Sony Expects ‘Venom’ to be Rated PG-13
Fans who were hoping that Sony’s Venom would be R-rated should prepare to be disappointed on that front, as a new report suggests that they’re targeting a “hard-PG-13” instead.
Variety has done an extensive report on what’s internally being dubbed as “Sony’s Universe of Marvel Characters”, or the SUMC. In their report, they make it clear that, while Sony is open to making R-rated movies with the Spider-Man IP, Venom will not be the first. Sony executives are hopeful that they can cross the character over with Tom Holland’s Spider-Man (who, contrary to some rumors, does not appear in the film in any capacity) with the hope being that a PG-13 film would be more in-line with the Marvel Studios movies. Marvel have previously stated that they’re not remotely involved in Sony’s spin-offs and that they do not consider them for their own plans, and they’ve also stated that there aren’t any immediate plans for R-rated films, but plans can always change. Still, associating a bloody, gory Venom with a family-friendly take on the webslinger is not how they want to approach such a plan.
This development, while undoubtedly disappointing for fans who wanted a bloodier take on the Spider-Man villain/occasional anti-hero than what Spider-Man 3 offered, is not surprising. Tom Hardy previously stated that he wanted to make a superhero movie for his son and producer Avi Arad stated that his reason for making the movie was because Venom was popular with kids (if toy sales of the character are of any indication). Furthermore, none of the trailers shown were red-band (usually common for any major action or horror movie) and what is suggested to be the most violent moment – Venom biting a man’s head off – is shot from the perspective of the man as he’s getting eaten. Some reshoots on the film recently happened and may have replaced violent content with more MPAA-friendly material.
In any case, the reasoning for making Venom PG-13 doesn’t make it sound like Sony are planning to get out of their landmark deal to split Spider-Man with Marvel (as some had feared), and the report actually clarifies that they want some of the lesser characters introduced in the MCU’s Spider-Man movies to appear in the other MCU movies as long as Marvel keeps returning the favor to Sony. (Far From Home continues the trend set by Homecoming, with Nick Fury and Maria Hill replacing Tony Stark in the sequel.) It’s a sign that they want to develop side-projects that could include Tom Holland’s version of Peter Parker eventually, even though those aren’t necessarily an important component to the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s plans. But Sony’s slate is riding on Venom and Morbius the Living Vampire (which will begin filming shortly after Venom is released) to succeed, and if these projects fail, then Sony will either stop making spin-offs or will have to look more toward Marvel for assistance with developing other movies with the characters that they own.
Sony is currently developing multiple Spider-Man spin-offs set outside of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, including Morbius the Living Vampire, Kraven the Hunter, Silver Sable, Black Cat, Silk, Jackpot, and Nightwatch. Some projects that were developed but were ultimately scrapped include Silver and Black and Mysterio. Venom, the first movie in this setting, will be released on October 5, 2018.
Grant Davis is a freelance writer who has covered entertainment news for more than seven years. His articles have frequently appeared in Star Wars News Net as well as as other entertainment-related websites. As someone who grew up on Star Wars and comic book movies, he’s completely thrilled with the current era of genre entertainment.
