Comics
Is ‘Life’ a Prequel to Sony’s ‘Spider-Man’ Spinoff, ‘Venom’?!
Is Sony’s Columbia Pictures puling one of the biggest coups in the history of cinema?
I just unloaded all of my webbing at this new fan theory that’s too good to be true, yet is surprisingly believable.
Is Life, in theaters March 24th, a prequel to the long gestured Spider-Man spinoff, Venom?!
The first piece of evidence is pretty simple; all three films/franchises are released through Columbia Pictures, not just Sony.
The second clue is that just yesterday, out of the blue, Venom was given an official release date of October 5, 2018, meaning there must be secret progress behind closed doors in order to get production underway for that targeted date.
Another bit of information is that Sony contacted me directly wanting it known that Alex Kurtzman (The Mummy) was no longer attached to direct Venom.
Here’s where we start getting into the Spider-Man tie-in…
The trailer for Life carries the exact same shot from Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 3. The villain in the 2007 sequel? Eddie Brock (Venom), played by Topher Grace!
Spider-Man 3
Life
Yes, we’ve double checked and confirmed this is a real thing. Nearly the same footage from a 2007 movie is in a trailer for the 2017 Life. What does it mean? Could Life truly be a Venom origin story? Why not? Shared universes are all the rage now, and what a cool way to re-introduce the character, setting up a quasi-remake for next year.
Here’s where the conspiracy really gains some footing…
FilmSchoolRejects recaps it perfectly: “See, in the comics and the movie, Venom isn’t a humanoid, it’s an alien symbiote that attaches itself to a humanoid and takes them over. In the comics, the symbiote came home with Peter from the Secret Wars, and in Raimi’s film it falls to Earth on a meteor. In both cases it attaches first to Peter, turning his classic red-and-blue suit black and making him do terrible, terrible things like dance, then to Eddie Brock, who becomes Venom. Looking back on the Life trailer, said goo from Mars does appear to be some kind of adhesive symbiote capable of starting small and spreading man-sized, and the inclusion of a single crowd shot — on Earth — would seem to indicate our crew isn’t successful in destroying it.”
The site also notes that what really gives this theory legs are Reese and Wernick, the writers, who do have Marvel connections via Deadpool, and Sony, the studio behind Spider-Man 3, Life, and Venom.
With studio’s pulling the rug out from under fans being all the rage – The Woods, Split, Cloverfield – it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if this fan theory ended up being true. The writers could have easily watched an early cut of Life and suggested squeezing a connection into the film to tie-it into the franchise. But who knows? We’re probably all just having a serious case of wishful thinking.
Raimi’s Spider-Man 3 was a huge misstep, mostly because it was alleged that he was forced into including the popular character into the storyline. Raimi has gone on record that he isn’t a fan of Venom nor does he understand the character’s motivations. To put it simply, it’s a story about rejection, which Eddie Brock and the alien symbiote share in common. Their shared hatred of Peter Parker’s success fuels their hate and fuses them into one. It’ll be interesting to see how Sony plans on telling a solo Venom story if he’s the film’s protagonist. Deadpool and Logan are the best examples of the ultimate anti-hero, but what would drive a Venom story? Carnage? Whether Life is a prequel or not, I can’t wait to put Spider-Man 3′s awful effects in the rearview mirror along with other disasters like Spawn.
What do you guys think?!
Comics
‘You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive’ – IDW Dark’s Next Horror Comic Will Make You Question Reality
Five friends. Four houses. One perfect life. Bloody Disgusting is excited to exclusively announce You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive, a brand new horror comic from IDW Dark.
From Eisner-Nominated writers Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly, and rising horror artist Heather Vaughan, You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive is described as a “paranoia-laced, socially-conscious, horror mystery that will leave you questioning reality, and reveal that this crafted world is more of a nightmare than the idealistic dream they were expecting.”
Phoebe Joplin has never questioned the world her parents built: a secluded community where she and her friends were raised to be smarter, stronger, and better than anyone else. No distractions. No dangers. No secrets. Until the night of their graduation.
When one of them dies under impossible circumstances, Phee starts to pull at the edges of her perfect life—and what she finds is something far more terrifying than she ever imagined.
Because this place isn’t a sanctuary. It’s a cage. And no one who discovers the truth ever leaves it alive.
Collin Kelly & Jackson Lanzing (Batman – One Bad Day: Clayface, Star Trek: The Last Starship) co-write the upcoming IDW Dark horror comic, featuring art by Heather Vaughan.
Jackson Lanzing said in a statement to Bloody Disgusting, “You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive is in many ways a spiritual successor to our last creator-owned horror, The Principles of Necromancy – a dive into the promise and consequence of playing god with the blood of innocents. But the Hivemind book this reminds me of most is Clayface: One Bad Day. This is a deeply human story with intensely raw emotions – five best friends and their five mysterious parents, tearing one another apart for the promise of some impossible glory that’s waiting just beyond their darkest actions. We’re thrilled to be bringing this story to life with our long-time partner in crime, editor Heather Antos, at IDW Dark – and we’re particularly excited to give our Clayface fans a new, brutal and emotional horror made just for them.”
Adds Collin Kelly, “We’re deconstructing a feeling that seems universal these days; our elders have a death grip on their power, without any intention of giving it up to the generations that come next. YNLTPA is about growing up with the limitless potential of the future… and realizing how much it’s a lie we’ve been fed to keep us under the yoke of the past. Bringing this brutal experience to life is our artist and co-creator, Heather Vaughan, who brings an incredible amount of humanity to our cast. But it’s in our youthful leads that Heather’s art really shines – you are going to fall in love with these young people, even as they go through the worst experience of their lives. What we’ve all crafted together is going to be tragic, painful, but above all else, sincere – with a future so uncertain, there’s only one thing we can trust: you’ll never leave this place alive.”
“Some horror stories are about monsters in the dark. YNLTPA is about realizing the monsters raised you,” previews Senior Group Editor Heather Antos. “Working with Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly on this series has been a dream in the darkest possible way. They’ve built a story that’s layered, brutal, and deeply emotional, and every issue gives artist Heather Vaughan opportunities to push the art into places that feel both haunting and deeply personal. Some horror comics will keep you up at night…this is one that will stick with you for years to come.”
The first issue of You’ll Never Leave This Place Alive goes on sale October 14, 2026! Make sure to pre-order at your local comic shop by September to guarantee a copy.
Exclusively check out the various covers for Issue #1 down below.
IDW Publishing’s horror imprint IDW DARK features comics like A Quiet Place: Storm Warning, Smile: For the Camera, The Exorcism at 1600 Penn, Beneath The Trees Where Nobody Sees, The Twilight Zone, Event Horizon: Dark Descent & Event Horizon: Inferno, and more.
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