Tom Hardy Says Spider-Man vs. Venom Almost Happened—But Studio Politics Killed It

Last year the highly anticipated third ‘Venom’ movie hit theaters. True to its title, the story ended on a dramatic and emotional note. Venom sacrificed himself to destroy the Codex and save the universe, while Eddie, now seen as a hero after the Area 51 events, got his record cleared and can finally live freely.

The movie was a box office success internationally, and fans agreed that it provided a satisfying conclusion to the franchise—at least as far as Tom Hardy is concerned. The actor has confirmed that this will be his final film in the series.

Now that his time as Venom has ended with Venom: The Last Dance, he’s reflecting on what could have been, one of the biggest missed opportunities? A full crossover between Venom and Spider-Man.

Hardy recently spoke about this in an interview, admitting that both he and his children were disappointed that Venom never got to share the screen with Tom Holland’s Spider-Man in a major way.

“Same problem with my children as well,” Hardy said when asked about his kids’ reaction. “I don’t know how to answer that question.”

He revealed that discussions did happen behind the scenes, and they got very close to making it work. But in the end, studio politics got in the way.

“We got close,” Hardy explained. “We got as close as I could possibly imagine getting, apart from doing a film together, which I would have loved to have done because that just means so much fun.”

For Hardy, the biggest reason he wanted the crossover to happen was for younger audiences.

“Fundamentally, for me, it would be for the kids,” he said. “Because, you know, as much as adults love superhero films, as you can tell by the box office when they’re successful, I think I’m constantly reminded by children how important these characters are. And they don’t know why their favorite characters aren’t in films together.”

When asked if Sony’s many creative voices made it difficult to keep the Venom films focused, Hardy kept things simple.

“Yeah, we just did what we did,” he said.

He added that they worked within the boundaries set by the studio and did their best to make Venom a fun experience.

“We were given a set of boundaries, and we were just really privileged to be able to play with a much-beloved IP like Venom in a way that we were allowed to play,” he explained. “And in that [regard], we did what we could and what we loved doing. We poured all of ourselves into it within the remits of what we were allowed to do with him.”

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