Topher Grace Reflects On The Negative Reception To Sam Raimi's SPIDER-MAN 3

Topher Grace Reflects On The Negative Reception To Sam Raimi's SPIDER-MAN 3

Among Spider-Man 3's many problems was Topher Grace as Venom. Horribly miscast, the actor was working with some terrible material, and he talks here about why the reception to the threequel wasn't good and why he still believes Sam Raimi did a great job on the movie...

News
By JoshWilding - Oct 18, 2015 02:10 PM EST
Filed Under: Spider-Man
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
Spider-Man 3 was a mess, but hey, it was still better than The Amazing Spider-Man movies, right? Asked in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter how he feels about Sam Raimi's recent comments that the threequel didn't turn out the way he hoped, Topher Grace (who played Eddie Brock/Venom in the movie) replied: "I know the movie did well for Sony, but I also know a lot of people weren't happy with it. I think Sam is so talented. I remember one time I was on ninth unit. (Laughs.) Ninth unit? It's like he's running a small country." That's clearly a reference to what a massive production Spider-Man 3 was, and Grace went on to compare the kind of criticism fired at it to this summer's Fantastic Four. "This summer, there was a movie like that where people are just slamming a big studio movie. I would love to see anyone who's slamming one of those movies try to fit in Sam Raimi's position. He was like the president of a small country — by the way, it had the gross national income of a small country, too. I have huge respect for him. I think, on a whole, he did such a fantastic job [on that trilogy]." The actor makes an interesting point, but regardless of how hard these movies to make, that isn't a fitting excuse when they end up sucking! 
About The Author:
JoshWilding
Member Since 3/13/2009
A lifelong comic book fan who grew up on Spider-Man: The Animated Series in the '90s, Josh Wilding has been contributing to ComicBookMovie.com since 2009.

While he's also written for websites like Batman-News, HeyUGuys, and WhatCulture, Josh is CBM's Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic and the site's #1 contributor with nearly two decades of experience covering film and TV news (including interviews with Tom Holland, Chris Pratt, Gary Oldman, Halle Berry, Jon Bernthal, Tom Welling, and hundreds more).

Based in the UK with his wife, Josh is also an avid WWE and Formula 1 fan and writes about those passions on CBM's sister sites, TheRingReport.com and FullThrottleHQ.com. Favourite superhero? Spider-Man. Favourite pro wrestler? CM Punk. Favourite F1 driver? Max Verstappen.
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LEVITIKUZ
LEVITIKUZ - 10/18/2015, 12:25 PM
Raimi did Eddie Brock in the films better then the comics did Eddie Brock.

Eddie Brock is [frick]ing retarded in the comics. We have a guy who publishes an article from a shady source on the identity of the Sin Eater and then when Spidey catches the real Sin Eater, Brock gets fired and he blames and hates Spider-Man for Spider-Man doing nothing but Spidey's job.

He's basically the Eh Maybe or Bleeding Cool of comic book characters.

Only reason people give a [frick]ing shit about Venom is he looks [frick]ing awesome but Venom has the character depth of a puddle.

It's even worse when Marvel makes Venom, who looks like a Xenomorph from Alien movies, into this [frick]ing thing.
Mrcool210
Mrcool210 - 10/18/2015, 12:31 PM
@LEVITIKUZ I do agree that when Eddie Brock started out he was a pretty shallow and bland character. But he got better as time went on, when they brought the whole christian element to it, One of the things I always liked about Venom was that he only hated Spider-Man that he had no qualms with other do gooders, like if him and spidey were fighting and their fighting would cause someone else to be hurt, Venom would stop the fight to make sure that person was safe. Gives him a bit more dimension, but yeah, the General public does only like him cause he looks cool. Its a shame really.
LEVITIKUZ
LEVITIKUZ - 10/18/2015, 12:37 PM
@Mrcool210

Even with that stuff like Venom stopping the fight, it lies my biggest problem with Venom.

We had an alien parasite attached to Peter that moments before Eddie got it, tried to take over Spider-Man. I repeat AN ALIEN PARASITE TRIED TO TAKE OVER AND CONTROL SPIDER-MAN.

So why would the alien parasite who moments later tried to control Spider-Man, be cool with Eddie Brock so much so that Eddie really is in control of Venom?

It makes no sense at all. Even if Eddie also hates Spidey, why would the parasite let Eddie control the parasite when moments ago the parasite nearly took over Spider-Man?

I honestly feel Venom would be more interesting if:

1. Peter and Eddie had an established friendship before Eddie becomes Venom

and 2. Eddie is never in control. The symbiote is. Eddie is trapped inside this symbiote and can't control it.
LEVITIKUZ
LEVITIKUZ - 10/18/2015, 12:44 PM
Also @MrCool210 if you remember Venom scared MJ. Not beat up MJ but scared her.

Venom is the Killer Croc of Spidey villains.

Green Goblin: I killed his girfriend.
Doc Ock: I killed his girlfriend's father and beat up Black Cat so bad, she needed to be on life support.
Venom: I PUNCHED BLACK CAT AND SCARED HIS WIFE!!!!!
Mrcool210
Mrcool210 - 10/18/2015, 12:45 PM
@LEVITIKUZ You mean the ultimate spider-man version of Venom? (Comic not that shitty tv show) Ultimate Venom is literally what you just described.
LEVITIKUZ
LEVITIKUZ - 10/18/2015, 12:45 PM
@DrDoom

Yea that's the only time I liked Venom.

Can't remember though, was the symbiote in control of Brock? I remember Brock being mad at Peter and Spidey but I don't remember the symbiote in control. I mean we all remember Eddie saying me (or I) and Peter saying not we.
LEVITIKUZ
LEVITIKUZ - 10/18/2015, 12:48 PM
@Mrcool210

No I mean 616 Venom. Eddie's always in control. I mean we had Spidey at the church trying to get the suit off because it was gonna take over him.

I like Ultimate Venom, just wish he was alien.
Mrcool210
Mrcool210 - 10/18/2015, 12:54 PM
@LEVITIKUZ that's what i meant, like the venom that you want is pretty much ultimate venom. Although i think its kind of funny, i'm wondering what venom we'll get in this new series of movies if we get to him, considering if anything Sam Raimi didn't take 616 venom, he took 90s cartoon venom, like he did with a lot of things in his movies. It seems to be this for what the movies take inspiration from.

Raimi - 90s Cartoon Spider-Man (Goblin especially was taken right from the 90s cartoon)



Webb - Spectacular Spider-Man Cartoon (just look at electro and Doc Conners for that one)



Watts - Ultimate Spider-Man (So he says)




Who knows maybe Ultimate Venom is who we'll get in the MCU with of course some stuff taken from 616, like him being Alien.
Highflyer
Highflyer - 10/18/2015, 2:52 PM
Spider-man 3 was complete repetitive garbage. Even though I wasn't completely in love wit the first TASM, comparing the two is something else.
LEVITIKUZ
LEVITIKUZ - 10/18/2015, 3:07 PM
@Superherodude1

No Raimi did him better. Venom's biggest issue is lack of connection to Peter and weak motive. Is why Spectacular Spider-Man remains the best take on Venom/Eddie Brock. Raimi established a connection through a staff job which starred the rivalry of Eddie and Peter unlike in the comics where they never met.

Yea I get not every villain needs a personal connection with the hero but Venom is one that does. Either way since his creation, he's known Peter was Spider-Man. What does he do with this information? Nothing. He has never hurt Peter in ways that Green Goblin and Doc Ock has. Writers got sick of Venom, they created other symbiotes and passed the Venom title down because writers realize how weak of a character Eddie is.

The only time in the comics Venom was ever great was when Flash is Agent Venom.

@Mrcool210

I feel like it's an insult to Spectacular Spider-Man to be inspiration for TASM films.
RexDartEskimoSpy
RexDartEskimoSpy - 10/18/2015, 3:07 PM
Topher wasn't "miscast" as Eddie. Yes, he was completely wrong for the 616 comics Venom, but that's not who he was playing in Spider-Man 3. In the movie he was a foil for Peter; he should be as similar to Peter physically and character-wise as possible, just with a polar opposite personality. So he's a smug douchebag who's willing to cheat and cut corners to get what he wants: Pete's job, his girl, even his symbiote. Topher was good casting in that sense.

But that's pretty much all I'll defend about Venom in Spider-Man 3. Shoehorning him into the movie is what ruined it, and everything else went to crap alongside him. It's not fair to blame Topher, though. Blame Sony for twisting Raimi's arm, blame Raimi for not having a spine, blame the writers who threw up their hands and said "Screw it; let's throw subtlety out the window."
13echo
13echo - 10/18/2015, 3:07 PM
Slow news day...
soberchimera
soberchimera - 10/18/2015, 3:08 PM
If Raimi had just written out Sandman and focused on Harry and Brock as the villains, I think the movie would have fared better.

I also hope they go with the Ultimate version of Venom for the reboot, an artificial organism designed to fight cancer is much more imaginative than..........evil alien goo.
HulkOnion
HulkOnion - 10/18/2015, 3:09 PM
"Spider-Man 3 was a mess, but hey, it was still better than The Amazing Spider-Man movies, right?"

Flame on, Wilding
PapaEmeritus
PapaEmeritus - 10/18/2015, 3:09 PM
@FrozenMarvelite i kinda agree with you...SM3 is not a good movie, but is better than the whole TASM shitfest franchise.
Jazzy4
Jazzy4 - 10/18/2015, 3:13 PM
I prefer SpiderMan 3 over both TASM movies.

TASM is technically a better (unecessary) origin movie but i enjoyed Spider Man3 more.

As for TASM2, it's just pure trash through and through.
LEVITIKUZ
LEVITIKUZ - 10/18/2015, 3:17 PM
If Sony just let Raimi have Sandman and Vulture like he wanted as villains along with the Harry subplot, the film would have been great and Tobey would be Spider-Man in the MCU.

The Incredible Hulk director wanted Tobey to cameo in the film but Avi said "no no no, we are rebooting the franchise less then 6 months of a box office hit film that critics didn't hate and the film is still fresh on the Tomatometer.
LoudLon
LoudLon - 10/18/2015, 3:19 PM
"Only reason people give a [frick]ing shit about Venom is he looks [frick]ing awesome but Venom has the character depth of a puddle."

Glad to see I'm not the only person who thinks so. I can't stand Venom (or Carnage, or any of the other symbiote characters who came along after). A completely uninspired character, and given WAY too much love from the fanboys.
TrueMarvel
TrueMarvel - 10/18/2015, 3:23 PM
@LEVITIKUZ
"Even with that stuff like Venom stopping the fight, it lies my biggest problem with Venom.

We had an alien parasite attached to Peter that moments before Eddie got it, tried to take over Spider-Man. I repeat AN ALIEN PARASITE TRIED TO TAKE OVER AND CONTROL SPIDER-MAN.

So why would the alien parasite who moments later tried to control Spider-Man, be cool with Eddie Brock so much so that Eddie really is in control of Venom?

It makes no sense at all. Even if Eddie also hates Spidey, why would the parasite let Eddie control the parasite when moments ago the parasite nearly took over Spider-Man?

I honestly feel Venom would be more interesting if:

1. Peter and Eddie had an established friendship before Eddie becomes Venom

and 2. Eddie is never in control. The symbiote is. Eddie is trapped inside this symbiote and can't control it. "

Do you realize that you described the venom from the animated series Spectacular Spider-man? Was that on purpose? That is exactly what they did in that series...
Highflyer
Highflyer - 10/18/2015, 3:23 PM
I literally face palmed when it was revealed on the news channel that Mary Jane had been kidnapped.... AGAIN.
Darlene1974
Darlene1974 - 10/18/2015, 3:26 PM
I actually just watched all 3 Sam Raimi's Spiderman films, they were very good and very fun for what it is... AND made lots of money at the BOX OFFICE all over the world. So the mass loved it. So I am saying that it was a very successful franchise...
Its only the bloody fans that whinge and complain...
EVERYBODY FREAKIN COMPLAINS ABOUT ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING...
WHY DONT U GO MAKE UR OWN THEN?! STOP COMPLAINING AND just enjoy it for what it is...
IF U DONT LIKE IT, in the first place, DONT WATCH!
simple
Highflyer
Highflyer - 10/18/2015, 3:43 PM
@Darlene1974 First of all, just because a movie makes a lot of money, doesn't mean the mass loved it. Second, the whole 'why don't you make your own movie' is the most weakest defence I've heard and three, how the hell is someone supposed to know if they will like a movie if they don't watch it first?
ManDeth
ManDeth - 10/18/2015, 3:49 PM
If Brock was played by a really talented actor who excelled in the part the movie would've been received better.

But, SM3 had a doomed script that ripped off the 1st two films. It tried nothing new. And The Amazing Spider-Man rehashed the same shit. Of the 5 Spider-Man films only two are legit and the other three just rip them off.
Kyos
Kyos - 10/18/2015, 3:51 PM
I must watch the Raimi Spidey movies again someday, it's been quite a few years. Probably before the first MCU solo movie.
rkshuttleworth
rkshuttleworth - 10/18/2015, 3:52 PM
As much as some comic book geeks want to say some movies sucked like Spider-man 3 - it made Sony tons of money and they should be happy. And I still don't think it sucked regardless of the hater bandwagon jumpers.
Spideyshawn
Spideyshawn - 10/18/2015, 3:53 PM
It was the most disappointing spidey film ever imo,but I don't fault Raimi for this it was mainly the studios fault.In that film the only one who stood out in a positive light was Thomas Haden Church he was great.
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