Bob: Well, looks like the twins already claimed most of the cool stories, today. Guess I’ll just talk about thi-

Chris: No.

Bob: But I-

Chris: No. Nuh-uh. Nope. Absolutely not. You are not talking about Spider-Man without me. Comics are my thing. Start the Tag Team.

Bob: Okay. Tag Team started. Now what?

Chris: So Jacob Batalon, the actor who portrayed Ned Leeds in Spider-Man: Homecoming came out saying exactly who he’d like to see plague Spidey in the next movie.

“It would be interesting to see, like, Venom, but that’s just me though. We’ll see what happens. I’m not gonna say nothing else.”

Bob: Didn’t they do this once befo-

Chris: No. Shut up.

Bob: I thought Spider-Man 3 was-

Chris: What is this “Spider-Man 3” you speak of?

Bob: Oh. Got it. Well, this could still be pretty awesome.

Chris: It could, but it won’t happen.

Bob: Why not?

Chris: Because Kevin Feige basically confirmed that Sony’s Venom movie is in its own universe. And even if it wasn’t, it’s rated R. Pretty sure that’s not gonna mesh too well with what Marvel’s been doing. Well… maybe the Netflix shows, but…

Bob: Couldn’t it still be a different Venom?

Chris: Canonically, sure. Legally, no. Honestly, at this point, I’m just curious about how Sony’s individual Venom flick is gonna work out. Who knows? If these films are all flops, maybe they’ll just give Marvel the rights back.

Bob: I… don’t see that happening anytime soon.

Chris: Oh? Why?

Bob: Because Fox.

Chris: But… Sony has Spider-Man.

Bob: And Fox has X-Men. Look how that’s going.

Chris: Eh. Fair. They are masters of beating dead horses, after all.

Bob: But I gotta wonder. If not Venom, then who?

Chris: How about any one of the dozens of other awesome Spider-Man villains they could easily choose from? I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again – MYSTERIO. Dude already uses movie VFX for his illusions. He’d be perfect.

Bob: Hey, Vulture was an arms dealer. There are some other characters who could’ve gotten weapons from him. We know Scorpion and Prowler exist in the MCU, so they’re pretty much a given at some point.

Chris: Ned Leeds is in these. So maybe that means we could get a little Hobgoblin action in the future? That’d be sweet if they’re intent on not trying Green Goblin again… no matter how much I want them to.

Bob: Tom Holland wants Kraven in the movie, right? I could see that working pretty well.

Chris: Yeah, though with the Stark Suit… I don’t really see Kraven being as much of a credible threat. Actually, the Stark Suit makes most of Spidey’s more iconic rogues gallery basically obsolete. But it would be cool to see Spider-Man have to fight an enemy he can’t really fight directly. Someone who maybe commands a lot of influence?

Bob: Like Kingpin?

Chris: Well, yes, but Kingpin’s not gonna be in these. Basically confirmed. Tombstone ala Spectacular Spider-Man could work out, though. Even Black Suit Spidey couldn’t touch him… not that he tried all that hard. Black Suit, and all.

Bob: Shocker could also possibly come back with an upgraded look and gear. Maybe make him like the more professional Shocker from Spectacular?

Chris: Speaking of professional criminals, Chameleon could be a cool idea. Maybe he could get some sort of disguise tech from Tinkerer? Tink is still out there. Or, better yet, how about a villain with actual powers, for a change? Instead of everything being tech.

Bob: Hydro-Man would be cool.

Chris: …You think they’re going to use… Hydro-Man.

Bob: Well…

Chris: Dude, I’m talking about guys like Michael Morbius! Basically the same thing as Spider-Man, but a bat instead of a spider! It’d be awesome! We could even get some more high-flying battles out of that since Morbius can glide.

Bob: Well, Rhino technically has powers, right? That suit’s kind of welded to his body. Wait. How’s he go to the-

Chris: Nope. Stopping that question right there. Rhino’s probably not gonna happen after that last attempt, over at Sony. And I’m still not sure if they still plan on the whole Sinister Six thing, which we can only assume will have him in it. But someone vaguely similar that could work is Molten Man. Though I guess that could be a little too close to Iron Man 3‘s Melter.

Bob: Yeah…

Chris: Honestly, there are tons of villains they could go with. Venom is just way too unlikely.

Bob: Unfortunately… yeah.

Chris: And let’s be real, here. Venom is just way too good a story for one movie. People always underestimate just how long Spider-Man actually wore the black suit. If they’re gonna do Venom right, then they’d take an entire movie of him in the black suit without Venom even being a thing. They’d introduce Eddie, have him screw with Eddie a bit, and then in the second movie… heh… “From now on we’re poison to you, Spider-Man! We’re Venom!”

Bob: Huh. I wonder how the symbiote would work with the Stark suit.

Chris: …Questions for later. We’ve rambled enough. Anyway, thanks for inviting me to chat, Bob.

Bob: I… didn’t.

Chris: And, as always, thank you guys for reading.

Bob: Oh. Being ignored. Wait…

Chris: Keep up the awesome, folks! Take care.

Bob: Did… did you just hold a grudge?