There are a million rumors floating around about Spider-Man: No Way Home, most of which center around the characters who may or may not make an appearance. One character everyone has been itching to see is also one who, so far, fans have had little hope of ever seeing reunite with Spidey on the big screen: Venom.
Venom is one of the most beloved villains in the Spider-Man universe. He made his film debut in Sam Raimi's underdog sequel Spider-Man 3, but the role was miscast with Topher Grace and he shared the plot with two other villains. Since then, fans have been wondering whether or not they'd ever see the two together onscreen again, and most evidence has pointed to a big, disappointing 'no.' Now Kevin Feige, Marvel Studios President, is here to give fans hope with five simple words: "I wouldn't rule anything out."
Feige's words to Rotten Tomatoes may not sound like much, but it's enough to keep hope alive in an era where several multiverse storylines that no one expected from the MCU have come to pass. Marvel Studios has been pushing the boundaries on what fans can expect from them, from WandaVision's unique story format to bringing every MCU character together for Avengers: Infinity War. It's clear that after over a decade of building up the MCU, they aren't done exploring their options, including partnerships with other studios. Sony's president, Sanford Panitch, isn't as tight-lipped as Feige about Spider-Man and Venom meeting again. Panitch has already gone as far as to say there are plans to unite the MCU's Spider-Man with the Sony universe and that more would be revealed after fans watch No Way Home.
Venom is a sizeable, important character who deserves to be the headlining villain in a film. Fans finally got another shot at seeing the character when Tom Hardy took on the role in 2018's Venom. The problem this time was that Venom was a standalone film with no Spider-Man in sight. It was speculated that this was mostly because the character had already integrated into the MCU and they had separate plans for the character that they didn't want to be connected to Sony's universe, at least not at the time.
Villain standalone films have become a recent film trend in the last few years. Most recently, plans for Morbius and Kraven the Hunter films were announced, and many have criticized the need for such films.
After all, what is a Morbius movie without Spider-Man? Is there really an audience for these standalone films, or are they simply another cash-grab? While the standalone Venom film was successful in its own right, it's high time that Eddie Brock and Peter Parker once again shared the same storyline, as Stan Lee intended.
Spider-Man: No Way Home arrives in theatres on December 17, 2021.
Source: Rotten Tomatoes