As you likely know, Sony Pictures plans on releasing a Spider-Man spin-off movie for both Venom and The Sinister Six.
The creators of Amazing Spider-Man 2 recently spoke with the folks at
SFX and teased a few things about the upcoming projects. Producer Matt Tolmach tells them that they have created a brain trust to build a wider Spider-Man movie universe which includes the likes of Alex Kurtzman, Bob Orci and Jeff Pinkner. Like we have seen Disney do with the Avengers, they realized it would be a good idea to have a grand scheme in regards to storytelling for where and how stories for movies like Venom and The Sinister Six grow out of the centrepiece, which is Spider-Man.
When asked if it would be a challenge to do a movie about bad guys they said it would:
“It’s a challenge in every sense,” says Tolmach. “Obviously questions of traditional hero/villain dynamics have to be looked at. At the same time it’s an awesome challenge, because some of the greatest characters are in fact villains, and how you construct that is so much fun. People love those bad characters if they’re good bad characters, and love to watch them. And nobody’s all good, nobody’s all bad, and so where we end up with that story, I think, is a really awesome challenge, and we all smile when we think about what you can do. It’s definitely a bad-ass group of people and I think it’s going to be a ton of fun to watch them.
When it comes to Venom, Spider-Man producer Avi Arad feels they must explore the moral conflict at the heart of the character.
“Venom hated only one guy – Spider-Man. He wasn’t innately bad, he was a shortcut guy, not really into fighting hard for achievement. That’s the Venom story. Can he also be a good guy? As you know, Venom was also called ‘lethal defender of the innocent’. We had a great history with him, especially caring for the homeless, which is a very sensitive issue and something that many of us are very concerned with. Our villains all represent a different side of the misunderstood, and some of them unfortunately turned to the dark side. Venom happened to be a phenomenal character. With Eddie Brock, or if you do Flash Thompson, it doesn’t matter who is going to be inside the suit – what’s important is that a man like him is going to realise there comes a time when you wake up in the morning and say ‘How did I get here? There must be a better way.’”
So what do you think? Can a movie with villains in the lead roles really work?
