Aside from leaks last year, one featuring the San Diego Comic-Con teaser attached to a recent trailer, the other being some design art, little has been seen of Venom. Spider-Man 3 director Sam Raimi, Sony and Marvel have been quiet, only releasing one official shot of Eddie Brock transforming into the creature. We've seen Spidey's black suit, and we've seen it crawling onto Peter Parker... but where is his greatest nemesis?
While an official debut is still in the shadows, merchandise is starting to appear for the film which debuts on May 3. Sideshow Collectibles, known for its stellar statues and various Marvel-related collectible figures, has unveiled three toys for Spider-Man 3. The first two are both of Spider-Man, one with the standard costume and one symbiote-laced. The third, however, is Venom.
Venom's movie design is clearly different from the comic books. Sam Raimi's art team has altered Venom to transition directly from Spider-Man's costume to a twisted version. Raimi and actor Topher Grace have both described Eddie Brock as a shadow of Peter Parker. Brock's past is much darker than Peter's; he didn't have the nurturing environment that Peter enjoyed. This design is clearly an extension of that emotional concept. Venom retains the basic costume layout of his heroic opposition while keeping his trademark fangs and tongue. The Venom-ized Spider-Man costume also features the typical distorted spider emblem and wide, white eyes.
Comparing these figures to official screenshots reveals these are not exact replicas of their movie counterparts. Notice the detail and texture of the film costume is far more subdued in these preliminary models. The result is a figure that looks more simplistic than the film version. Skeptics should bite their tongue until Sony releases genuine images from Spider-Man 3.
These are images of prototypes, and they are subject to change. However, preliminary models aren't going to be made without reference materials; it's likely this is very close to Venom's final design. Be sure to stay tuned to IGN for more information, impressions and screenshots of what is sure to be the biggest comic book film this year.
Source IGN.com