YouTube channel TeaserPlay has created a new concept video, this time for Spider-Man villain/anti-hero Venom. Venom is easily one of Marvel Comics' most popular characters, appearing in major comic book storylines, animated series, movies, and video games over the years.
Venom has been appearing in video games for decades, usually as a villain in Spider-Man games. However, Venom has also been featured as a playable character on some occasions, like with Spider-Man and Venom: Maximum Carnage and Venom/Spider-Man: Separation Anxiety. In today's media, the Tom Hardy version of Venom featured in the Sony films is likely the most-recognizable to the general public, and so the TeaserPlay video takes a lot of inspiration from that.
In the new Unreal Engine 5 concept video, fans can see Eddie Brock walking around an open world city. While not a dead-ringer for Tom Hardy, the character model does call to mind Hardy's portrayal of the character. It doesn't take long for an off-screen transformation to take place, warping Eddie Brock into the hulking Venom. Viewers can watch Venom explore the city streets and even run straight up a building, showcasing how his unique abilities would make for impressive traversal mechanics if the hypothetical game were ever actually produced.
At the time of this writing, no solo Venom has been announced. However, Venom will still be featured in upcoming video games. Notably, Venom has been confirmed to play a major role in the upcoming Spider-Man 2 video game in development at Insomniac Games. It's unclear if Venom will be the primary antagonist of Spider-Man 2 or will play some other kind of role, but fans can expect an encounter with him nevertheless.
With the financial success of the Tom Hardy Venom movies, one has to imagine that a solo Venom video game would be in the cards. Perhaps if Venom's appearance in Spider-Man 2 generates enough interest, he could star in his own spin-off, ala Spider-Man: Miles Morales.
TeaserPlay previously made a video that imagined a concept for Spider-Man 2 that would have Peter Parker, Miles Morales, and Venom all featured as playable characters. Taking inspiration from Grand Theft Auto 5, that Spider-Man 2 Unreal Engine 5 concept video imagined a gameplay mechanic where players could swap between the three characters at will.
While it's possible Venom will be playable in the real Spider-Man 2, that actually hasn't been confirmed at the time of this writing, and so fans should certainly keep their expectations in check while they wait for more info on the upcoming game.
Spider-Man 2 will launch for PS5 in 2023.