There was a lot of talk leading up toVenom’s release as to whether the film would or would not include a reference to or appearance byTom Holland’s Peter Parker. The truth of the matter is, under the current terms of Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios’ deal that sees Holland popping up inAvengersmovies as well as standaloneSpider-Manmovies produced by Marvel, this was never going to happen. Marvel Studios is keenly focused on quality control, and if you have Holland pop up in a cameo inVenom, that automatically makesVenoman MCU film—even though the folks at Marvel Studios had no creative input on the movie.
However, despite the fact that Peter Parker is nowhere to be found, there are still a couple ofSpider-ManEaster eggs dropped intoVenomfor fans to spot. Collider’s Steve Weintraub recently spoke with producersAvi AradandMatt Tolmachabout the movie, and they pointed out two majorSpider-ManEaster eggs that were put intoVenom.
The first one occurs during the dinner date we see between Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) and Anne Weying (Michelle Williams), when Anne says to Eddie, “We don’t want a repeat of New York.” The Big Apple is, of course, where Peter Parker lives, and the entirety ofVenomis largely influenced by the comics arc “Lethal Protector” which saw Venom making an agreement with Spider-Man to leave New York and move to San Francisco—whereVenomtakes place.
The other reference is far more explicit, and it happens right at the beginning of the film.Venomopens with a spaceship from Carlton Drake’s (Riz Ahmed) Life Foundation crashing on Earth after recovering four alien symbiotes from a comet. All but one of the astronauts dies upon impact, and if you listen closely you’ll hear Drake refer to the one surviving astronaut (played byChris O’Hara) by saying, “Is that Jameson?” Yes indeed, Arad and Tolmach confirmed that astronaut was none other than James Jameson, son of Daily Bugle editor-in-chief J. Jonah Jameson.
In the comics, James Jameson is an astronaut, so this fits. The character has only been portrayed on the big screen one other time, inSam Raimi’sSpider-Man 2. In that film, Jameson is portrayed by actorDaniel Gilliesand becomes engaged toKirsten Dunst’s Mary Jane Watson.
So yep, John Jameson was (very briefly) inVenom, then he died. Did you catch the reference when you saw the movie? Sound off in the comments below.
For more onVenom,click herefor why Carnage wasn’t the main villain.
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