An awed hush fell over the New York Comic Con crowd on Friday night, as Sony’s showcase panel began and fans from all over the country held their breath in anticipation of finally receiving the answer to the question at the forefront of everyone’s mind: What’s next for Madame Web?
Alas, the true devotees of the SPUM (Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel) had to make due with the first seven minutes of the upcoming Kraven the Hunteras well as clips and chats with the folks behind the very-upcoming Venom: The Last Dance. First up, A Most Violent Year director J.C. Chandor took the stage to drum up enthusiasm for The requirementswhich he sold as a continuation of his exploration of humanity’s “gray areas” that would stay relatively grounded while still providing a “good Friday night out” at the movies. The seven-minute opening sequence showed Kraven (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) riding a bus to prison through the snowiest reaches of Russia, and then carrying out a brutal mission and excusing himself from the facility once there. As promised, the fight-and-chase-laden sequence didn’t have the CG-stunt-double weightlessness of the worst comic-book action, though it wasn’t exactly as immersive as Chandor’s more patient dramatic-thriller work, either.
Taylor-Johnson himself then appeared and introduced a second clip – a gory action sequence showing off the movie’s R-rated violence, with Kraven facing off against a group of soldiers, who get killed in inventively merciless ways, including a bear trap to the face. It certainly went further than other movies in the SPUMCLOSE (Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters Left Over from Spider-Man, Excelsior!), even moreso than the bloodlessly head-chomping Venom; if someone could ever convince one of these R-rated superhero movies to use actual squibs instead of clickably adjusted CG blood, we’ll really be in business.
The time between The requirements and Venom would have been the perfect time for Cassie Web and her gang of future Spider-Women to arrive for a victory lap, and perhaps field questions about how Madame Web may interact with the rest of the SPUMGAG (Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Guys And Gals). Instead, Sony premiered first trailer for Karate Kid: Legendswhich does not feature any characters who have ever appeared in Spider-Man comics. However, with Ralph Macchio from the original Karate Kid joining forces with Jackie Chan from the Karate Kid remake to train a new youngster, it’s safe to say that there’s a clear attempt to replicate the mentor-protégé relationships of Madame Web.
But the main event of the presentation was a pivot back to the SPUMSWEMFS (Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Symbiotes Who Eventually Might Fight Spider-Man) for a look at Venom: The Last Dance and, more importantly, into star Tom Hardy’s beautiful brain. Hardy, who has a story credit on the new film, revealed how his creative process involves “talking at” screenwriter and, for the third movie, writer-director Kelly Marcel about his ideas, sometimes drawing charts on a wall (which he likened to a “mind map” from A Beautiful Mind), which Marcel then shaped into a screenplay. He joked that Marcel was “not remotely qualified” to direct the upcoming movie, meaning that she didn’t have the usual litany of endless industry gigs (ads, music videos, and so on) that often win journeymen directors big special-effects work.
Then they showed the bit of the movie that includes Horse Venom, Fish Venom, and Frog Venom in quick succession; it’ll just be a matter of days before we can all decide whether this particular Venom movie matches the level of inspiration promised by these monster-mash pre-release materials. Hardy and Marcel made it clear that this was the last Eddie Brock/Venom adventure, prompting, of course, the inevitable question about the character turning up elsewhere and possibly meeting Tom Holland’s Spider-Man. Hardy responded with the proper sound bite: “I would like to fight Spider-Man. I would like to fight him now.” As himself, or as Venom? “Both.” It was enough to upstate even Juno Temple’s magnificently unleashed hair and Chiwetel Ejiofor’s ability to keep a relatively straight face when talking about comic-book nonsense.
Despite his pugnacious attitude, Hardy remained mum about the question of how Venom would fare against a certain blind clairvoyant den mother who is constantly fiddling with sodas but not opening them. But although the evening downplayed connections between these various characters (no one asked if Kraven was teeing up for a future encounter with Spidey), it was clear that Sony won’t be giving up their Spider-Man properties anytime soon, even if some prospects are SPUMCLOSED (Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters Left Over from Spider-Man, Excelsior, Dammit!).
