‘Antidote’ Revealed as Working Title for Sony’s ‘Venom’ Film
With production starting in September for the upcoming Venom film, Sony Pictures has tried to keep as much information on the film hidden from public as it can manage… especially considering last month’s confusing series of accidental reveals and retractions by Amy Pascal and Kevin Feige.
Still, it looks like another kernel of knowledge has slipped through the cracks: several news sites are reporting that the working title of the Spider-Man spin-off will be Antidote, until a final title is decided for the film.
On one hand, we can take this working title as a grain of salt. Production teams give their films incredibly random titles all the time in order to throw off media attention.
At the same time, these random titles can also sometimes reveal important plot points and character reveals. Marvel films in particular seem to love this subtle trick. For example, the working titles for the first two Captain America films were Frostbite and Freezer Burn, thereby hinting at the return of the titular First Avenger and his best friend turned cytogenetically brainwashed assassin. Additionally, Thursday Mourning was the working title of Thor: The Dark World, which featured a supposed death that rocked the God of Thunder.
So, what could Antidote reveal about the upcoming Venom film? All theories point to a new origin story for the symbiote and his human host. Venom has bonded with various characters throughout its comic history, but Sony’s adaptation will center on host Eddie Brock as portrayed by actor Tom Hardy.
For those unfamiliar with the character, Brock is a former Daily Globe reporter and colleague of Peter Parker whose career is destroyed following an inaccurate story he wrote about a Spider-Man case. In this comic origin story, Spider-Man bonds with and tries to repel the Venom symbiote while Brock increasingly spirals into a hatred of Spider-Man for ruining his life. Spider-Man eventually frees himself from Venom, but in doing so he accidentally enables the symbiote to bond with Brock and begin their vengeful reign of terror together.
Now, Antidote might suggest that Brock contracts the symbiote as a virus, whether from an alien planet as is its comic origin or as a bio-weapon developed by humans. Further, the working title may suggest that the symbiote has been given to Brock as a cure for some life-threatening illness or condition in order to save his life. This latter theory in particular could include an explicit connection to Project Rebirth, the government sanctioned project to create super soldiers that gave the world Captain America and another Venom host, Eugene Thompson.
There is also the possibility that the working title hints at the inclusion of Anti-Venom, a hybrid symbiote formed from the original Venom.
What are your theories about the Antidote working title and its potential plot significance? Are you excited about this film, given all the excellent ideas it could use in its origin story? Tell us your thoughts in the comments!
The untitled Venom film is set to premiere on October 5, 2018.
Source: Omega Underground
