Venom vs. Spider-Man? Tom Hardy is up for it

Last month, it was reported that Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings director Destin Daniel Cretton is in talks to take the helm of the fourth Marvel Cinematic Universe Spider-Man film now that Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man: Far from Home, and Spider-Man: No Way Home director Jon Watts having moved on to other projects. Around the same time, a rumor emerged that Marvel Studios and Sony have been at odds on what sort of approach should be taken to Spider-Man 4. Marvel wanted to make a “friendly neighborhood Spider-Man” movie with the hero teaming up with fellow street-level hero Matt Murdock / Daredevil (played by Charlie Cox) to face off with the villain Wilson Fisk / Kingpin (Vincent D’Onofrio) following the events of the upcoming Disney+ series Daredevil: Born Again. On the other hand, Sony has been pushing to make the movie another high stakes multiversal adventure like Spider-Man: No Way Home, with the multiversal shenanigans this time around involving a crossover between the Spider-Man and Venom franchises, the title characters coming together to face off with a character who’s being introduced in Venom: The Last Dance, which reaches theatres this Friday: the villainous Knull, “an eldritch god of darkness and the creator of the symbiotes.” The rumor stated that Sony is coming out the winner of this argument and Spider-Man 4 will indeed feature Venom and Knull… but while we wait to find out if that’s true, Venom franchise star Tom Hardy has gone ahead and said that he’s “well up for” a Spider-Man crossover.

When The Direct asked him if there’s a crossover in our future, Hardy answered, “Will we ever meet Spider-Man? You know… See, there are always possibilities. But I cannot possibly say anything, because this is the last movie. And yeah, so I would love that.“

During an appearance at the New York Comic Con last Friday, Hardy said, “I would love to fight Spider-Man. I would love to fight him now. I’m happy to fight Spider-Man today, 100 percent. I’m well up for it. I would never say never.” As for which Spider-Man actor he wants to share the screen with, Hardy told ComicBook.com, “Tom Holland, without a shadow of a doubt.“

Venom: The Last Dance is meant to be the final Venom movie (thus the title), wrapping things up as a trilogy – but that doesn’t mean Hardy is done playing his character(s) from the series. He told IGN, “I’ve loved every moment of Eddie and Venom and I was really fond of them. I’d play them any time, you know, because there’s a special place that exists within me to want to operate those two characters wherever you put them in whatever capacity.“

Whatever path Spider-Man 4 is taking, Holland is excited about it. During a recent interview, he confirmed that he has read a draft of the script and it “really lit a fire” in him. He said, “It needs work, but the writers are doing a great job. Zendaya and I sat down and read it together, and we at times were bouncing around the living room like, ‘This is a real movie worthy of the fans’ respect.’ But there’s a few things we need to figure out before we can get that really going, but it’s exciting.“

Will Venom and Knull end up in Spider-Man 4? Venom: The Last Dance director Kelly Marcel has said her movie is “just the beginning” for Knull, so it’s not out of the question. Would you like to see this crossover happen? Let us know by leaving a comment below.