Tom Hardy and Director Kelly Marcel Knew “Venom” Would End After 3 Movies 'from the Beginning' (Exclusive)
"Tom and I, having spent the better part of seven years working on this, really wanted to bring this one home from inception to the finish line," Marcel says
Tom Hardy and Kelly Marcel are ready to say goodbye to Venom.
In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE ahead of the release of Venom: The Last Dance, the actor, 47, and director-writer, 50, share that they knew how the movie series would end "from the beginning."
"We knew it would be three," Marcel says. "We knew it was a trilogy and we knew it would end like this from the beginning."
The first Venom movie premiered in 2018 and introduced Marvel characters Eddie Brock, an investigative journalist, and Venom, a symbiote alien, to the big screen — both of whom are played by Hardy. The story follows Eddie as he becomes a host to the alien, who vows to save the earth from its species’ impending attack.
Marcel served as the writer for all three movies, with Hardy co-writing the story on the latter two, and stepped into the directorial role for the first time with the third installment.
"Sony asked me to and I was like, 'Oh, okay then,' " she says of the new job title. "I have been on the first two movies and it felt like we knew that this was the third and final one, and knew that this one was going to be both a blast but emotional as well."
Marcel continues to note Hardy’s contribution to the series, saying, "I feel like Tom and I, having spent the better part of seven years working on this, really wanted to bring this one home from inception to the finish line. It felt like the right time to step up and the right movie to do it with."
Hardy vocalizes his support: "100 percent."
The English actor has long been a crucial player in the hit series, and expressed his love for his Venom colleagues in November 2023 when they returned to production for the third movie after being halted by the SAG-AFTRA strikes.
"We’ve come a long way — it’s been and continues to be a lot of fun [on] this journey," he wrote in a heartfelt Instagram post. "There’s always hard turns to burn when we work but [it] doesn’t feel as hard when you love what you do and when you know you have great material."
He continued to praise Marcel, calling her his "director, writing partner and dear friend."
"Watching you taking the helm on this one fills me with pride, it is an honor," Hardy added. "Trust, your gut, your instincts are always spot on."
More recently, Hardy expressed that his son, Louis, 16, is his biggest critic when it comes to his movies — and Venom is no different. He tells us that his teenage boy has been "giving feedback" on the trilogy "since he was eight, seven" years old.
"Comic books exist differently for children, in many aspects. There is no filter on the child," the actor says. "They'll tell you what they feel [and] what they think because the characters are super important to them.'
Meanwhile, Hardy approaches his source material in different way. "I have a lot of, sort of, grown up baggage — trying to figure out what people might like or what I can say or what I can't do, which gets in the way of the clarity of the heart," he says.
He continues to note his son "will solve a problem much quicker than I would because he's on a pure line," and thus, he considers his perspective "super important."
Venom: The Last Dance follows Eddie and Venom as they are on the run from trouble. The synopsis teases finality in the beloved characters' journey, reading, "Hunted by both of their worlds and with the net closing in, the duo are forced into a devastating decision that will bring the curtains down on Venom and Eddie’s last dance."
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With the movie series seemingly coming to an end, there is one storyline that fans craved that did not come to fruition and that is a crossover between Venom and Spider-Man. Despite the character's absence in the movie series, Hardy and Marcel were quick on their feet to name which iteration of the superhero they would have like to seen make an appearance.
"Tom Holland," Marcel says to Hardy’s satisfaction.
"Tom Holland. All day. Best Spider-Man ever," he adds before noting that he would’ve also liked a shot at the portrayal by Nicholas Hammond in the 1970s live-action The Amazing Spider-Man series.
"He had, like, one web and it was made of string and there were no digital effects. Just a man in lycra… I'm duty bound to fight him too. Bring him out!”
Venom: The Last Dance is now playing in theaters.
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