Venom: The Last Dance director Kelly Marcel opens up about how Tom Hardy played a crucial role in bringing the iconic symbiote to the big screen

Soon-to-release Venom: The Last Dance will be the last time fans see Tom Hardy as Marvel’s popular anti-hero – Venom. With the last film in Sony Pictures Entertainment’s Venom franchise just days away from release, the hype for the film is reaching unprecedented levels; and now, director Kelly Marcel has opened up about how Tom played a crucial role in bringing the iconic symbiote to the big screen.

Venom: The Last Dance’s Kelly Marcel on Tom Hardy playing the symbiote

Venom’s character didn’t just come from the script or comics. During the production of the first Venom film, Hardy played a pivotal role in bringing the symbiote to life—and that has continued throughout the series. Says director Kelly Marcel, “Tom Hardy played around with lots of different voices, and that’s where Venom started. He hit on the right voice, and once we heard it, it lent itself to Venom’s bombastic dialogue. That voice came from a little voice note recording that Tom sent, saying, ‘I think he sounds like this.'”

From that first voice memo, Hardy was able to develop Venom’s character both on the page and on the set. “Tom and I do a lot of improvisation,” says Marcel. The director further stated, “Tom wears an earpiece on the set that you can’t see, and he’ll record what is written for Venom on the page. Then we put Venom into his ear so that he can play to the voice in his head. I can also speak to him in his ear, so if I come up with a good line at the moment, I can put that line down in his ear, and he’ll bat it back and continue the scene.”

About the film

In Venom: The Last Dance, Eddie and Venom are on the run. Hunted by both of their worlds and with the net closing in, the duo are forced into a devastating decision that will bring the curtains down on Venom and Eddie’s last dance. The film stars Tom Hardy, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Juno Temple, Rhys Ifans, Peggy Lu, Alanna Ubach and Stephen Graham.

The film is directed by Kelly Marcel from a screenplay she wrote, based on a story by Hardy and Marcel and produced by Avi Arad, Matt Tolmach, Amy Pascal, Kelly Marcel, Tom Hardy and Hutch Parker. Sony Pictures Entertainment India will exclusively release Venom: The Last Dance in Indian cinemas on October 24, 2024, in 2D, 3D and IMAX 3D in English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.

Also Read: Venom: The Last Dance: 5 exciting reasons why fans are eagerly waiting to see the symbiote on the big screen