‘Venom’ Director Ruben Fleischer Talks About the Challenges of Building the Character’s Origin Without Spider-Man

Ruben Fleischer, the director of Venom, recently talked about the creative process behind bringing the character to the big screen without Spider-Man.

Speaking on The Playlist’s Discourse Podcast, Fleischer shared how tricky it was to make a movie about one of Spider-Man’s most famous villains when the hero himself couldn’t be part of the story.

The filmmaker said that from the start, they knew Venom had to stand on its own. “From my memory of it, it was always distinct from Spider-Man,” he said. “Maybe there was the possibility of them crossing paths down the road, but inherent to ours was that it couldn’t be defined by that.”

Since the movie couldn’t rely on Spider-Man, the team had to build a new version of Venom’s world and story. That even meant redesigning the character’s look. “It’s funny because in the comics, ‘Venom’ has a spider on his chest, and that’s because he derives from Spider-Man,” Fleischer explained.

“We had to come up with a whole new origin story and actually create a different pattern on his chest, unique for the film, because it wouldn’t have made sense if he had a spider on his chest if he had no affiliation with Spider-Man.”

Fleischer said finding the right tone was another challenge. He wanted the movie to mix humor and darkness while staying entertaining. “Something that people love about ‘Venom’ is that he’s funny,” he said. “It doesn’t take itself too seriously. It’s kind of a ridiculous premise that you have an alien living inside you and sharing space with you.”

He also mentioned that movies like All of Me and An American Werewolf in London inspired the movie’s playful tone. Fleischer praised Tom Hardy for capturing that balance perfectly. According to him, Hardy’s performance made the character both intense and funny, which helped the film connect with audiences.

When asked about the challenges of working within a big studio system, Fleischer said he didn’t feel limited. “I’m really proud of the way that the movie turned out, and the process was a collaboration, like all studio movies are,” he said.

“I think anyone who claims from any of the studios that they’re making $200 million movies and they’re singular voices is probably not totally accurate.”

Despite all the early uncertainty, Venom turned out to be a major success. The movie earned more than $850 million worldwide and started Sony’s own Marvel franchise, leading to two sequels. Looking back, Fleischer said he’s happy with how everything came together. “It all worked out the way it was supposed to.”

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