The conversation about Peter Parker being relevant to Venom 2: Let There Be Carnage has been ignited once again. This time, by Venom star Tom Hardy. Eddie Brock himself took to Instagram to post a picture of Venom with the limbs of Spider-Man hanging out of his mouth—an image that hurt me deeply.
But then, just as quickly as it was posted, it was deleted and taken away from us. Well, sort of. The internet is forever so of course there are screengrabs, and ComicBook.com’s Brandon Davis was quick on the grab:
RIP Peter Parker? pic.twitter.com/dlLj2n6MzT
— BD (@BrandonDavisBD) April 21, 2020
While it may be just a fun play on Venom, because of the complicated history behind Eddie Brock and Peter Parker’s interactions (or even Peter Parker’s relationship with the Venom symbiote), it’s hard not to wonder if there’s more there. Especially since Hardy posted it quickly after the title for Venom 2 was announced with a new release date that put the movie less than a month before the proposed Spider-Man 3 release date. (The irony of Venom being potentially involved in a third Spider-Man film is not lost on me.) And then Hardy deleted the image.
The Andy Serkis-directed Venom sequel is already starting off strong with Woody Harrelson as Carnage against Tom Hardy’s Venom. It also is an Andy Serkis Venom movie so you just know that it is going to be the right kind of chaos that fits in with the world the first Venom movie created. How that connects back to the Peter Parker we know and love now in the MCU is going to be the real question.
The perfect example of Eddie Brock’s relationship to Peter Parker is this Venom quote from the comics:
“I live for these moments, Spider-Man. Me… Eddie Brock. Beating you down… Like the weak-kneed little boy that you are… And then leaving you there. Broken, knowing that any time I want… We can come back and do it again.“
To be fair, I did read this in the voice that Tom Hardy used for Venom. Their relationship in both comics and movie adaptations has often teetered back and forth between one of animosity (meaning that Venom is trying to kill Spider-Man) to cautiously working with each other against far greater foes. It’s complicated, it’s messy, and it has helped spawn an affection for both characters.
But that’s all beside the point because, as of this moment, there is no indication that Tom Holland’s Peter Parker will be in Let There Be Carnage. That being said, Tom Hardy sharing that image on the day we got quite a bit of Venom 2 news does make me think that maybe he is going to be in the sequel and they just haven’t announced it yet (or may never announce it, and leave a cameo as a big surprise). It’d fit and Tom Holland is in England (where the movie was being filmed) so … maybe Peter Parker showing up isn’t too out of left field. Or maybe this was a random fancy of Tom Hardy’s, which would fit.
But why did Hardy delete the image after posting? What does it all mean?
(image: Marvel Entertainment)
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