Todd McFarlane's Thoughts on How Venom Looked in Spider-Man 3 

Even Sandman was more buff than Venom in the movie lol.

Venom was cool for the 3 seconds he was on screen before they kept peeling back the face to show Topher.

My childhood buddy Dale was a gifted artist and he loved the way Todd drew comics. When we were kids he sent McFarlane a drawing of an Apache Helicopter he had done that was pretty good. It took about a year but Todd sighed it and mailed it back with the words, "keep up the good work Dale, Todd McFarlane." My friend was over the moon. He couldn't believe his idol had responded in kind.

Venom was basically Carnage sized in Spider-man 3.

That's gotta be the biggest complimate ever to the studio and Tom Hardy to hear the creator of such an amazing design of Venom said he got his Venom on screen that he drew 30 years ago. Love this podcast!

1:43 who knew Todd Mcfarlane does a perfect impression of Stan Lee?

We can all agree Todd McFarlane is quite a legend.

"whats happening hes not growing!?" best part of the interview

Adding venom into spider-man 3 was Sony's idea. They pushed it on to Sam who didn't want to do it in the first place. Therefore we came out with a rushed version of venom that was not the best.

No matter how good venom looked in this, he is nothing without the internal conflict of Parker's rejection.

I didn’t necessarily mind how small Venom was within the context of the movie. He looked like a distorted version of Spider-Man. Everything from the suit patterns to the eyes. Him being able to match Spider-Man’s silhouette was a cool twist

Sony: *alters one of your best known creations into a smol boi* Todd: "Oh, Darnit!"

"What's Happening!! He's not growing!!" lmfao, Todd McFarlane is my hero, guys just an incredible gift to the Comic book world.

Todd McFarlane is a creative and artistic genius. Spawn will forever be my all time favorite character. Waiting over 20 years for the next Spawn movie.... the toys were also the most detailed pieces I have ever seen.

Topher Grace is a decent actor but they should’ve casted someone else as Eddie Brock.

To me Brock Lesnar is how I imagine Eddie Brock in real life.

That's an interesting note on Venom's creation that I didn't know about. The reason he's so big is to give the impression that purely hand to hand, you simply cannot beat him. Therefore the hero in question has to find another way of defeating him, hence the weakness to sound and fire.

Todd McFarlane: “I wanted him biggerer”

The way Todd wanted to see Venom is the way we wanted to see him. I hope he remembers that when doing the new Spawn movie.

Even as a 10 year-old kid, my first reaction was "That's not the Venom I know". He has to be jacked, that's part of his intimidation factor, Parker is a scrawny kid and Venom a hulking alpha. True opposites of one another. It's a shame the movie was so rushed, there was/is huge potential there.

I never thought he looked that bad. I do like that the venom suite was mainly practicle.

The awkward part is that Topher is a huge fan of Todd's work and even when he was much younger met him and got one of his comics signed at a mall [I think?]. Only to find out many years later for Todd to be disappointed by the version of Venom that a fan ended up playing as. Weird how life goes like that sometimes.

Todd is an inspiration to entrepreneurs. I love his attitude and story. Whenever I need some motivation I'll listen to an interview with Todd.

I remember when Image comics first came out. It was such a huge deal at the time. Still have the first three issues of Spawn.

The only thing I loved from SM3s venom was the design, (not the size).I loved how the suit was actually Spiderman's suit absorbed by the symbiote and it mimicked the small details like the lines and the tiny circles within the fabric.

As disappointed as I am with Venom in Spider-Man 3, I do understand that it was a creative decision because Venom in that movie was supposed to be like a negative Spider-Man, a what if Peter used his power for wrong doing, unfortunately we don't get enough time with the character for this to come across, however we do get some scenes with Brock that show us he's similar to Peter.

This guy and Stan Lee are my childhood. Weapon X turned me on to reading comics. Spawn was the first comic I collected.

I've been waiting since 1997 for Spawn 2.

I love Todd's impersonation of Stan Lee

When I was 18 I was working in a little diner in a small town called Buffalo Wyoming and Todd was passing through and stopped to eat near closing time. I was a big fan of Spawn and venom was one of my favorite comic book characters as a kid in the 90s so I was totally stoked! A bunch of my friends always hung out there drinking coffee and whatnot and we all ended up staying for a couple hours after I closed just bullshiting, and we all got a couple autographed things from him. It was one of those things you'll remember forever, and a good memory/story. I found it really ironic that the host here is wearing a Wyoming shirt while speaking to Todd.

This dude be looking like Matthew McConaughey

I just hope people don’t slam Topher. He was just an actor doing his job and he deserves more than being mocked or criticized. I liked him in Spiderman 3. He seemed unhinged and that he could snap at any moment.

I think it was doable back then in the same damn movie look at sandman. He was huge!

A lot of people said Topher was not buff enough to play Venom. I appreciate that, even though he wanted a hulking Venom as much as anyone, Todd didn't take the stance that it had anything to do with Topher's size. "Venom should GROW as the suit comes on." Yes. 100%

McFarlane cracks me up lol... He seems like a grown-up kid. Hope he never changes. He outlined my biggest issue with Gopher Face's portrayal of Venom as well.

It's not Raimi's fault tho he was forced to include a character that he didn't really know or care about into a movie that already had two main villains. Even if he was big it still would've been a mess.

I laughed Hella hard when he said he panicked in the theater watching venom not grow. It had so many ineuwindows too.

To give credit where it’s due, SM3 Venom was not Topher Grace’s normal build; they really bulked him up and made him considerably larger (definitely larger than Spider-Man). Though it’s a fair point that they didn’t take it far enough. They could have made him a completely CGI character like Sandman, but they opted for an actor in a muscle suit.

If you close your eyes, you can hear jordan peterson in most of his sentences.

I love Todd he’s brilliant, so entertaining and insightful. True inspiration.

Gotta love Todd McFarlane man, he is def on my comic mount Rushmore, he is a straight OG

Raimi chose Topher because he wanted like a bizzarro version of Toby, which if you're going for that, Topher is a good choice. Not sure why that was such a priority but at least it explains why he chose not to make him big.

Black costume should have been introduced in 3 and venom should have been the villain of 4

If Sony & Marvel can play this out right, Id love to see Venom get the best of Spidey.. Hes one of the very few villains who can get passed Spideys Sense and can take him on toe to toe. Seeing Peter having to rethink everything he knows in combat to try and outsmart Venom would make for a great movie.. you know...like he did in the comic.

Topher would've been a great Cletus Cassidy.

If Don Heck was still alive (may he rest in peace), I wonder what he would've thought of how Iron Man 3 treated the villain he created to be Iron Man's greatest foe. Venom in Spider-Man 3 was simply a result of someone just not knowing what to do with the character, and Sam Raimi already apologized before the fans for botching him. Mandarin in Iron Man 3 was a result of someone intentionally pooping all over the fans, character, and his history.

See when you try and remember back to your childhood and the nostalgia kicks in Todd McFarlane's artwork will always be there in my head

When Spider-Man 3 showed Venom and I said “Wow.. this is the counter to Spider-Man ? It’s just a skinny guy” When Venom in his solo movie and he came up and I said “Now that’s my Venom !”

I personally prefer the symbiote effects in Spider Man 3. I agree that Venom should've been bigger, he's supposed to be a graceless character. But in regards to the symbiote itself, the one seen in Spider Man 3 feels a lot more tangible. It moves like an amorphous spider, like it holds mass. The one in Venom just looks like CG goop that sloshes around. Now, obviously I understand that the symbiotes in the comics and original animations are more liquid in nature, but I truly got the impression that Raimi's symbiote was an alien being.

Tom hardy has the body figure of Eddie Brock If I was Sam and I had topher. I probably would have not told him to act like a cowardly nerd. The whole movie was him being Erick foreman. Sam isn’t to blame for this avi Arad is.

so cool. i'd love to meet that guy. venom is by far my favorite childhood comic book character.

If he likes the Tom Hardy Venom, I’m sure he’s going to appreciate the Venom in the Spider-Man 2 video game. It looks like the devs did a good job making him a hulking beast of a character.

I defend the Raimi Venom as this: 1. Sam NEVER wanted Venom. Period. He though Carnage would be a scarier and more psychotic character (in 1&2 the villains were tortured people, so what would Spidy do against pure uncontrolled evil?) 2. Topher Grace could have worked if given more screen time 3. Sony demanded Venom at last minute, so screen time/character development was rushed. 4. The way Venom is portrayed is almost an anti-Spider-man. He’s more stealth and “I’m over here! Now I’m over here! Gotcha bitch!” Which given Raimi’s Evil Dead background, provides some creepy moments. Edit - I would like to say the Carnage stuff I might have accidentally made up through a false memory, either way it would have been cool to see Sam Raimi’s take on Carnage

Jordan Peterson makes some good points.

Love hearing Todd talk about stuff. He’s got the excitement of a kid with a handful of pixie sticks.

its awesome to know he still has so much passion for the character

Interesting how todd mainly focuses of the aesthetics of the comic book character, and Stan Lee paid attention to the character of the character

Raimi said he wanted brock to be Peter's equal, but without the moral. Like his dark half

3:52 we need a scene where Eddie is ordering food at a drive thru and venom in his head keeps interrupting him while he’s ordering.

into the spiderverse's poke at spider-man 3 right at the start was hilarious.

Todd’s reaction to Venom was my reaction to The Mandarin.

I remember hearing how Sam Raimi didn't want to do Venom in Spider-man 3 because he didn't know the character but execs pushed it on him because he was popular therefore having him would sell more tickets. It's a shame, it wasn't terrible, I still enjoy the movie, I watched it only a few weeks ago.

Sam Raimi said he just saw Eddie/Venom as an evil mirror to Peter/Spidey. Hence why Eddie went from being a roughneck to being an evil nerd/fellow photog at the Bugle, and Venom became more or less an evil Spidey with the same size/build.

His impression of Stan made me smile

Todd McFarlane is a national treasure.

He sounds like Saul Goodman lol

2:13 Todd being confused is the best thing, ive seen in a while. Lmao

There's one panel of a Spiderman comic I read once that sticks with me. Eddie has recently bonded with Venom. He grabs an 18 wheeler axle while Venom takes over him and he says, "I'm going to kill Spiderman!" Or something like that and he breaks the axle in half. Bad ass

This interview was great. Todd inspired the way I drew venom and a lot of other characters when I had my eyesight.

This was my thought exactly when I first saw Spider-Man 3. Brock and venom were always big brute character not Erick from that 70s show lol

I like how Todd said that the short answer was "no" but didnt elaborate on a long answer. Todd seems like the guy who can still appreciate other versions of his characters and see their own uniqueness. There are a couple scenes in Spider-Man 3 that Venom has that are actually really good. Specifically showing off his mouth. Very nasty sharp teeth wnd a wide open jaw. I appreciate it for what it was, even with its flaws but Todd is ultimately correct. Tom Hardy's Venom is the best we have seen so far in terms of Venom being on screen in movies and shows.

When he mentioned the comic was signed by Stan lee, the other people on the panel almost couldn’t take their eyes off it❤️it’s crazy how much one man can make an impact

I've never seen or heard this guy until now (though I have read about him) and he reminds me of Bill nye the Science Guy and Matthew McConaughey.

Remember Todd is incredibly humble about what he did and didn't draw. He's not like Stan Lee who apparently invented the entire goddamn MCU. Todd repeatedly says he DESIGNED VENOM he DREW him. Which means he drew what he imagined venom to be and he also improved on pre existing art work. Batman when he was conceptualized and created by Bob cane was given all the things we know as being true to Batman Gotham,costume,gadgets and his identity by Bill Finger

I haven't seen the Venom movie so I can't speak for that, but I never hated Topher Grace's Venom in Spider-Man 3. He did fine as Eddie Brock/Venom. That movie's biggest problem was that too much was happening and too many villains were jumping around. Venom simply wasn't needed in that movie, there was already enough going on with Sand-Man and Harry Osborn. That should've been enough and making Venom bigger wouldn't have improved the movie at all if everything else was left the same. The only ones to blame for Venom in SM3 is the Sony executives. Topher did a fine job, the writers did the best they could to include Venom in an already big enough story and Sam Raimi did his job to the best of his abilities. No amount of hulking up Venom would've made that movie better.

I said exactly the same thing. How relieved I was when Venom came out. 🐉

Why does he sound like Saul goodman

I never knew that Jordan B Peterson was so into Spider-Man

Agreed. I felt the same way about Apocalypse in the last X-Men movie

That was a great quick Stan Lee impersonation.

The way venom was depicted in Spider-Man 3 works for the film Eddie (in Spider-Man 3) is like the dark side of peter personified. He’s built just like Peter/Spider-Man. I love his design in SM3 and in Venom

I remember being in my early 20's going to see spiderman 3 at the movies. I was with a few of my buddies and when they finally showed Venom we all just sat there..blank face..no more hype..just silence. I wanted to walk out. So, not only was Venom a skinny kid in a scuba suit..he asked Sandman to TEAM UP against Spideman...🤦‍♂️

He exudes so much happy energy. Work hard and follow your dreams, kids. 👍😊

Todd nailed his Lee impression, it only lasted 3 seconds but great!

I have 2 of those Spider-Man 300 with Venom

I completely agree. I think they should have made topher grace work out and bulk up at the very least

I got a copy of issue #300 for ~ $4.00 with a bunch of other comics at a yardsale, circa 1994. The colors were sort of bleeding together and I ended selling it to a comic book store for $32!

I HATED how Venom was portrayed in Spider-Man 3! It made no earthly sense to, not only have him in the movie for no reason at all, but to have Topher Grace of all people play Venom. While the Venom movie itself was a bit mediocre than Spider-Man 3, at least I enjoyed the movie more and Venom LOOKED like Venom!!

The perfect venom with minor details would really be Brock Lesnar

Lookin like Neil Patrick and Mr. Cumberpatch has a baby

Sam said it was a purposeful choice to keep Venom more or less human in proportion in SM 3. The threat Sam was going for was that of the shadow-self, the dark reflection. Venom was supposed to be psychologically frightening - a Spider-Man with no conscience, no morals, and the ability to get in to your life and strike when you're most vulnerable. Even though that was his intent, I think the movie is so fractured and disjointed that it gets completely lost and the climax is just your typical superhero beat-em-up.

They efed up..big time

I still think Spiderman 3's Venom had the best special effects. The practical mixed with cgi. I loved how the tendrils were pulling on tophers face and the way it swallowed up his face was cool. But the final product left much to be desired. Really should of got a bigger bulkier actor.

Just as long as he isn't King Kong-sized like I've seen him drawn sometimes lol

soon as i saw he was lacking the white symbol on his chest, i decided thats not venom

But he was big But he was big But he was big But he was big

Although he was too small, San Raimi Venom looks really cool *imo*

This man know his character he crated in comics

I've got Venom's first comic book and second comic book when he had his own series I need to get them graded

Finally somebody honest and saying what we are all thinking.