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Only the most die-hard fans follow the intricacies of which superhero is in which universe. It’s simple enough to keep Marvel vs. DC straight, but within the Marvel ranks there is still a bit of a rift.

Marvel Comics and the Marvel Cinematic Universe doesn’t exactly match up character for character, and one superhero that has long been caught up in the confusion is Spider-Man.

While Disney now owns much of the Marvel superheroes rights, Sony held on to Spider-Man and all related characters for dear life until they finally cut a deal with Disney. It’s thanks to that deal that fans were able to see Spider-Man, as portrayed by Tom Holland, enter the MCU and join the Avengers.

Venom, starring Tom Hardy, however, is still very much a Sony picture. Even so, it seems they may one day appear together on screen, and fans are here for it.

‘Venom’ director Ruben Fleischer hinted that Venom and Spider-Man will meet

Tom Holland on the red carpet
Tom Holland | Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images for Disney

Although Ruben Fleischer, director of the first Venom film is not directing the sequel, an interview he gave in October of last year certainly got fans excited for the possibility of a Venom and Spider-Man crossover.

He told Fandom: “That’s where it’s all going to lead, and that’s the exciting thing, because we changed the origin of Venom … in the comics, he evolved from Spider-Man but because of the Marvel-Sony thing we weren’t able to that.”

He added that he thinks the films are building towards a meeting of the two characters and that he’s excited to see what they do when they confront each other.

‘Venom’ wasn’t received well by critics

Fleischer stepped aside to let new director, Andy Serkis, take over for the second Venom film which is now in post-production. Serkis is best known for his voice and motion capture work, especially in the role of Gollum in The Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films. In 2018 he directed his first major motion picture, Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle.

While many fans loved Fleischer’s Venom, some fans were not impressed, and the critics were downright brutal. Fleisher said of the response: “I was really bummed that people didn’t like it because it’s a crowd-pleasing movie and I’m not sure if there was just blowback against Sony or people just worship Marvel. But I was really surprised that the critics [were gunning for it] because audiences really enjoyed the movie.”

Criticisms aside, with the possibility of a crossover film with Spider-Man, fans are excited to see how Tom Hardy’s dark and cynical Venom will interact with Tom Holland’s friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.

What fans are saying about the possible ‘Venom’/ ‘Spider-Man’ crossover

In a recent Reddit post, fans discussed the future of these two characters. Some were excited to see what their dynamics would be like together on screen, while others expressed that they though like Tom Hardy, they weren’t keen on his version of Venom. Several wondered how a movie billed as Spider-Man vs. Venom would work since both characters are “good guys”, albeit with Venom being more of an anti-hero that has no issue with a little death and destruction.

The discussions among fans on Twitter took on a similar path of speculation about how the two would be rivals in a future film. Fans also discussed which character was more mature.

While age is clearly in Hardy’s favor as far as maturity goes, some didn’t find that to be the most important factor.

“And I’d argue that this Peter Parker [Spider-Man] is way more mature as a person than the Eddie Brock [Venom] from that movie,” one fan wrote. Others cited the lobster scene as proof of Brock’s immaturity, one even calling him a “goofy loser.”

There is no official announcement of and details on this speculated crossover film as of now. 

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