Much Ado About Venom & SPIDER-MAN 3...

... I hope they do it well.

but hopefully spiderman 3 wont be a chick flick like the last one. bring on Venom, Electro, Sandman, whoever!

That I think they are filming Spidey 3 & 4 back to back.. There's too much happening!!!

It would be super-cool if they just set up the black suit in this one. Let it's evil nature and Venom pop up in the next movie. A movie with a real Eddie Brock.

what happened to the initial posts? maybe they'll come back.

You dick. The script was brilliant.

bullshit to me! The way he talks about renderman like it's new...

Bill Frist? *****Oh yeah and interesting Spidey news too!

theres too much shit going on in the spiderman movies now, if the scripts get weak everything will fall apart. also the cg is going to suck because it allways sucks in the spiderman movies. and i can't see topher as a badass. I have no point

Wait wait wait.....What the hell is Raimi doing on the set of spidey 3???? He already made the first two...time for him to step aside and let the rest get made by hacks like schumacher or ratner or whoever directed superman 3....and I think I know just the guy...seems to be quiet lately...so it is time to bring back McG!!!!! ALL HAIL McG!!!! McG IS THE BESTEST THING THAT HAS EVER WALKED THE PLANET!!! McG WILL MAKE SPIDEY FLY THROUGH THE AIR WHILE THING BLOW UP AROUND HIM AND HE FLASHES HIS BUNS THE THE ROCKIN BEAT OF THE NEWEST FRESHEST TUNES BY GREAT BANDS LIKE KNORN TOOL AND LIMP BIZKIT!!!! YEAH!!! LIMP BIZKIT!!!! THEY ARE COMIN BACK BABY!!!! WAKE THE NIEGHBORS AND LET THEM KNOW THAT FREDDO IS COMING BACK TO TOWN AND TO BE SURE THEY HAVE THEIR SPECIAL SIDEWAYS BASEBALL CAPS READY BECAUSE THAT IS THE DOPEST ILLEST WEAR A MAN CAN PUT ON HIS BODY!!!! SPIDEY WILL HAVE ONE ON!!! BECAUSE HE WILL BE DANCIN WITH THE BIZKIT!!!! AND HE WILL DUMP MARY JANE AND GIT WITH IT WITH ALL THEM DOWN BITCHES WHILE FREDD DURSZT WILL BE GITTIN BIZZAY WITH ALL THE DOWNEST OF THE DOWN BITCHES AND THEN THE THEATERS ALL OVER THE WORLD WILL BE DANCIN WITH THE DOPEST FRESHEST SPIDEY AND FREDDO PICTURE!!!! AND FREDDO WILL GET TO DIRECT THE THORD ONE WHEN IT'S TIME TO CAST SPIDEY RIGHT AND LET FREDDO PLAY SPIDEY HIMSELF!!!!! YEAH BOY!!!!!! THAT IS THE BESTEST FRESTEST DOPEST THING THAT WILL FINALLY BRING THIS SUPERHERO THE RESPECT HE KNOWS HE HAS COMIN!!!!!!! GET IT ON BABY GIT IT ON!!!!!...And thus, rockin never goes out of style! - - - George, The 7th Chicken!!!!

Spider-Man 2 could've been a lot better if they had explored different themes, instead of pounding in the themes of the first one so hard. That said it is still brilliant and I think the CG was quite good. The tower/train fight with doc ock looked nearly flawless. Bring on the venom. I trust Raimi knows what he's doing.

Think about it.

When he's swinging to meet Doc Ock on the top of the building, and he flies to the pole on top, lands on it and just *smack*, sticks, its a tiny detail that's just so Spidey that I was pretty much sold. I'm easy I know, but I loved Spidey 2 and none of you cynics are gonna bring me down. But, Spidey 3 is starting to sound very crowded, though its hard to get a beat on the film with so much BS rumors flying around.

everyone but me

But Venom's whole "We are Venom" shtick now is completely ruined, since Raimi had to make EVERY freakin' bad guy talk to himself, even Doctor Octopus with his "sentient" tenticles. Ugh. Oh well, the fights should be cool -- I doubt Electro is the bad guy, though, since he's just not that interesting a character, and casting Topher doesn't make sense for that role.

Is there a better superhero movie than SPIDER-MAN 2? I don't think so. Raimi rules!

SirBiatchReturns, as the very first poster in the Aquaf@g talkback, I'd have figured you'd have gotten over your need to be first, I mean that's pretty much the watershed moment in the history of FIRSTS. Secondly, I have almost no doubts whatsoever about this film...Which ain't to say I'm not willing to hear out any criticisms, it's just that I have enough faith in Raimi from the first two (the first pipped it in terms of fun moviegoing experiences though).

for this to not be reposted on other websites...yet we find it on here...hope this guy doesn't get fired...but I am SOOOOO looking forward to this movie!

but that's not ComingSoon.net, it's CountingDown.com. I sure they'd be irritated to learn you've made this mistake.

Spiderman 2 is pretty good but ripped off Superman 2. Looking forward to seeing Venom but why in the world is Topher Grace playing him? Just because he's the current up-and-coming actor? I guess Tom Hanks and Brad Pitt are just a little too old?

The board to Sony

But it might sort out some of your probs! Go to vcdquality to find out

It is one of the best superhero flicks of all times you heartless people! It was fucking ace! Superman, Batman (burton), Batman Begins and Spiderman 2 are the best comic book adaptions ever! What put Spidey 2 over FF4? HEART! The story had an emotional fucking centre! Thats what put it above the rest! That and the fact that Raimi did some cool as fuck action scenes! My one problem is that too many people saw him with his mask off!

I have a hard time taking this article seriously, considering the spelling and grammar are barely at the high school level.

plain and simple: if you believe this letter is even 0.8% real, you are a shitface.

The normal bloke in the street like me would think they'd save all that cash by just making a black Spiderman outfit and spend those 'Venom BILLIONS' on making a Playstation 3? But that's just me thinking out aloud and having a brew...

...who are involved with the Spider-Man 3 & 4 (Yes, Spidey 4...part 3 leads into a fourth movie) video game. Topher IS Venom, but his role (as Venom) is small compared to Sandman. Sandy IS the main villian. Harry WILL become Hobgoblin, but both Hobs and Venom are due to be truly focused on in Spidey 4. Raimi is concerned about a character heavy movie, so no worries. I sent in this and a little more info here earlier this week, but I guess it wasn't deemed too important or what have ya. Long story short, Raimi has it all under control.

Interesting how Marcus Howard isn't on the IMDb, how he started this blog for the sole reason of spilling this Venom information, and how he even teases new information still to come. Smells really, really, really fake to me.

I actually thought the one posted up on Coming Soon or whichever site, fraught with spelling and grammatical errors and "lol"s though it may have been, was pretty clever, if it was made up. A lot of times throughout the plot overview, the "scooper" pretends to shy away from major spoilage while still leaving enough clues for you to feel like you figured something out that he didn't want to reveal. Case in point: his allusion to the "different" ending in which I'm almost sure we're supposed to infer that Spider-Man wastes Electro. Then again, he could have done a better job of separating storyboarded action sequences from actual action sequences. Half the time I got the impression that he was talking about shit that he already saw.

this guy doesn't sound legit, plus he used "their" when any 8th grade graduate would know that it should be "there."

...unadulterated head fucking of the fan boy community. It could be a bigger than the actual film. Scratch that - it's going to make this film. Except to me, It'll all look more of the same. Why can't I finish my sentences in the subject line??

Well, for one thing, why the hell would a costume designer know anything about CGI programs? Go find yourself a random costume designer, and ask him questions about CGI rendering, and watch his expression change. Also a costume designer would not be involved in the decision making process of when to use CGI and when not to use CGI. That would be like one of the CGI modellers discussing whether or not to add an extra bassoon to the soundtrack. This guy wouldn't be in the process, once the decision was made, he'd be *told* what they want him to do, and what they need from him in way of costumes....."I did not say they were both symbiotes" "which involves tobey getting his portion of the suit (SYMBIOTE#01) completely weakened by the more stronger suit worn by mr grace (SYMBIOTE #02)"

The Beyonder? I'll be the first to admit that my knowledge of the Spidey-verse is (quite) limited, but didn't The Beyonder and that whole crappy "Secret Wars" crossover plot thing have quite a bit to do with the Symbiote suit that became Venom? Help me out here...

anyone who goes for this must still wait up every December 24th trying to get a glimpse of Santa.

Electro makes more sense, but if they do have him in the film, they should not have him wear that incredibly stupid looking costume from the comics. Back in "ToyFare" they had a design of what he should look like-a thug who has to wear rubber gloves to keep his electricity under control. I'd be behind that 100%. I still say get Henry Rollins to be Venom.

...on the Spidey flicks thus far (not that anyone will really give a shit but, hey, I'm off work sick and thought I'd waste some time.) Both of them are quite good but both are (sadly) seriously flawed for differing reasons. The first captured the exuberance of being a superhero (obviously, I'm not speaking from personal experience here!) but the villain, although well played by Willem, looked like a Power Ranger and the special effects were somewhat lacking. The first half was great, though. Spidey 2, on the otherhand, had better FX, a better villain and better set-pieces, but was nearly drowned in it's OTT melancholy. I mean, Sweet Babe Ruth! Did, like, EVERY character cry like a bitch at some point in that movie?? And, please - STOP with hammering home the 'with great power comes great responsibilty' mantra. WE. GET. IT. Plus, Spidey is not enough of a wise-guy. More quips, please. Oh, and Kirsten Dunst. Seriously. What's with the lazy eye? The doped expression? She looks like Peter Parker just slipped a date-rape drug in her beer. So - in summary - Spidey 3: Keep up the better FX and great setpieces. Ease back on the angst. Less of Mary Jane and keep Spidey's jibes a-coming. (Oh, and way more of the wonderfully mean 'n' nasty Evil Dead-style hospital sequences!) This one has the potential to be the best yet, if only they can get the balance right. (BTW - for the record, I still presently prefer Raimi's Darkman. Take that as you will...)

Look at that chin! It WILL happen!!!

Reading this report was like listening to a lunatic in a straight jacket speaking broken english. Pathetic.

This guy's full of crap. Sony spent billions on Spidey? Hmm. Ok. Either someone at Sony is trying to throw out disinformation, or this is some nerd trying to get attention. That's the last word.

It's been around for over a decade and a half. This guy doesn't know what he's talking about.

christ, i'm such a massive fan of the idea that the only black suit in spidey 3 will be on peter. ever since the 1st flick went into production, millions of nerds, me included, have had the conversation about how cool it would be if sam did the black suit in one sequel, and teased venom @ the end for the villain in the next sequel. if this comes to pass, it will blow my mind. please please please let this be the part in all this mess that is true!

...they cast Frankie Muniz as Peter Parker. 'Nuff said!

I had heard these plans months ago and reported them here, it is nice to get confirmation. Can't wait to see the Black Spidey merchandise. I wish they would go with the McFarlane look to Venom, but I hear it is closer the the Frank Cho version (still pretty cool.)

Arghhhhhh lame. Why couldn't they just make Topher Elektro and give Peter the symbiote for him to reject at the end of the film. I don't understand where Venom comes in especially as Eddie Brock has barely, if at all, been mentioned in the story so far.

http://tinyurl.com/bbarc Woo-hoo!

A) That has fraud written all over it. B) I am not nearly as excited about Spider-Man 3 as I am about Batman 2. I guess that colors this, but I wasn't overly impressed with either of the Spider-Man movies (though I've never been a huge Spider-Man fan). I think it's a mistake to use Venom, yeah, he's a fan-boy favorite, but I'd be more interested to see deeper characters, and I thought Rami didn't like Venom?

The movie isn't out yet and I see the Spiderman franchise launching it's way towards and OVER the location of a large pointy toothed fish.

...(and not on making the PS3) as well as a 15 year old Renderman program as well as a Symbiote #1 AND #2 AND the fact that no one knows what is true or not IS UNDENIABLE PROOF Carnage is in this film.

I just wish Sony would tell us who the fuck Topher Grace's character is already.

"The second version is more advance and we are considering to use motion capture technology, i believe that this would accompany the CGI that was done in the first spider-man movie as i have been told." "The first Spider-Man movie?", "As I have been told?!!" All of this stuff would be coordinated and storyboarded. There wouldn't be any grey areas about coordination. This is so blatantly made up and inconsistent with no real details, it's annoying to me that it's even on AICN. Another thought...in theory, Gwen Stacy could be interesting, but I'm tense about a complicated love story...just stick to Spidey, please. But Raimi's really made enjoyable flicks so far, so we'll see. I also wouldn't be surprised if the Venom storyline isn't even addressed in this film. Topher Grace can't be Venom. He's all wrong.

and just admit that grace is playing venom. why are u helping avi arad out? thats the problem here. no integrity.

My stereo's busted. Come fix it.

also, the false/conflicting reports have gone well past the saturation point. it's turning me off. relax, filmmakers, it's just a fucking Spider-Man movie. revealing Topher's character is not akin to revealing Deep Throat. (sidebar: how much is Topher loving this?)

Yet again, I'm not surprised at all. Can't wait to see Spidey 3. You know this to be true.

involves Bryce Howard with her blond hair.There someone was going to say it, so there it is commence with your juvenile banter. Seriously though, I really hope they end this one with a cliffhanger type with Peter rejecting the symbiote and attaching itself to it's new host Eddie Brock(Bruce Campbell anyone?) If they have him get, fight, reject, and then fight Venom, plus Sandman all in one movie, man way too crowded for me.

In most of SM3, Grace will be Electro, but at the end of the movie, after Spidey beats the crap out of him and Sandman while in the black suit, the suit is discarded by Spidey. Needing a host, the suit is attracted to Grace because of the electricity, and thus Venom is born. That would be an interesting twist...

Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if that's the reason for the conflicting reports.

there's more evidence for Venom and Electro. seriously, where did this Electro bullshit come from?

and that caused me to type "Venom and Electro" when i meant "Venom THAN Electro".

I understand Raimi isn't a fan of Venom, but after Doctor Octopus and the Green Goblin and, perhaps, the Vulture, Spider-Man's rogues gallery is about as "deep" as a birdbath. Venom represents something that a lot of people hate, which is the early '90s, hyperbolic Todd Macfarlane run, where everything was made more "extreme" to the nth degree. I can understand that. But the character of Venom is no less complicated, perhaps moreso, than "classics" like Sandman, Electro, the Chameleon, etc. Most of them were pretty much superpowered thieves.

Am I the only one excited about this? Bah... I'll leave you to your simbionte talk and rejoice somewhere else... shh

that's kind of funny.

electro is such a lame character. bring on the venom!

Not that I have a problem with Electo. Electro with Venom's powers would be too much unless Electo's powers came from his costume. There's also a Goblin and the Lizard not being utilized. Yeah it probably is Venom but that sounds like a bit much. Also, weren't the first reports of Grace about him coming between Peter and MJ? Now the Chameleon could do that and look like just about anyone, including Spider-man. Then again if it's everyone's last movie then they could go for Venom and the kitchen sink.

The characters are tragic, and also liked to Peter. Right up Raimi's alley. Plus the symbiote would help Spidey take on Electro and Sandman at the same time.

...about all these fanboy-engineered rumors that keep circulating (i.e. Topher is Venom but Ultimate Venom, Raimi is shooting 3 & 4 back-to-back, Raimi's reversed the Gwen/Mary Jane story arcs, Topher is the real Peter Parker and we've been watching a clone for two movies). If Sony wants me to continue giving a shit about Spidey 3, they need to release some official word and hush all this speculation. It's getting almost as annoying as that Grando Calrissian and Clone Sidious crap was. Oh...and boht of these rumors stink of shit from Bull...the big guy from Night Court.

Fuck.

The motherfucker being the biggest motherfucking shark in motherfucking movie history? Venom is the kind of character that could turn the series into a train wreck. I would do anything for it to be a different villain. I suppose I should trust Raimi after how he dealt with Octavius (the end where he's sinking is still pretty sucky, and stank of 'we don't know how to kill him'). Anyhow, bring on Batman Continues with The Joker played by the guy who soon will be known as 'that albino dude from The Da Vinci Code', Paul Bettany. They won't go for Glover, he's too crazy.

hmmm.... how old is renderman? 20 years? longer? fake you say?

As much as I want Venom in the film, I hope Grace place Carnage. Cos in an ideal world Bruce Campbell would make a far beter Venom. Alas I think I have a better shot at Venom than Bruce. Bring back the snooty usher!!

They know how much people want to see him in it. I can't imagine it'd be electro. Who cares about him, anyway?

Yeah, makes sense. I just don't see the point of Venom as a character per se. He needs set-up and having Spidey reject the suit at the end or have it knocked off using a sonic weapon or the famous bell would be much better. Raimi seems to want as much character as possible and him having the symbiote would certainly offer that.

They know how much the old-school fans HATE Venom and his crappy storyline- Just as much as they hate McFarlane's other contributions to Spider-Man history (yes, technically McFarlane didn't write the character, but it's Venom's whole appearance that makes him so annoying and unlike a real Spidey villain.) If they're smart, they'll keep the kiddy-pleasing Venom out of the movies until we get a proper Electro, Rhino, Mysterio, Vulture, Scorpion, Shocker, Lizard, Morbius, Jackal, Hobgoblin, Jack O'Lantern, Spot, Ringer, Puma, and every other character that appeared decades before Venom reared his UGLY head in Spidey's world. There are a lot of villains in Spidey's rogues gallery that deserve a shot on film before that abortion Venom is allowed one frame.

The first had great Peter Parker scenes, but most of the spidey stuff was crappy. The second was a HUGE improvement, better writing, better action sequences, better FX. Hope the third is as good as the second. So at this point are they planning 3 or more than that?

I agree I would much rather see the spidey-symbiote arc ending with the bell scene than see Venom in this movie. I want to watch Peter get all aggressive and crazy and start creeping MJ out much more than I want to see a giant CGI Venom. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see Venom as a villain, but I think it's better if they devote a whole movie to the symbiote ordeal, then a whole movie dealing with Venom and just Venom as the villian, a nice dark vicious revenge story.

was one of the best superhero movies ever made. Oh well. Thoughts on Spidey 3: The idea that they are shooting the third one and fourth one together seems like a great idea, but that doesn't seem right. Why wouldn't they tell us that they're doing it? It wouldn't be a huge spoiler or anything...Oh, and Toph is playing Venom, and we will see a little Hobgoblin action. But, we need two movies for all this shit...who thinks the first time we see Venom will be at the Comic Con? Earlier?

He's a bloke in a black Spiderman outfit with a tongue and a suit thats got a Fatal Attraction style crush on Spidey! Go to IMDB or wherever and all you get are people talking about "the Venom saga" and cliffhangers and how Venom should be the last villain what with him being Venom and then in Venom 11 (retitled because the entire run time is nowt but Venom with occasional Spiderman) we get Carnage and then 18 films later we get Spiderman and Venom vs Carnage's ugly sister Glenda yada yada yada. From what I've seen, the whole arc is leading to the Harry/Peter payoff (whether its facing each other or standing side by side) - my fear is that the story thats been set up doesn't get railroaded in order to have Eric Foreman in a black suit cgi'ing his way around...it's like having Return of The King and then deciding you'd rather make a movie about Frodo's evil twin, Dave Baggins whose got a slobbery tongue and can do kung fu (as cool as that sounds)...besides doesn't Topher Grace just seem too personable an actor to put under a mask for two hours?

Topher's been bulking up and putting on muscle. He would not need to do that if he was just playing Electro. Most of you are saying this guy's a bunch of crap because of his spelling. Dudes, he's not paid to write, he's paid to work on costumes. This is his personal blog - as long as he's understood, I don't think he gives a shit whether his punctuation's correct. Whether he's true or not, though, I think Topher will be Venom. In fact, I'm certain he will be. If he's not, I will make a big, giant, fuckin' long public apology on Talkback. Topher is a talented actor - and if he's bulking up as much as I'm hearing that he is, he'll pull it off.

Why would they have two black suits? I know Peter had one made after he got rid of the symbiote but they never both wore black at the same time. If they do have both in black I think it will seriously blow.

My main problem with Venom in the movies is that there's too much backstory to fit in one movie. Here's how I see this playing out: the black costume's origin will be closer to the Ultimates version, with it being created in the lab by someone (Sandman?) and Peter using it for a while and then realizing it's dangerous and rejecting it. Topher will play Eddie Brock as a background character this time around, being humiliated by Peter/Spiderman and then either at the end of 3 or the beginning of 4, he finds the symbiote when he goes to commit suicide, and becomes Venom to exact revenge. So the symbiote is created in the Ultimates way, but Brock becomes Venom in the classic way.

Ok, here we go... First off, I agree that they'll probably take a more "ultimate" spin on these storylines... We've all been skeptical at times, but so far the casting of the Spider-man movies has been dead-on, so sit back shutup and trust them. Topher grace has been beefing up, and more importantly he doesn't have to be a huge guy. Once he has the CGI suit on he can be as scary and badass as they want him to be.. when he's just eddie it's better if he's a smaller guy, at least comparable to spider-man.. it makes it cooler when he transforms. Second of all, its highly doubtful they'd team up sandman and electro.. they're both second string villains.. you need to have one classic archenemy, and then a weaker one like sandman. Both of em is just lame. Plus sand and electricity?... it makes glass. Wow, wonder how spidey'll stop them. Third of all... why in god's name are so many people talking about Harry osbourne becoming hobgoblin??? He doesn't. He's the 2nd Green Goblin, he takes after his father, recreates the experiment and the GG lives on... he doesnt create a new persona entirely. Hobgoblin is a completely unrelated separate character. He does use a glider, but he's a greedy contract killer.. he doesnt have a burning vengeance for spider-man until later, he only cares about money. If they make Harry become Hobgoblin, i'm gonna swan dive off the 59th st. bridge.

...that bit Parker? No messing, no faffing about...clean, simple, no symbiotes, no clanging bells, no "rejecting", no tongue...just a good Spiderman and a bad Spiderman...simple as.

...but simple economy can sometimes be superior to pointless exposition.

Venom... but no symbiote? I'm just gonna pretend you didn't just say that.

(runs away as a million irate fanboys chase him wielding meat cleavers)

Most Hollywood "Costume Assistance" know that they are really costume assistants; this is someone with way too much time on their hands.

thats how they roll around here

Peter. Mary Jane. Harry. Aunt May. Topher. Sandman. Theresa Russell. Gwen Stacy. Capt. Stacy. A little much for one film, no? Teh back-to-back sequel rumor may have some merit. Spideys 1 & 2 were both brilliant and made any comic book movie that came before it look like D.C. CAB. Spidey, Batman, X-Men & Superman will be stealing my kids' lunch money for th enext 30 years if I'm lucky. As an old-school, silver age fan (35 yo.) guys like me are just thrilled to be living in an era when most of our favorite characters are coming to life on the big screen. To old guys like me, the bickering over costumes and casting is a little silly. The MOVIE is the thing. A good movie (story, acting, FX) will trump any minor misgivings about casting, costumes and such. But I will admit to still being curious as to what Wes Bentley could have done with Peter. Guess I'll find out now that he's Mephisto in what will be a better than expected GHOST RIDER movie. They don't all have to be GONE WITH THE WOND, they just need to be entertaining and reasonably faithful to the source material (are you listening, Tim Story? FF was such a letdown). Ender lives!

Do "teh" for "the" and "fo" for "of" constitute the 2 most common web typos? And of course I meant GONE WITH THE WIND. GONE WITH THE WOND is the Hungarian porn version. But we don't like to talk about that...

ppl are talking about Harry turning into Hobgoblin because NO ONE wants to see another Green Goblin. Fuck the purists, you wanna watch that Power Ranger-lookin' douchebag zippin around again? Having Hobgoblin could be creepy, horror-movie Raimi fun!

Peter Fonda is Mephisto.

...on the "filming 3 & 4 simultaneously or back-to-back" talk until someone from Sony actually says that's happening. As it stands, I'd lay good money on the odds of this being the final film in the franchise with the resolution of Harry's character arc at its climax (and part of me thinks that would be a hella classy way to go out....official trilogy and all, but part of me would also love to see Bruce Campbell in a Scorpion outfit). As for Venom, he bores the ever-loving fuck out of me. The evil version of the hero has been done to death and back since Bizarro talk funny one day. Venom's like reverse Flash but far less interesting. Didn't Marvel come out with the anti-Ghost Rider at about the same time (Vengeance)? And we all saw how well that worked out. All thiks "no...he's a deep character with an important, emotional arc" crap is just that. It's a bunch of rationalization for latter-day fans to see the anti-Spidey up on the big screen. Give me The Vulture and Electro and the Scorpion any day over "mirror universe" Spidey.

Yeah, don't get me wrong, Hobgoblin's cool- But if your gonna bring him into it, don't completely change his character. > And more importantly don't change Harry's.. the insanity Harry inherits, the torment he faces as he becomes his father's monster... it's kind of important. > I'm no purist, I understand what has to be changed and adapted... but don't throw the whole damn story in a blender and pour me a nice watered-down character smoothie.

Harry does become Hobgoblin in Ultimate Spider-man so it wouldn't be that far of a stretch, it's something that has to happen, maybe not in this movie but it has to happen. Harry maybe goes by the Hobgoblin and lurks behind the shadows pulling strings with Sandman, Electro, Venom, or whoever the crap is in this movie, and have the series end with a huge battle between Spidey and the legacy of his greatest enemy that has turned his best friend against him. They can't have Kingpin in this so maybe have Harry has a Kingpin type, pulling strings until he's ready to reveal himself. It could work. The leadup of Spidey vs Hobgoblin should be the cornerstone for the rest of the series.

Please don't mistake my post for a vote of confidence for Venom. I'm not saying he's a good character, I'm simply saying that he's no less so than most of the "classic" villains that fans insist on seeing. If people hate him for various different reasons -- the aforementioned MacFarlane days, your wariness with doppelganger figures -- that's one thing, but to imply that Sandman and Electro are, in contrast, "deep" characters (as some have done, which is what prompted my response) is just ludicrous.

give us BC in a Scorpion suit! please my Evil Dead Gods. please.

I wasn't so much trying to pick on you as all the "it would be stupid not to have Venom in the movie because he's the quintessential Spidey villain" nonsense-makers in here. You're right that most of Spidey's rogues (with the possible exception of the two who've headlined each previous film) are two-dimensional thugs with gimmicks. But some interesting baggage has been done to Sandman (get it? sand baggage) over the years to give him added depth (the cancer thing, his flirtation with hero-for-hire-ism, his relationship to the Osborn's) and feature film potential, particularly in the Spideyverse as Raimi has re-envisioned it. But we've already got the Harry character being pulled between friendship and vengeance, so Sandman will likely be straight-up thug in this (unless his tale is meant to parallel Harry's in the Shakespearian tradition). Either way, adding another villain makes me wary, but adding Venom (who's really only evolved into a slightly-smarter-than-the-Hulk anti-hero/monster from his initial poor-man's Bizarro incarnation) sounds like a very gimmicky mistake waiting to happen. I'd much rather see one or more of those aforementioned classic two-dimensional thugs thrown in for color (mostly green) and to serve as the force pulling a conflicted Sandman or Harry or both more in the direction of evil. Not quite a Sinister Six, but a Sinister Three would be cool mostly because the latter villain wouldn't need a lot of character development to serve his purpose. Think Zsaz in Batman Begins. Or, better yet, as a two-minute fight before the opening credits (not all the villains in New York have to be in league and there's no union rule stating that they need to schedule their operations with each other). Venom is too linked to Spidey to be a third-fiddle supporting villain and, in my opinion, is just not interesting enough to sit up front. Hence, he really doesn't seem to fit in Raimi's Spideyverse.

consist of about .000001% of the movie-going population. You Silver-Age or whatever-age crazies are just that: CRAZY.

duh.

is that Samuel L. Jackson has signed on to play the Rocket Racer!! (Amazing Spiderman 182-3, -natch) and Sony's spent Billions designing the Big Wheel for SM 4!

"There's Mutha' F u c k i n Snakes on the Rocket!"

I wonder how much of what we have heard is true. So far we have at least 4 major villians -- Hobgoblin, Sandman, Venom, and Electro -- and at least 2 love interests -- MJ and Gwen Stacy. It sounds a little unwieldly to me. I wonder if they're just throwing these ideas out there as a kind of geek misdirection; freak everybody out.

Just say who the fuck Topher is playing already. Its won't "hurt" the movie in any way..........

Mock Limp Bizkit all you want, but fuck you for putting Tool in the same catagory. You sir have no appreciation to the darker things in life. Go listen to your Justin Timberlake albums, and don't try to pitch some fit claiming you only listen to classics like Led Zep or the Beatkles cause I don't care. P.S. Tool hasn't put out anything for awhile, you may be thinking of A Perfect Circle, a band which still kicks Fred Dursts ass.

I know that very few of you people will agree with me, but I think that the first two Spider-man films have been total shit.

If you haven't been competely over-saturated with him over the years. I stopped regulary reading Amazing Spiderman when Bagley took over (yes I know, a looooong time ago) simply because I couldn't justify shelling out money to look at his sub-shit artwork. And I think I'm fortunate for having done so, because shortly after that is when all the really, super-shitty plot threads started. I'm glad I stopped reading when Amazing Spiderman was still in it's glory days, as that's the way I'll always remember it. And to me, Venom is still a kick ass character, but then that's because I'm still thinkin of the creepy, relentless Micheleine(sp)McFarlane version, before Venom became a cartoonish charicature of himself, getting spin offs and spotlights and god knows how many terrible, tiring storylines. Venom is an effective character because he has the same impact as Darth Maul in Episode I, he genuinely makes you fear for the protagonists he's up against. Venom isn't a normal bad guy, out for his own greed and what not, he's monsterous, sinister and single minded. And there is nothing more compelling than watching the hero get the living shit beat out of him by a seemingly unbeatable foe. It's unfortunate that Venom was so over-used that so many people resent him, because he was a great character before he 'sold out'.

I agree with you. You know what I hate? Everything else that other people like. Because not liking what's currently popular makes me feel elite. Other things that suck include Dave Chappelle, Lost, Battlestar Galactica, 24, Batman Begins, I could go on for hours. In other Elitist News, in a few weeks, the number of people who hate Tom Cruise will rise so high that people will start to love him again. Lighten up sunshine, the movies were fun.

Just ignore the chicken dude. He always tries to be funny, but says pretty much the same thing in every talkback. He says sarcatically to use McG, Pitof, Ratner, Uwe Boll, or Paul Anderson to direct whatever franchise is popular, and says it all in CAPITOL LETTERING, and finds himself amusing. I just skip his posts now, cause I already know what he will say.

I know what you mean. Venom, back when the first few years that he made appearances, was a badass character. He was even drawn better than how he often looks these days. If they actually did use Venom in the movies, I would hope Raimi would make it more true to the early years of Venom, rather than the "current" Venom.

AICN should have show some more sense. After all, what kind of guy would risk losing his multi million dollar costume making job where he mysteriously doesn't talk to the people he's making the costumes for just to tell all his friends at the biggest leaking pot on the internet? I'm ashamed to be posting right now.

I agree that Venom was over-saturated once he became popular. He was a background character, shadowy in appearance who suddenly became a major player in the Spideyverse as if from nowhere. Amazing Spider-man #300 is probably the scariest Spider-man comic that I have ever read; the scene where Mary Jane thinks she's talking to Peter and, all of a sudden, THAT grin appears!!! David Michelenie was damned fine when it came to psychological horror! Face it folks, whether you love him or hate him, Venom is now an icon. Besides which, including Venom as a character in Spidey 3 paves the way for the inevitable Venom spin-off movie...

topher is the perfect choice for VENOM/Eddie Brock because I always thought he would have been the perfect choice for Spider-Man/Peter Parker, because essentially VENOM is supposed to be Spider-Man's oppisite and Topher is like Tobie's oppisite, so I see where they are going with this, that is if that is what they are doing.

http://tinyurl.com/ahtpm

Thats what it seems like, anyway. Just the fact that he said the script is set in stone was a giveaway. A locked script on a big-budget superhero movie? Right. Even Lord of the Rings made daily changes.

Parkers kinda weedy... wouldnt they have gotten Dominic Purcell for a true opposite?

Remember that one time when rumors starting flying around about the villians in Spider-Man 3? Wait..

Spidey 2 was good, and better than the first if only for the fact that we didn't have to deal with that shitty power rangers green goblin costume. Spidey 2 did not rip off superman 2, Darth Maui. The idea of Spiderman giving up being a hero was not only a direct storyline from the comics, but many of the shots around that issue were formed to match exact panels from the comics. The hardships and angst Parker dealt with in Spidey 2 were quite realistic as Stan Lee had always intended while he penned the original comics. Also, the essence of the original comics was quite intact. Plus is was just fucking cool. The Doc Ock battles? FUCKING AWESOME! Jolly J Jonah Jameson is so perfect. My favorite douchebag. The chainsaw sequence in the operating room? KICKIN ASS! That movie rocked. I loved when Doc Ock talked to himself. Not only was is good old fashioned silver age comics fun, but it was also quite shakespearian. Nobody bitches when people jump into soliloqy in shakespeare plays. Fuck whoever liked spiderman 1 more than 2. It was a superior sequel. Drink bleach. DRINK IT!

First off, I am not a Venom hater. I like Venom for what he is. Which is essentially Spiderman's dark side. Second, I am not a Topher Grace hater. I loved him on That 70's Show and In Good Company. BUT, I don't want to see Venom in this movie and I especially do not want to see him played by Topher Grace. Eddie Brock is a rival at the Daily Bugle who has already been referenced in the movies. In the comics, he was a bigger guy than "puny Parker", and the last time I checked, Sam Raimi likes to stick closer to the source material. Also, he has stated that he is not a fan of Venom's. I feel that Venom could be great and they could even introduce him with the whole "hitching a ride back on the space shuttle" storyline that was an alternate (animated) intro of the symbiote. I think if Sam Raimi were to include a villain that he doesn't like by varying from the comics, I wouldn't be surprised if the symbiote bonded with JJJ's son, who already lost his fiancee to Parker. That might explain some resentment towards Peter and being as he is an astronaut might also tie in a connection to the symbiote. I highly doubt that will happen because they already mentioned Eddie Brock and why drop the name and not use him. I would actually love to see Bruce Campbell as Eddie Brock/ Venom, but they said that Eddie worked for the paper and Bruce was already established as "Ring Announcer" and "Snooty Usher", unless Eddie was moonlighting... OK OK bottom line is I not only suspect, I PRAY, that this rumor of Topher playing Venom is Bullshit. I love Topher, but I can't see him playing the tough guy with the rough life who ends up hating Parker and bonding with the black costume that turns out to be a symbiote then is found to be evil and is rejected and seeks revenge. I agree that they should set up the black costume/ symbiote in one movie and develop Eddie Brock/Venom in the next.

When speaking of the superhero movies released over the past 5 years...

Ok, maybe not coming to Spiderman, but I've been hearing that Galactus is going to be the major villian (along with the Surfer) in Fantastic Four 2. Today, I actually found an article talking about this rumor: http://www.joblo.com/index.php?id=10249

>Oh man, if it's Hydro-man i will literally piss myself. >I swear like 4 or 5 months ago when they announced sandman I said "hey i bet the other villain's hydro-man"... Sand... and water...? Get it? It makes perfect sense! >Man the look on your faces if i end up being right.

Sand aint no element. But it's something so stop asking me what it is. I don't fucking know!!

i think this is bs. although i'm hoping for venom to make an appearance. but with introducing all this villians they should at least bring back past villians and have them form the sinister six. then in the next movie have spidey and maybe venom battle them all for the movie's climax.

Not what this person has to say is clever. It's obviously a Spider-fan nerd with a Toby shrine and a glory hole on his Mary Jane door poster.

Not what this person has to say is clever. It's obviously a Spider-fan nerd with a Toby shrine and a glory hole on his Mary Jane door poster. I'm sorry, but the king of bullshit crown still is worn by Supershadow. Who still is writing about Star Wars a year later to this day even tho the films are done. lol

That, more than the story above, makes me think we will see Venom. Who better to make Gwen think Spiderman killed her father than Spiderman's evil "twin"?

Olorin... Your're beating a dead horse. WE ALL AGREE. Reject the suit in 3, Venom in 4. We KNOW that is best. The point is, we all get to wait and see (im guessing till ComicCon, since its so obvious that's what they're waiting for). While we wait, there is no need to sell us on the idea. Sorry to be a dick, but its frustraiting to read your 10 posts stating the same thing over and over and then your post called 'Carnage is impossible'... Granted, your timeline of what SHOULD happen in what sequence is true, if they were being true to the history, but who says they won't just do spidey in the black suit as a quick seires of clips at the beginning of 3? The point is they could fuck up the lead-up and execution of Venom a BILLION ways... post about those rather than posting the one way the can do it right a billion times.

Gyllenhaal and Bettany to Join Batman? Brokeback Mountain star Jake Gyllenhaal is being touted as Gotham City district attorney Harvey Dent in the next Batman sequel, along with Paul Bettany, who may play the Joker. Gyllenhaal would play Gotham City's good-guy lawyer, who mutates into his alter-ego, Two-Face, in the third film. In the sequel, Batman would team with Harvey Dent to destroy the Joker, according to moviehole.net. Tommy Lee Jones formerly played Dent/Two-Face on the big screen in Batman & Robin. Star Christian Bale is set to return, as well as Michael Caine as butler Alfred. ANYBODY MISSED THIS

I always crack up when someone posting in one of these threads refers to others as "fanboys".

I'm sorry, but it's true. You have NO taste and should not be permitted to even view Spider-Man 3 given that you've demonstrated zero ability to discern good from bad. That is all.

This was mentioned in an earlier TB, so hats off to the author -- Although different, their shapeshifting powers would appear too similar onscreen to the general, movie going, VAN HELSING crowd. A dumb move to put them in the same flick. Since we've all seen Church in costume, chances are it's him in the next sequel. As for Venom, didn't the film rights once go to New Line? Did they allow their license to run out?

What a maroon.

What a childish prick.

He can act. He's gain muscle to play this villian. Plus, he's got comedic chops, a major characteristic of Spider-man that has been poorly utilized in Raimi's films. Switch actors now! The "Wiseman" has spoken.

..."annoyed" does not = "surprised." "Terror," on the other hand, almost always involves an element of surprise/anticipation, neither of which you have going on. So get your terminology straight. You're not an Internet terrorist. You're an online nuisance.

First, whoever is the a-hole that messed up the talkback needs to be banned, or hunted down like a dog. Second, I always thought that Topher Grace could be a decent replacement Peter Parker/Spiderman if and when Tobey McGuire quits the Spidey film franchise. I also always thought that his co-star from That 70s Show, Laura Prepon, was the spitting image of the Mary Jane Watson character, even having a similar personality to the character to boot. Thirdly, why don't Harry and Company have an article up on the Batman Begins sequel news up? As others have pointed out, they may be discussing Paul Bettany as the Joker (decent casting idea, although I always thought he would be a good candidate for Ozymandias, should anyone ever make a WATCHMEN movie). The other rumor is Jake Gyllenhal as Harvey Dent/Two-Face. I am less enthused about this choice. Gyllenhal is an OK actor, but he still seems way too young to me for the Dent character. I wouldn't buy him as the District Attorney of a large city like Gotham. Maybe as a new ADA, but not as a DA. They need someone who does not come across as a wet-behind-the-ears kid, as Gyllenhal does. The previous rumor of Liev Schreiber for Dent would be much better. Schreiber is a really great and under-rated actor, in my opinion, and he would make a great Harvey Dent. See his performance in THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE for a good example of his work. He would be a much better choice for Dent than Gyllenhal. Anyways, I hope that Harry and Company will put up an article dedicated to this topic, so that we can have a proper Talkback about it. I suspect that many fans will not like the idea of Gyllenhal as Dent much....

You're right, Bettany WOULD play me very well. In all seriousness, though, if (and WHEN) they come out with WATCHMEN, I've been really struggling with who should play what. He's kinda old, but I can definitely see Ed Norton as Rorschach.

Rocks!

it's going to be Guy Pierce!

Just google 'avatar zuleika sully', ignore the first site that comes up, and go about seven sites down to something called luminous beings. This seems to be offline but has it in its cache. Second, the Japanese site below that has it. Tell 'em James Cameron didn't send ya!

Why the fuck does every superhero movie have to have an obligtory secene where the main character perches on some rooftop only to be confronted by some retarded kid who says something like 'Gee - you're that guy from the newspapers!' I fucking hate this - Spiderman, Batman, Hellboy - you're all guilty!!! Bring back Darkman!!!!

Was Spider-Man 2 really all that great? I don't know, it seemed a bit much to me. Doc Ock's big reveal felt like a cheesy horror scene. Plenty of forced humor (that loser in the elevator, the Chinese lady and the song), one-dimensional characters (Harry especially... he just kept moping in the corner and saying variations of "Father dead, Spider-Man responsible, best friend sucks"), too much parallel to the first film (Doc Ock talking to his tentacles, keeping Peter and Mary Jane apart), and just a lot of random crap (landlord's daughter, powers disappearing briefly, Spidey revealed to everybody within a 5 minute sequence - train, Harry, Mary Jane, Doc Ock... and even Aunt May had a certain look). I enjoyed the first film, although I suspect that I give it more leeway due to the novelty. I mean, come on... Aunt May finishing her prayer, the whole "you mess with one of us, you mess with all of us!" thing, and the totally bullcrap "World's Day" promotion for Macy Gray. But, because I'm a Spidey comic book geek, I still have high hopes for Part 3, but don't share that same reverence for Sam Raimi that most have. The Gwen Stacy casting concerns me though... Peter and MJ are together. It's enough. She's been through like four guys already, and didn't even give a crap about John Jameson. I really don't see a need to revisit the whole 'on-again, off-again' thing.

Sorry, but I just remembered something. The start, when Peter runs into an alley during his delivery route, and runs out two seconds later as Spidey? The guy who's watching the entire time, pauses, and yells... "Hey, Spider-man stole that guy's pizzas!" I guess I'm nitpicking, but there were a few scenes that just seemed to be catering for cheap laughs. That annoyed me.

I am one of those early comic fanboys. I was a serious Spiderman fan before the crossover to Volume II that I have heard of but havent seen myself. I have read quite a bit of comics in my time and let me explain the origin of Venom if I may. This is why Venom should be left the hell out fo the story, and its not that im a purist, but its the fact that some things should be left alone. The secret wars was a mini series in which earths good guys and bad guys(seriously summed up guys) fought and the winners would get thier wildest dreams. (wow talk about creative huh) And at one point spiderman's costume was mostly shredded. He noticed that some other super heroes had thier costumes repaired. He asked (i cant remember who) and they said, go in there and think costume and this machine will make you one. So he goes into this room, apparently the wrong machine and thinks costume. And boom a little black ball comes out. This ball crawls up his arm and fills out this black new spidey suit. Later on earth he finds out this suit is alive while at the Baxter building and Mr Fantasic says he should remove it, at which point the costume tries to permanently bond itself to Spiderman. Mr Fantastic gets a sonic something some sound gun and zaps(for lack of a better sound) it off of him. It remains in the Baxter building until it somehow( I dont remember breaks free and finds Eddie Brock ( I think). Is this mostly right guys? I mean come on, he has the Lizards character in the film, he has set up Man wolf, JJJ's son btw. And even set up for the return of the green goblin... do we REALLY need venom? Dont ya think its a big too much? Dont ya think its like bringing a little bit TOO much lore into the strip? Its like bringing in Mysptklk or whatever the hell his name is. or the Ambush Bug. Yeah its good in the strip, but it should stay in the strip. Who agrees? Anyone? . . Fernwick www.theidiottestament.com

First off, if the person was a costume assistant for Topher, they'd probably have a basic grasp of the english language. Secondly, if they are working that closely, they would have signed a confidentiality agreement. Some Fanboy is sitting at home with dreams of greatness in his head

...being better -- or at least making more sense -- for a movie version of Venom, but I'd want it to cling to John Jameson, then, instead of Eddie Brock, and not jump to Peter at all. And that might just be enough to make a thousand Venom fans' heads explode. But it would make perfect dramatic sense. Jameson harbors feelings of resentment for Parker. Maybe he notices some similarities between parker and Spider Man (most notably, the way Mary Jane hangs all over both of them). So he - being the son of a journalist and a friggin' astronaut (they's smart, so's I hear) puts two and pi together and figures out the secret everyone who was on that train in 2 already knows. All this time, the weird little black rash he picked up in space starts spreading and eventually turns him into this dark Spidey clone. If they went this route, with JJ Jr/Venom's motivation being jealousy and revenge and his goals being to win back MJ while besmirching Spidey's rep, it might make for a decent movie. But it wouldn't be the Venom the fans want (the stupid "We bizarro Spiderman! We love/hate him! Brains!" version), so they'd bitch. Sony really can't win with the Venom character, which is why I'd be surprised if they used him.

Does the character of Venom really warrant this amount of pre film buzz/hype?

Venom is a kick ass villain. Why? because he is what potentially lies inside all of us, the savge darkside unleashed. He's what Spiderman shoulda been after humanity turned their backs on him. But Spidey chose to relinquish ut. He'd be like the evil version of Superman with it (minus the laser eyes and flying). That's what Venom is. Then there's Carnage whi is even more fucked up (but in a good way). They may not be the best villains for a story line, but damn are they fun as slasher characters.

Go watch about 20 classic movies from every decade, because you are delusional if you think that Spider-Man 2 is a great movie. It was mediocre at best. Time will not be kind to the Spider-Man films, they just aren't that great.

A friend of mine just wrapped on Spiderman (we work in the special fx dept.) and gave me some details from the shop. Topher (sadly) IS playing Venom. God only knows why such an asinine choice was made. He also said there was a suit made but that it is an embarrassment. It is poorly sculpted, think Spawn. The same techniques were used and not much talented work went into it. He hated to admit how badly the final product looked but that seems to be the case for much sculpting going on in shops these days.. And, unfortunately, CARNAGE is NOT in this film either.

I Think that Vin Diesel would make the perfect Venom character. He's got the looks, has deep voice like the character and is already a movies star. Next choice after Vin is the Rock.

im not sure if this is Bull or not. him talking about renderman is alittle weird, but they way he says it would be the way a costume designer would talk about it. other then that these guys have to sign non disclosure agreements and usually stick to it pretty well or they get fucked big time. so that makes me wonder to. I have so friends at sony imageworks maybe i can get them to spill the beans.