going to want to be able to do that. My aperture was through acting behind the supposed page or whatever. When you have an IP [intellectual property] or character as wonderful and deliciously wicked as Venom, you have to have such huge talents to partner with.
[I always look forward to the] opportunity to play and deepen the challenges you can have as an actor. Also, understand against the canon of the huge amount of lore there is within the comic books. All the way from Todd McFarlane through to writer Donny [Cates] and artist Ryan [Stegman.] You have this wonderful place to play but also challenge yourself on the screen, too. It’s immersive. Obviously. it makes it a higher level than playing a character. I’m deep in the fibers of it, if that makes sense.
Q: It does. Kelly, talk about where we find Eddie and Venom in this film? How are they doing and how’s this relationship?
Kelly Marcel: We found them where we left them. At the end of “Venom 2.” They’ve been exposed to the outside world because of the massive fight in the cathedral. Now they’re fugitives and on the run. “The Last Dance” is kind of a road trip movie. They’re chased by people from our world but also [beings] from another world. The longer they stay together, the more they realize that their being together is putting the whole world in jeopardy.
Q: These films obviously surround Tom with the finest actors on the planet. Welcome to the Venom world, Chiwetel and Juno. Peel back the layers. For the last decade, Chiwetel could never say anything about his characters. Now, can you say a little bit about who you play in this one?
Chiwetel Ejiofor: I play Rex Strickland. He is a military man, incredibly stringent and forthright in dealing with these creatures and trying to hold this facility together. We kind of work together in a way, working in the same facility. There’s a military side and a scientific side, which Juno runs. And we kind of struggle, I think.
Juno Temple: We work together, but we don’t agree about how we approach the work together.
Chiwetel Ejiofor: We don’t agree about anything.
Juno Temple: At all. [audience snickers]
Q: Friction makes for drama, this is good.
Juno Temple: For me to be asked to be a part of this with you guys was something weird. I knew how much this meant to you both from the ground up, from where it’s birthed and where it’s gone. Immediately as an actor, being asked to come and play with you guys in a passion project like this was something I was pretty blown away by. Nervous as hell but I remember Kelly telling me, “Come and have fun. We have fun.”And I was like, okay. And I think that’s exactly what it was. It’s something really different for me. I’ve dipped my toes in movies like this before, but never got to spend the time that I did with these guys.
It was a lot of fun and a lot of learning. I get to have a scientific perspective, but with an absolute passion for things from the great beyond. That definitely creates a combative situation with this one here [acknowledging Chiwetel] which was really fun. When you get to have these kinds of scenes of friction with Chiwetel, it was something that I really treasured. Getting to actually work with Tom was very precious to me this time, too. Our extraordinary director handled this movie with such grace and made us all feel so excited to be at work. There were a lot of night shoots, too. I loved it.
Q: There’s always this fascination, and justifiably so. Tom, how do you do this, work with yourself as a screen partner in these films? Is it old hat by now? Is it rewarding in a different way than other kinds of acting? Give us a little sense of what it’s like to act with yourself in so many scenes through the Venom films?
Tom Hardy: Why screw it? I agree with myself, like, a lot. That helps. When I go to work with myself, I know exactly what I want to do. I very rarely fall out of myself. On stage, I think it’s important to get the job done. I’ll have a word with myself, later on, if I haven’t done what I intended to do that day. That will happen in the wash-up, but it is a bit old hat. I started out talking to myself as a child. [Audience chuckles.]
I still talk to myself. The nice thing about now is. I get paid to talk to myself. I can be bombastic and enigmatic. I can cloak my inner machinations in a huge visual effects monster. The actual process is quite technical. I’ve got a lad called Patrick. He’s actually the voice of Venom, really. He plays Venom. I voice him, but he watches through the monitor with Kelly and anybody else at the director’s tent that wants to chime in on a microphone. I have an earpiece in and we pre-record all of Venom. Then, I have an earpiece in which I can hear Venom. Nobody else can hear Venom on stage. I can also hear Kelly as well in my ear. We’ll be in the middle of the scene and she can see me as Eddie Brock and hear Venom on the monitor. And I can.
This makes no sense to you, does it? It’s bonkers, right? It’s really good. Now I also have Patrick in my ear, as well. I’ll be in a scene with Chiwetel or Juno and simultaneously, we’ll be doing our scene. Kelly will be in my ear going, “Did you get the new sides?” And I’ll go, “Yeah, yeah.” But I can’t respond to that. And Venom will go, “What’s for lunch?” [monster’s voice] while we’ll be doing a scene. Then, Patrick will also play me music in between takes. I’ll be listening sometimes to Creedence Clearwater. The earpiece is everything. It’s opened up a whole new world. I could get really geeky about this process and talk to you about it. I just sound like I’m on the spectrum. Because I am. And that’s for you. [Gestures to audience and audience goes wild.]
Q: Kelly, your journey through these films has been remarkable too, obviously. Starting as co-screenwriter on the first one. Sole screenwriter on the second one. Obviously, now writing and directing this one. As we well know, sadly, we’re still not seeing enough opportunities for female filmmakers. Let alone female filmmakers in the superhero space. [Audience screams.] What does it mean for you to go on this journey and now be writer and director of a Venom film?
Kelly Marcel: Obviously, it means a lot to me. I’ve been with Tom for seven years on this journey. These films mean everything to us. I was really grateful to Sony for giving me the opportunity to see this one through from inception all the way to the very end, especially as the last in the trilogy. It was a really beautiful experience. I also hope that it opens more doors for female directors directing male-led action movies. [Audience screams.]
Tom Hardy: Can I just say something? I’ve been working with Kelly since we were 20-something. It was just going back a bit. We started out trying to get our first jobs together. We didn’t know each other until we were about 25. I just want to say that she’s super talented and I back her a million percent. I just want to say how hard it is for a female director. That’s one thing, but this is also her first film. Okay? When you think about that, most film directors will have a student film. They might have done an episode of television. They may have even done an advert. They might have done a music video. She’s done nothing. [Kelly laughs at Tom being sarcastic.] Not remotely qualified. No, you’re not. [Audience is crying.]
Q: It started so well.
Tom Hardy: No, this is even better. No, that’s even better. When you watch this, not only is this something we really love. We love the movie. We love the character. We put everything into it. We care about it. But this is somebody’s first step out. So, when you see how epic it is, because it is, it’s the best of all of them. It’s come from us. And we really care. This is also her first ever movie. [Audience clapping.] Her last movie as well. [Kelly is laughing hard,] That’s showbiz.
Q: Definitively, Kelly, is this the last Venom movie, truly?
Kelly Marcel: This is the last Venom movie. We always saw this as three pictures. And we wanted to tell Eddie and Venom’s story in three movies. And the arc for Venom and Eddie closes here. But, as you know, there are lots of symbiote stories in the canon. So, there’s lots of places to go. And maybe even there are a few Easter eggs in here that might start that journey off. [Audience reacts.]
Tom Hardy: I’m unemployed now.
Q: From the start we’ve wondered when Spider-Man and Venom … Is there still a chance, even if not in a Venom film, for those two characters to interact? Do you have hope for that in the future?
Kelly: I would love to see Venom and Spider-Man. But who knows?
Tom Hardy: I would love to fight Spider-Man. I would like to fight him now. [Applause.]
Q: Are you talking as Tom or as Venom right now?
Tom Hardy: Both. I’m happy to fight Spider-Man today. Maybe set some rules. You know what I mean? In a movie, 100%. I’m well up for it. I would never say never on this. But you know, as Kelly says, we specifically were set up to create Venom and bring him in a movie format. That’s what we’ve done. And “The Last Dance” is the final piece within that trilogy. We’re super excited about it.
Q: There’s a lot of talk about Knull — Venom’s creator and nemesis. What can be expected of Knull after this film?
Kelly Marcel: This is just the introduction to Knull. Obviously, he’s a massive, massive character. You could never do one and done with him. So, this is just a little taste of Knull. You’ll get to meet him. But then what the future holds for him, who knows?