Upcoming Marvel movie Venom has already found its lead in Tom Hardy, and it looks like he’s about to be joined by one of his compatriots.
Variety is reporting that Rogue One star Riz Ahmed is in talks to play an undisclosed role in the film, though sources did tell the publication he will be playing a “popular Marvel Comics character.” Unsurprisingly, fans have gone into overdrive trying to guess who that might be.
The film will be a standalone story about Eddie Brock, a freelance photographer who becomes infected by an alien lifeform. (Fans may remember the character as he was originally played by Topher Grace in Sam Raimi’s 2007 film Spider-Man 3.)
So who could Riz be playing? Well, not much is currently known about the movie’s plot, but if we dig into the Marvel archive (Marchive) we might find some clues. Eddie is normally one of Spider-Man’s biggest nemeses, having made his first full appearance in Marvel’s The Amazing Spider-Man comic in 1988.
Wait. Does that mean Riz could be the webslinger himself (which, by the way, we could totally, definitely see)?
…It’s unlikely. That’s because this movie is being made by Sony, who has already confirmed it’ll take place outside of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), and that role has, of course, been taken by Tom Holland for the foreseeable future.
So who is it? ComicBook.com is already zoning in on two best guesses: according to them, Riz will play either Kraven the Hunter, another of Spidey’s antagonists, which means we could be on to some baddie-on-baddie action, or he’ll be playing Spidey clone Ben Reilly, in other words, a hero that looks a lot like Spider-Man without breaking Sony’s deal with Marvel not to include MCU characters.
Whichever one it is, a comic book character would be the icing on the cake for Riz as far as roles are concerned. In recent years his career has undergone a rapid ascent, from eye-catching supporting turns in films like Nightcrawler and cult terrorism comedy Four Lions, to his key role in last year’s Star Wars spinoff Rogue One and a critically acclaimed lead performance in HBO’s The Night Of.
We’d be happy to see Riz and Tom in the same movie whatever their roles, so let’s keep fingers crossed those talks come to something. (And if we know anything about Riz and the audition process, then he’s probably making numerous videos of himself right about now.)
You’ve got this, Riz!
Are you excited about seeing Riz in a Marvel movie?
