Venom Writer Teases A Spider-Man Crossover

Though the symbiote's dysfunctional relationship with Eddie Brock was fun to see play out on screen, it's Peter Parker whom everyone hopes Venom comes face to face with soon. And according to Venom co-writer Jeff Pinkner, that very meet-up is in the cards. 

In the "Designing Venom" special feature included in the home release of Sony's Venom, Pinkner teased the possibility of a Venom-Spider-Man crossover. 

The discussion shifted to that particular topic after Pinkner addressed fans' outrage over the film, which stars Tom Hardy as mumbling "re-paw-dur" Eddie Brock, altering Venom's suit to a design that doesn't feature a Spider-Man emblem on it. After Pinkner made some fairly clear-cut claims about Spider-Man existing in Sony's Marvel movie universe, he explained that Sony couldn't utilize the insignia now but may add it later when Venom gets his real suit. In all that talk, he let slip that the alien symbiote and Brooklyn's friendly neighborhood hero might cross paths in the future. 

"Everybody has an opinion. And one of the things that sparked outrage is the fact that Venom does not have a big Spider-Man emblem across his chest. In a movie where Spider-Man exists in the universe but does not exist in our story, it would make no sense," Pinkner revealed. "This is not to say that in a future movie, down the line, that a symbiote and Spider-Man might not share a moment, and that symbiote might end up with a Spider-Man emblem splashed across its chest." 

The video went on to assure that "after many, many, many conversations, and many iterations, they settled on a phenomenal look for Venom," in case you were stressed out about the symbiote's threads.

Those who have had their fingers crossed for a Venom-Spidey meet-up are probably vibrating with excitement after hearing Pinkner's remarks, and we aren't trying to discredit or dampen their joy here, but a converging of the two comic characters seems pretty inevitable considering how frequently such a crossover has cropped up in past conversations. 

Back in July, during Sony's presentation at San Diego Comic-Con 2018, Venom director Ruben Fleischer said that "it would be pretty amazing to see Venom and Spider-Man face off in a film," and mentioned the two would meet "at some point down the road." He also reportedly shared his expectation that Sony will find a way to bring not just any ol' actor into the Venom film franchise, but Tom Holland's Spider-Man from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. 

Since Sony still technically holds the rights to Spider-Man (even with Holland's iteration of the character swinging around in the MCU), and the conditions of its deal with Marvel haven't changed in any drastic way, the studio is free to do with the web-slinging hero whatever it chooses. Having him and Venom face off is apparently high on Sony's Spidey-related wish list. 

A few months after SDCC, Fleischer was back at it again with the crossover teases, telling Screen Rant that he's definitely down for Spider-Man and Venom to do a little pas de deux in an upcoming movie. He did, however, make it clear that he doesn't hold all the power and can't make that happen alone; he'll need backing from Sony brass. 

"I think we laid the ground work in this film for a pretty fun match-up in the future, so I think that'll be a really exciting story to explore, but I'd be lying if I didn't say I'd love to see him face off against Spider-Man at some point," said Fleischer. "It feels like that's inevitable and I know that Tom Holland's excited about it, and I know that Tom Hardy's excited about it so it's just a question of when and where, I guess. That seems like the natural evolution."

While Fleischer admitted that he isn't sure whether Venom could exist in the MCU, he's certain that Sony wants Spider-Man and Venom to interact. 

"As to the semantics as to where it takes place, it's not for me to decide, but it feels like there's a way everyone can co-exist in it in a satisfying way," he shared. 

This isn't just wishful thinking on Pinkner and Fleischer's parts, folks. There's a real chance that Sony anticipated a Venom-Spider-Man crossover before Venom ever launched in theaters. According to sources close to Fandango managing editor Erik Davis, Sony pushed for Venom to earn a PG-13 rating instead of a hard-R one so that the two characters could eventually meet. 

"#Venom is officially rated PG-13. Hearing from studio sources the reason is so that Venom and Spider-Man can face off at some point down the line. If the movie is R, it's hard to do that," Davis shared in mid-September, roughly two weeks head of Venom's theatrical debut.

Overall, it seems that Venom and Spider-Man are fated to come across one another eventually. But for now, Sony is kicking back, tallying the $851.3 million Venom made internationally, and biding its time before it can swing through the skies, snatch Spider-Man up, and turn a crossover dream into a reality. Fans at home are probably doing the same — minus all the cash-counting, of course.