Venom director hopes Venom and Spider-Man can square off in a future movie

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

We’re less than one week away from seeing VENOM in theaters, and though there’s plenty of curiosity and excitement around it there’s still the notion a movie with the title character may not be as strong without Spider-Man around. The two characters have a long history in the comics, but sadly we probably won’t see it play out on screen – at least not yet (no, SPIDER-MAN 3 doesn't count). Director Ruben Fleischer still hopes the two can be in a movie together, and recently said in an interview he wants to put them together so we can enjoy watching them kick the crap out of each other.

Fleischer was speaking with ComicBook.com recently when he was asked about what characters he was upset he didn’t have the rights to use in VENOM, and obviously, the first name on his mind was that of our favorite Web-Head.

"I think there's a pretty obvious one inherent to the Venom franchise that for whatever reason couldn't be included in the film but I will say that I look forward to future movies where said character could perhaps run across Venom. Nothing would be more exciting to see than a face off with Spider-Man.”

He continued, gushing about Tom Holland’s current take on Peter Parker/Spider-Man and saying he knows Holland and VENOM star Tom Hardy are anxious to square off in a movie.

"I will say I think Tom Holland is a fantastic Spider-Man. I really loved HOMECOMING, I'm really excited for [SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME]. I'm friends with Jon Watts and I've met Tom Holland and I know that he and [Venom star Tom] Hardy are excited to go toe to toe so that would be a version I personally would be very excited about."

Even though there's a very small, virtually impossible chance that Spider-Man will appear in VENOM, fans are still longing to see him swing into the frame at some point. Sony does have the controlling rights to the character, but he's currently being rented out to Marvel Studios, where has been paling around with the Avengers and getting his own solo outing, set to be followed by SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME. Oh, must we also forget that he is currently a pile of ash thanks to the work of Thanos in AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR?

Look, I want to see Spidey and Venom go toe-to-toe like anyone else, and who knows, should VENOM be a success the chances of that happening will grow. But for now, it seems like it's just the VENOM show, which very well may turn out to be a great thing. We will know more when the movie comes out next week, the reviews for which should be hitting the web in the next few days, so stick around for that!

VENOM hits theaters October 5.