Tom Hardy's Venom Will Be Performance Captured, Says Andy Serkis

Will Hardy still wear something over his face when acting?

By ChrisXMorgan

Tom Hardy's performance as Venom in the upcoming Spider-Man spinoff will reportedly be done through performance capture, according to an actor well-versed in the field.

Andy Serkis, speaking with Yahoo! UK about his performance capture work, said Hardy is using the technology for a role.

"Acting is acting, and the more actors – like Steve Zahn… and Karin Konoval who plays Maurice in War For The Planet of the Apes – the more A-list actors that come on board, like Mark Rylance playing The BFG, or a lot of actors in the new Marvel films… Tom Hardy is playing a new character using performance capture," Serkis told Yahoo.

The actor never explicitly mentions Hardy's role, but he has just begun production on Venom for its 2018 release. IGN has reached out to Sony for further comment on whether Hardy will be performing his own mo-cap for the symbiote-infused character, who was previously brought to life via CGI back when Spider-Man 3 debuted in 2007.

In less than a year, Venom will be the first film to debut from Sony's own Marvel Universe, which will be followed by a Black Cat/Silver Sable film, directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood. Producer Amy Pascal has confirmed Venom will be separate from the MCU.

Serkis, who stars in the upcoming Black Panther, is largely known for his mo-cap work, having performed as Gollum in The Lord of the Rings movies and as Caesar in the recent Planet of the Apes trilogy. He even has his own performance capture studio The Imaginarium, which is breaking into games. The Imaginarium's new gaming division is set to release a Planet of the Apes game later this year.

There is of course precedent for major comic book characters being brought to life via motion capture, as Mark Ruffalo brings the Hulk to life via the technology.

Venom, directed by Ruben Fleischer and starring Hardy. In addition to Hardy, the film will reportedly star Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed, and Jenny Slate and be released in October 2018.

Chris Morgan is the author of The Ash Heap of History and The Comic Galaxy of Mystery Science Theater 3000. Wisely or not, he's also on Twitter.

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