Spider-Man 3 was released in 2007 to mostly negative reviews, and one of the biggest issues fans had with the movie was the portrayal of Venom, a beloved and iconic character from the comic books.
Played by Topher Grace, director Sam Raimi being forced by producer Avi Arad to shoehorn the villain into the movie ensured that he was the most underwhelming bad guy in a threequel full of them. However, while the character was a forgettable part of Spider-Man 3, a lot of work was put into designing him!
That's evident from a new gallery of concept art/behind-the-scenes photos shared by The Venom Site, and we've now rounded up ten jaw-dropping pieces - some of which are better than others.
Some of these would have been an improvement, while others are even worse than that final version. However, they're all worth checking out, and we suggest you do so by clicking the "Next" button!
10. A Very Different Venom
This early design for Venom is different to anything we've seen in the comics, and clearly an effort to bring some realism to a character who might otherwise look cartoonish on screen.
While there are homages to Spider-Man's costume, the symbiote's presence can be felt, particularly with those claws and the emergence of a very different mouth. This Venom looks very human, albeit with fangs and eyes we're willing to bet were going to be white and bear a resemblance to Spidey's.
We're not disappointed this didn't make it into Spider-Man 3, but it's certainly pretty damn unique.
9. A Comic Accurate Venom
From one extreme to another, this comic accurate Venom would have ditched visual effects and brought the iconic villain to life with the use of a practical costume.
It does look a little stiff and may have been difficult for a stunt performer to move around in, but the chest logo and "mask" both feel like they've been pulled straight from the source material. The problem with going for a headpiece like that is it probably would have had zero movement on set.
CGI could have helped in that respect, of course, and we'd love to know what Raimi had planned for this particular version of the character. Unfortunately, like that Green Goblin from Spider-Man, this isn't something the filmmaker moved forward with.
8. Venom's Mouth
Figuring out how to make Venom talk was clearly an issue for Spider-Man 3, with this costume borrowing the textures of Spidey's suit, layering it with the alien symbiote, and exposing the villain's mouth.
It's a cool design in some respects, but there's no way this would have worked on screen. Grace could have been given more fake fangs to talk through, and it's worth noting that when Venom debuted, it was minus the massive fangs and tongue. However, it's hard to believe exposing part of Eddie Brock's face stood a chance of making any fan happy.
The eyes are pretty cool, but we're relieved this one never made it to the big screen.
7. The Chest Logo
While the version of Venom who was featured in Spider-Man 3 did have the classic logo on his back and chest (well, a version of it, at least), it didn't exactly jump off the screen.
By muting its colours, the threequel made it fade into the background, and Venom didn't really have enough screentime for us to get much of a lasting impression from that iconic logo. However, as this very early sketch reveals (along with more of the concept art you'll see here), a white version was considered and it would have looked badass.
For whatever reason, it wasn't used, and we've now got used to seeing Venom without it thanks to its absence in the 2018 movie and this year's Venom: Let There Be Carnage.
6. A Vastly Improved Design
The way the symbiote is creeping up Eddie's face still looks pretty lame, but the overall aesthetic of the Venom costume is vastly improved when that white symbol is put front and centre.
We're still not sure what the thought process with those goofy fake teeth is, or why it was necessary for Eddie to have them when he removed his "mask." Regardless, while Grace was badly miscast as the classic Spider-Man villain, the addition of that spider alone might have helped us warm to him.
Stick that logo on the current Venom, and we'd arguably be on to a real winner in that franchise.
5. A Horror-Inspired Take
Raimi may be best known to comic book fans for his work on the Spider-Man trilogy, but there are many moviegoers out there who will most fondly remember his horror movies (like Evil Dead).
That horror influence can be felt here with a great sketch of Eddie Brock's painful transformation into Venom. Elements of this certainly made it into Spider-Man 3, but that PG-13 rating limited what the filmmaker could do and visual effects distracted from what was an otherwise pretty cool transformation.
The teeth creeping across the villain's face is a nice touch, and a great way to tease the alien's true nature.
4. What's This Supposed To Be?
We're not sure if this is supposed to be mid-transformation or just a unique way of portraying Venom's mouth minus the huge fangs and tongue. Either way, it's certainly pretty alien!
With visual effects, it's possible that this might have looked pretty solid in motion. Unfortunately, this photo alone isn't enough to convince us that would be the case, especially when it's such a departure from the comic books. At least the chest symbol we've talked so much about here looks good, though.
It's interesting to see the wacky ideas Raimi and Sony Pictures explored for Spider-Man 3, but not remotely difficult to understand what led to this never making it beyond this stage.
3. Venom's "Human" Mouth
It's easy to forget that when Venom was first introduced, it was with a surprisingly human mouth!
That was clearly considered for Spider-Man 3 early on, and we're not going to criticise them for adhering to the source material. As good as this looked on the page thanks to Todd McFarlane's artwork, it clearly wouldn't have worked in live-action, and just ends up basically being Spider-Man...with a mouth.
The costume design here sucks, but is pretty close to what we saw in the finished product. Honestly, we still don't know why Venom had to have the same webs Spidey did on his costume.
2. Spider-Man's Black Suit
Okay, this isn't the Venom costume, but it is a pretty spectacular new behind-the-scenes shot of Spider-Man in the alien costume.
This looked great in action, but would it be unfair to say that mistakes were made in terms of how Spidey was portrayed in these parts of the movie. Basically making his red and blue costume black felt lazy, and kind of missed the point of what a transformation Peter Parker underwent when he gained the alien symbiote costume.
A simple black costume with that classic white logo would have looked badass on screen, but we ended up with this. It's not awful, but certainly not amazing.
1. The Stuff Of Nightmares
Another very early design, this take on Venom also appears to be horror-movie inspired, and makes Eddie Brock look like an absolute madman as he bonds with his alien "other."
We're pretty sure this is supposed to be mid-transformation, and heading down this route instead of relying so heavily on visual effects would have been no bad thing. We're definitely not sure about the creepy spider logo on the villain's chest, but this may well have worked in action.
One of the weirder alternate designs considered for Spider-Man 3, this just goes to show how much work was put into trying to find the right look for Venom in live-action...it's just a shame they failed to do so (we'd have probably gone for the comic-accurate take earlier in this feature).
Click HERE to check out the full gallery shared by The Venom Site!