On Friday, Sony’s Spider-Man spinoff movie Venom swings into theaters, symbiote gunk and all, but fans can expect to find a much different movie than the one star Tom Hardy originally signed on to make.
In an interview with ComicsExplained, Hardy was asked what his favorite scene of the film was, to which he responded, “Things that aren’t in this movie,” adding, “There are, like, 30 to 40 minutes’ worth of scenes that aren’t in this movie … all of them. Mad puppeteering scenes, dark comedy scenes. You know what I mean? They just never made it in.”
Now, most fans will immediately attribute these cuts to the film’s change from an R to a PG-13 rating. However, in an interview with ComicBook.com, executive producer Matt Tolmach attempted to quell these fears, insisting: “There isn’t some phantom version of the movie. Everyone is asking us that. Is there an R-rated cut sitting there? There isn’t.”
In the same interview, director Ruben Fleisher doubled down on his producer’s assertions, arguing: “We only ever talked about this movie as being PG-13. What I’ve said in the past is that we wanted to push the violence to the hilt. The Dark Knight was always a huge reference point for me, personally, just as far as how far you could take a PG-13.”
Reassuring? Maybe. Maybe not. Not really. After all, none of the cast members from The Dark Knight — particularly the principals — ever complained about director Christopher Nolan excising out large chunks of prized footage. But hey, we’ll see for ourselves come Friday, when we take another chance with another Venom.
Perhaps Topher will be vindicated?