Tom Hardy, and a lot of special effects, as Venom. Image : Sony Pictures

It shouldn’t come as any surprise that Venom is in part a Todd McFarlane creation. His creative hallmarks, emphasizing the Gothic, the monstrous, and the uncanny, are all over his design. It’s also not a surprise that McFarlane has some opinions on the way his design was modified for the upcoming film, which casts Tom Hardy as the monstrous anti-hero (anti-villain? Hm).


Yesterday on Facebook Live, McFarlane took to his drawing desk to critique and tweak the fundamentals of Venom’s design in Sony’s movie. Complete with some goofy drawing sound effects, the famous artist and creator shows what his version of the movie Venom would look like .

His changes aren’t that intense, interestingly, and overall he seems happy with the design. They’re most detail-oriented changes, focused on the face. He creates more space between the eyes, adds some comic-y coloration, and gives his mouth a more monstrous shape. While the changes aren’t huge, they offer a compelling insight into what McFarlane thinks matters about the character’s look.


Whether or not the look is precisely your speed, Venom will be coming out October 5th, bringing all the goopy tentacle glory it can with it.