Tom Hardy Opens Up About Venom Possibly Joining The MCU

"Venom: Let There Be Carnage," the second film starring Tom Hardy as Spider-Man's longtime adversary and occasional ally, is slated for a release on October 1, 2021. Of course, while Venom may be known to longtime fans as a part of the Spider-Man universe — he looks like a bigger, bluer, more alien version of Spider-Man, after all — Tom Hardy's live-action incarnation of the character currently exists in its own continuity. While he's joined by some fellow Spider-Man villains like Carnage, referenced in the title of the second "Venom" film, due to current copyright complications the Venom-verse is a separate entity from Spider-Man, all live-action versions of which are currently part of the MCU.

In an interview with Entertainment Tonight Canada about his forthcoming "Venom" film, Hardy addressed the possibility of the "Venom" cinematic universe overlapping with MCU's Spider-Man. In short, Hardy implied that the two properties exist in separate continuities that, given the supernatural possibilities of the world in which each character exists, could theoretically overlap. That said, Hardy characterized such an event as contingent upon "the right people and the right planning, and feedback from the audience" in addition to "the right choices at the right time."

Just days later, in an interview with Screen Rant, Hardy elaborated upon the possibility of "Venom" connecting to the current slate of "Spider-Man" films, sharing some new insight without confirming or denying the prospect of a future crossover.

Tom Hardy opened this recent discussion by seeming to express a desire for his incarnation of Venom to one day meet the MCU's Spider-Man. "It's really hard because for me and the guys in the Venom-verse, we came together under Sony and that's who we work for, that's who we run with, that's our team, you know?" Hardy said. "And obviously we just look at it as creatives and say, 'Look at all of these things we could play with.'"

He then went on to outline some of the difficulties inherent in attempting to unite the two cinematic universes, stating that "we really have to establish ourselves as somebody that maybe they want to play with. Maybe somebody that belongs in that world first." Hardy then added, "Whether we can connect the dots, that's up to the constellations, and that's above my pay grade, but we would be remiss not to think about that when we're working on the material."

In summation, Hardy appears not just open to but actively in support of a live-action Venom/Spider-Man crossover. Even taking his interest into consideration, however, such an event appears to be contingent entirely upon a theoretical deal between studio heads first and foremost.