Out on the press tour for Venom ahead of its release this week, Tom Hardy offered some surprising words to Comics Explained when asked about his favourite moments in the Sony-produced Spider-Man film.
“Things that aren’t in this movie,” replied Hardy. “There are like 30 to 40 minutes worth of scenes that aren’t in this movie… all of them. Mad puppeteering scenes, dark comedy scenes. You know what I mean? They just never made it in.”
Given Hardy’s comments – and the negative reaction to the movie that is emerging on social media now that the embargo has lifted – it’s easy to assume to take this as the actor expressing his disappointment in the film; however, he has since clarified his comments to IGN, where he stated that:
“That’s been misunderstood. What I’m trying to say is, the question was [what] scenes I was most excited to shoot…and I was like, there’s a bunch of stuff that hasn’t made the movie. And I’m talking [from] an actor’s point of view. So what I’m saying is I had a lot of time improvising and a lot of freedom to play with Venom. So in honesty there’s probably about 7 hours or more worth of footage of me playing as Venom and enjoying myself…and when I was doing it I took him right out there, and played with it and had a lot of fun because there’s a lot of fun you can have with the project and with this character. And me and the other executive producers know full well that has nothing to do with what’s in that story. Nevertheless, would I like to watch a 7-hour version of Venom? Yep! But that’s as an actor.
“The truth [of it] is everything we wanted is in the story. Everything I want is in the story. And more. And the film is awesome. And I’m excited and I just want to shoot a sequel. Bottom line – don’t get it twisted. As an actor, what we love doing, not everything’s going to make it! I don’t want anyone to think in any way shape or form…that’s not a studio party line, that’s the genuine truth. This movie is awesome. Everything we want is in it. Everything I want is in it. And more. And I’m just saying if I didn’t get my song and dance routine in it, that’s nothing to cry about, but I may have enjoyed that. So if there’s a sequel, hopefully, I can sing and dance in that.”
SEE ALSO: New footage revealed in latest Venom TV spots
We won’t have long to wait until we can make our own minds up on Venom, with the movie opening in the UK this Wednesday ahead of a Friday release in North America.
One of Marvel’s most enigmatic, complex and badass characters comes to the big screen, starring Academy Award nominated actor Tom Hardy as the lethal protector Venom.
Venom is directed by Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland) and features a cast that includes Tom Hardy, Riz Ahmed, Michelle Williams, Woody Harrelson, Jenny Slate, Reid Scott, Scott Haze, Sope Aluko and Ron Cephas Jones.
