Topher Grace opens up about playing Venom in ‘Spider-Man 3’
In the early to mid-2000s, horror director Sam Raimi rejuvenated the superhero genre and took it to a whole new level with his adaptations of the Spider-Man comics.
This trilogy consists of Spider-Man, released in 2002, Spider-Man 2 in 2004, and lastly, Spider-Man 3 in 2007. A fourth film was originally planned for a 2011 release date; however, it was then cancelled and was followed by a Sony reboot of the comic books starring Andrew Garfield.
The first two films were heavily praised and adored by critics as well as comic fans. Spider-Man 2 is credited for popularising and cementing summer blockbusters as crucial moments in the film industry. Furthermore, it’s considered one of the greatest superhero films ever made and is respected as allowing them to be what they are today.
Essentially, the Marvel Cinematic Universe owes Raimi a thank you. However, the third and final instalment in the trilogy received mixed to poor reviews because of the baggage of villains being involved in the story, as well as editing and altering previously established story points from the first two films. Another reason Spider-Man 3 fell so short was the director holding back on it due to being “forced” to include a villain character he’s not too fond of by the studio. That character is Eddie Brock, AKA Venom, a man who becomes infected by the same sinister extraterrestrial symbiote as Peter Parker.
Topher Grace plays Venom in the film, the actor most known for his role as Eric Forman in the hit and beloved series That 70s show. Despite being “a huge fan of the character of Venom” when he was a kid, Grace could not help but be surprised when he was chosen to play the role. He explains on the Inside of You podcast that this is because he perceives Eddie/Venom as a physically imposing and visually intimidating character, something he felt that he could not emulate on screen.
In 2018, 11 years after Grace appeared in Spider-man 3, English actor Tom Hardy filled the role of Eddie/ Venom in Venom. This movie is the first instalment of Sony’s Spider-Man Universe and was a box office success. It was then followed by a 2021 sequel called Venom: Let There Be Carnage and was then revealed to be canon in the official MCU following a cameo in Spider-Man: No Way Home in 2022.
When looking at Hardy being cast to play the same role he once played, Grace stated: “So when I look at it now, at the movie that’s coming out, I go, ‘That’s the guy’. In terms of how I think the guy should be played and who should play it.”
Grace is now more comfortable watching Venom be played by someone else on screen rather than doing it himself.