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Spider-Man 3 Villains: Sandman & Venom
datemenatalie writes "As posted on ComingSoon.net, "Kirsten Dunst confirmed rumors to Zap2it that Thomas Haden Church will play Sandman and Topher Grace is Venom in director Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 3." As written, ""We have really great people though as the villains in this film, Thomas Haden Church and Topher Grace -- Venom and Sandman," said Dunst, who plays Mary Jane Watson in the Spidey films. "Maybe I wasn't supposed to say that," she added before reversing her claim. "It's the other way around. You're right," she conceded to a journalist." Spider-Man 3 is set for release on May 4, 2007."
At the same time, there is a great background story involving Spiderman and the alien costume before Venom was conceived. I just think that the Sandman could be an entire movie and the alien costume could be an entire series of movies on its own. Although, I'm sure there will never be a secret wars movie.
Does anyone remember the Spiderman vs. Seabiscuit fiasco?
:p)
Topher Grace was (strongly rumored) to replace Tobey Maguire for Spiderman 2, due to injuries Maguire suffered during the shooting of Seabiscuit.
There were a few refs to it on That '70s Show as well.
(hey, I don't do unemployment that well
Moreover, even a Spidey-flick optimist has be curious about what Dunst meant by "though"...
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I like to think that's why they cast the likes of Thomas Hayden Church and Topher Grace in these roles. Though both are well-recognized, neither really has the amount of star power where they could do any real damage. I mean, have you seen the typse of roles Thomas Hayden Church has taken lately? George of the Jungle 2? Rolling Kansas? And Topher Grace is still most recognized as the guy from That 70's Show.
Not that I fully agree with the casting, but I do think they are pulling from the right echelon of actors - underappreciated veterans for whom a role like this can be a huge step for. I certainly wouldn't cast anyone along the likes of Schwarzeneger (too lazy to look up the spelling) or Jim Carey or Tommy Lee Jones.
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If we look at Spidey 2, we saw hints at the new Goblin and Lizard Man but they didn't have big roles in the movie. Most of the conflict came from Doc Oc. Perhaps in 3, Sandman will be the big opponent while Venom might show up as an introductory role. Venom is a hugely popular villain/hero in the Marvel universe with a complete and interesting back story. It would be nigh impossible to have both villains in the movie without subtracting from the plot/quality. If I were Raimi, I would set it up that Spidey uses the symbiote against Sandman, realizes the suit is bad, gets rid of it (with or without F4's help) and we end with Eddie Brock finding it, setting up the next film (and a possible spinoff).
I'm actually surprised that there has been no mention of the new Goblin or Lizard Man especially after being set up by Spidey 2. In any case, just because it's said that Topher Grace is in the movie, it doesn't mean he will have a huge role (yet).
For those of you that think Topher Grace is poor casting as Venom, you're right IF they use the normal Marvel Universe (Universe 616) version of Venom. However the Venom from Ultimate Spiderman would work great for Topher Grace. A childhood friend of Peter's who is going to college and continuing the research began by his and Peter's parents. The research project ends up becoming the Venom suit after interaction with Peter. This version of Venom is a college science nerd and more of an anti-Spiderman then the alien symbiote of the normal Marvel Universe. Considering Sam Raimi's voiced dislike of the Venom character I wouldn't be surprised if he decided to go with this alternate interpretation.
I'll think this is even more likely if the Venom from the new Ultimate Spiderman game turns out to have the same Ultimate storyline.
Granted while I couldn't agree more that there's no way Topher could possibly match the physique of Venom, I think they were trying to match him with Eddie Brock more than Venom.. They seem to go for a more character based story in these films than a "Throw these guys in costumes and have 'em brawl" approach. And I can see Topher looking like Eddie, but he seriously needs to pack on a few lbs before he's a bad mofo like Venom. That was Venom's appeal, just a big massive badass. Then again, they could always throw someone else in the Venom suit.. I'm on your side on this one, I think he's way too small for the role, but Raimi seems to know what he's doing, Green Goblin, Doc Oc, Hobgoblin, Spidey, all very well cast, even when you initially thought "what the ...!?"