Marvel fans may be looking forward to the release of the new superhero movie Venom – but for its star, Tom Hardy, it will be a bittersweet experience.

In an interview with ComicsExplained, Hardy said that all his favourite scenes had ended up on the cutting-room floor. When asked "What was your favourite scene to film?" he said: "Things that aren’t in this movie."

The Taboo star continued, in a possibly tongue-in-cheek reply: "There are, like, 30 to 40 minutes' worth of scenes that aren’t in this movie... all of them. Mad puppeteering scenes, dark comedy scenes. You know what I mean? They just never made it in."

The film, a spin-off from the Spider-Man franchise, tells the origin story of the supervillain Venom, a symbiotic alien creature which takes over the body of a journalist (played by Hardy), and kills its enemies by biting off their heads.

The film's executive producer Matt Tolmach has poured cold water on rumours that the film's most shocking scenes were cut to ensure it would receive a PG-13 certificate in the US.