SPIDER-MAN 3 Director Sam Raimi Explains What Went Wrong With Venom: "I Didn't Recognize Enough Humanity"

SPIDER-MAN 3 Director Sam Raimi Explains What Went Wrong With Venom: "I Didn't Recognize Enough Humanity"

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness director Sam Raimi has reflected on Spider-Man 3, revealing why he didn't connect with Venom and sharing his thoughts on the anti-hero's recent solo outings.

By JoshWilding - May 03, 2022 10:05 AM EST
Filed Under: Spider-Man 3
Source: Uproxx

Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2 were two amazing movies, but Spider-Man 3...well, it didn't quite manage to live up to the high bar set by its predecessors. The threequel had lots of issues, including a bizarre twist that saw Sandman revealed as Uncle Ben's true killer, a Green Goblin who looked like a snowboarder, and a take on Venom that definitely left comic book fans underwhelmed.

Many of those baffling decisions were forced on director Sam Raimi by Sony Pictures, and more specifically, producer Avi Arad. Talking to Uproxx about Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the filmmaker reflected on what went wrong with Eddie Brock in the 2007 blockbuster. 

"It was really more just that I didn’t understand the character that well. It wasn’t close to my heart," Raimi candidly admitted. "The best thing I like about Stan Lee and Steve Ditko’s Spider-Man is that they made relatable characters that I understand. Even if they were confused, like Norman Osborn, they still have goodness in their heart. They want them to do the right thing."

"When I read about Venom, which I hadn’t read as a kid," the director continued, "I had to catch up on it when they wanted him to be in the movie. I didn’t recognize enough humanity within that character to be able to identify with him properly. That’s really what it boils down to."

Raimi admitted that he hasn't watched the Venom movies, but said it "makes sense" that Sony has approached the dynamic between Eddie and his symbiote in a comedic way, adding that he's "glad they were able to make a success out of that" (honestly, we get the impression he doesn't care).

It's unclear when Spider-Man and Venom will clash on screen again. At the end of Spider-Man: No Way Home, Tom Hardy's Eddie Brock was returned to his own world, but a piece of his symbiote was left behind. If the MCU has its own Eddie, then the two might cross paths as soon as Spider-Man 4...

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globaltravels
globaltravels - 5/3/2022, 8:22 AM
i mean, to Raimi's credit, he DIDN'T want Venom in the film. he was forced in by the studio. the grievances he has now im sure are the same he had at the time.
KWilly
KWilly - 5/3/2022, 10:39 AM
@globaltravels - Spider-Man 3 could've been an all-time comic book great, if it just focused on Sandman and Green Goblin Jr.
manofillintent1
manofillintent1 - 5/3/2022, 1:18 PM
@KWilly -
Fares
Fares - 5/3/2022, 8:29 AM
He did pretty pretty well considering. I didn't think it was bad by any means.
GhostDog
GhostDog - 5/3/2022, 10:38 AM
“Raimi admitted that he hasn't watched the Venom movies…”
MV081199
MV081199 - 5/3/2022, 10:40 AM
Spider-Man 3 is a movie that I came to appreciate more in recent years, especially because of Bully Maguire
AC1
AC1 - 5/3/2022, 10:49 AM
@MV081199 - the memes are gold 😂
WruceBayne
WruceBayne - 5/3/2022, 10:43 AM
I hope they don’t bring Venom into the MCU through a piece left by Sony’s Eddie’s Brock. That whole sequence of him coming to the MCU and doing absolutely nothing and then going back seems like decisions were made behind the scenes at the last minute.
sKeemAn
sKeemAn - 5/3/2022, 10:46 AM
Small parts are enjoyable in SM3. Venom is not one of them.



AC1
AC1 - 5/3/2022, 10:48 AM
Ironically I think if Raimi had been given the time to really do his research on the character it would've been a perfect fit for him in another movie, but with him basically being forced to shoehorn the character into an entirely different movie that he was already planning out it's understandable that he didn't feel a connection with the character and wasn't able to adapt it in a satisfying way as a result. And it also makes sense that that then had a knock on effect that impacted the rest of the movie.

The thing is, with stuff Sam has said in the past about Venom, it seems like he actually does have an understanding of the character - like how Eddie is a dark reflection of Peter, that Venom is Spider-Man with all the power and none of the responsibility - but the problem is he clearly didn't fit into that movie and Avi Arad or whoever forcing Raimi to add the character just threw the whole thing out of balance.

I genuinely think if Spider-Man 3 was split into a hypothetical Spider-Man 3 and Spider-Man 4, where 3 covered most of the Sandman stuff and a lot of the Harry stuff and ended with Peter getting rid of the symbiote, and then 4 covered most of the Venom stuff and ended by rounding off the Harry and Sandman arcs, then they'd actually stand up in almost as high regard as the first two movies.
mgeoff88
mgeoff88 - 5/3/2022, 11:01 AM
Spider-Man 3 is the weakest of the Sam Raimi trilogy, but it did give us this memorable quote:

breakUbatman
breakUbatman - 5/3/2022, 11:30 AM
Fun fact: I'm a big fan of the Raimi movies - all 3. They knocked it out the park casting the villains
PartyKiller
PartyKiller - 5/3/2022, 11:41 AM
Venom is not a great character. He was even worse when Raimi did Spider-Man 3. He was just a visual.
Ha1frican
Ha1frican - 5/3/2022, 11:47 AM
Having rewatched 3 before NWH it’s honestly a much more faithful adaptation of Venom than the movies. If they had a better design and actor with more of an Eddie Brock look I think it would be the definitive version for me so far
ModHaterSLADE
ModHaterSLADE - 5/3/2022, 12:11 PM
Grace is a solid actor, and there's times when the dark parallel to Parker gimmick clicked, but the movie just became a jumbled mess with the various plots. Venom should've been its own thing.
MosquitoFarmer
MosquitoFarmer - 5/3/2022, 12:16 PM
I rather enjoyed Sandman, and especially the cathartic conclusion. But the movie was still disjointed.
theredmeadow
theredmeadow - 5/3/2022, 12:35 PM
The symbiote shoulda made Peter a drunk Peter like Superman 3. Then we get a showdown of Venom and Peter in a junkyard.
ScaryTerry
ScaryTerry - 5/3/2022, 12:40 PM
I think Grace did fine… this film suffered because of Sony’s bullshit. I would have introduced the black suit and Brock, but waited to combine the two in the sequel. Shoehorning a complex character like Venom into the mix like that is why someone should call the CPS version of comic book properties on Sony.
MrDandy
MrDandy - 5/3/2022, 12:44 PM
I mean the movie sucked but what do you expect when you force the director to tell a story that he doesn’t connect with.
MahN166A
MahN166A - 5/3/2022, 1:27 PM
Say what you will about Venom in this film. Atleast to a degree, Raimi had the decency to set him up better than what The Venom films did.
Razorface1
Razorface1 - 5/3/2022, 1:53 PM
Well just change everything about him like you did with Doc Ock.
Makiveli21
Makiveli21 - 5/3/2022, 3:59 PM
This guys sucked back then and still sucks now. Who wasn't familiar with Venom and how did he become a person in charge of directing Spider-Man movies?
99OPTIMISTPRIME
99OPTIMISTPRIME - 5/4/2022, 11:27 PM
With the success of Spider-Man 2, Raimi should've been allowed to veto the inclusion of Venom.
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