Spider-Man 3 behind-the-scenes video resurfaces showcasing unused animatronics for Venom

The Spider-Man universe from Sony is still swinging. This past week saw the release of the trailer for the studio’s new extended universe spin-off, Madame Web. Meanwhile, Tom Hardy is also slipping back into the anti-hero role of Eddie Brock as Venom 3 restarts production as the SAG-AFTRA strike ends and many productions resume. We’ve been able to see the popular Spider-Man rogue in live-action three times now. The evil alien symbiote made its big screen debut as a big late reveal in 2007’s Spider-Man 3.

ScreenRant has unveiled an incredibly rare behind-the-scenes video of an unused animatronic test for Venom in Spider-Man 3. The @MarvelFacts account on social media posted a quick 23 second clip in a post that shows a crude form of adapting Venom into live action. You can view the video in the post below.

Sam Raimi would eventually use CGI to completely realize the character on screen, but the filmmaker has famously used a broad amount of practical methods in the past. In Spider-Man 2, while much of Doc Ock in action had been rendered using CGI, Raimi was able to utilize puppeteering for Otto Octavious’ metal arms in many shots. Additionally, there is a now-famous video of a screen test for a proposed animatronic mask that was considered for Green Goblin for the original film, 2002’s Spider-Man.

The practice of animatronics has, of course, been greatly minimized in decades with the ever-advancing technology of computer generated imagery. Even though Raimi famously partook in every traditional special effects method with his past films, like the Evil Dead series, the indie-to-blockbuster filmmaker was instrumental in ushering in the modern style of comic book films when Spider-Man was able to showcase his amazing abilities, including fluid wall climbing and web swinging, with dynamic shots and uninterrupted takes which opened up new possibilities of visualizing superhero action.

Tom Hardy expressed his excitement of resuming filming on Venom 3 with a big smile on an Instagram post. They recently announced that it’s now aiming for a November 8, 2024 theatrical release.