‘Rogue One’ Star Riz Ahmed In Talks For ‘Venom’ Spin-Off, May Or May Not Be Carnage
Sony Pictures is getting their Spider-Man franchise spin-offVenomready to go.Tom Hardyhas been attached to the projectas the title character for some time now, andGangster SquaddirectorRuben Fleischerwill be behind the camera for the film thatis said to have no tiesto the Spider-Man played by Tom Holland in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Now the supporting cast is starting to fill out.
Reports have indicated thatRogue One: A Star Wars StoryactorRiz Ahmedis in talks to play a popular Marvel Comics character inVenom. While the character isn’t being disclosed at this time, there is word on which character it won’t be. Find out more about Venom cast addition below.
Varietywas the first to report on theVenomcast looking to recruit Riz Ahmed. While their reports doesn’t mention which character he would play if a deal comes together,The Hollywood Reporterhas heard from sources that it won’t be Carnage, even though that’s the role in the film that Sony Pictures has been looking to cast. Carnagewas supposed to be the villainand Riz Ahmed is said to have been considered for the role, but the script has changed since then and now he’s reportedly up for a different role.
Meanwhile,Jeff Sneider from The Tracking Boardsays his sources are torn as to what role Riz Ahmed would play, with one trustworthy source saying it will be Carnage. So it sounds like it could go either way.
Reporter Justin Kroll at Varietyindicated on TwitterthatMatt Smith(Doctor Who),Pedro Pascal(Game of Thrones) andMathias Schoenarts(The Danish Girl) were also in the running for the role, so if Riz Ahmed somehow isn’t able to make it through negotiations, the studio does have other options at their disposal. Unfortunately, none of those options give us an idea as to who the character they could have played will be if it’s not actually Carnage.
Considering thatSpider-Man: Homecominghas already used Vulture and Shocker, not to mention hinting at Scorpion, maybe Venom will venture into different villain territory by bringing someone like Kraven the Hunter or Mysterio into play (especially since there are spin-offsfor those characters in the works). Or maybe they’ll dig deep into sci-fi Spider-Man territory by bringing Scarlet Spider into the mix, who is actually a clone of Spider-Man. That sounds pretty far fetched, but Venom is supposed to be a straight-up sci-fi movie, and potentially R-rated, so maybe it’s not too crazy.
Very little is known aboutVenomat this point, but the script is being written byScott Rosenberg(Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle) andJeff Pinkner(The Dark Tower), withAvi AradandMatt Tolmachproducing the movie along with Sony’sAmy Pascal.
As of nowVenomis slated to arrive in theaters onOctober 5, 2018.
