Tom Hardy says 'he wouldn't be doing the job' if he wasn't pushing Venom to face off against Spider-Man in a crossover movie
- Hardy wants Venom to face off against Spider-Man in a movie.
- The problem is Venom is owned by Sony and Spider-Man movies are co-produced by Sony and Disney.
- Hardy told Esquire he "would do anything to make that happen."
Marvel fans aren't the only ones who want to see Spider-Man face off against Venom - Tom Hardy wants to see it, too.
In a recent profile in Esquire leading up to his next turn as the supervillain in next month's "Venom: Let There Be Carnage," Hardy admitted that when it comes to plugging in Tom Holland's Spider-Man and potentially other Marvel Cinematic Universe characters in the Venom franchise he wants "to play on that field."
"I would be remiss if I wasn't trying to steer any kind of connectivity," Hardy told the magazine. "I wouldn't be doing the job if I wasn't awake and open to any opportunity or eventuality or be excited by that."
What would hold up a Venom/Spider-Man face off in a movie are the rights. Sony owns the rights to Venom, making it the only studio other than Disney that can play in the Marvel sandpit. However, since Spider-Man appeared in 2016's Marvel/Disney blockbuster "Captain America: Civil War" (and introduced the world to Holland as the superhero) Spidey projects are now a co-production between Disney and Sony. In short: there would be some negotiating to get the IPs to crossover.
"Obviously, that's a large canyon to leap, to be bridged by one person alone, and it would take a much higher level of diplomacy and intelligence, sitting down and talking, to take on an arena such as that," Hardy continued.
"Should both sides be willing, and it be beneficial to both sides, I don't see why it couldn't be," the star added. "I hope and strongly, with both hands, push, eagerly, towards that potential, and would do anything to make that happen, within what's right in business. But it would be foolish not to head towards the Olympic Games if you were running 100 metres, so yeah! I want to play on that field."
Though Hardy won't play his hand, he did tell Esquire that he already is thinking about how a third Venom movie would play out. (Hardy has a story by credit in "Let There Be Carnage.")
"I'm thinking about the third movie as well, because I think you need to write that at the same time," he said. "A third won't be greenlit until the second is successful, but the studio was really, really pleased with number two."
"Venom: Let There Be Carnage," will open in theaters on September 24. Holland returns as Spider-Man in "Spider-Man: No Way Home" when it opens December 17.