Tom Hardy’s tux in new ‘Venom’ movie is a pitch for James Bond, reveals director

Director Kelly Marcel wanted the world to get a taste of what Hardy might look like in the iconic role

The director of Venom: The Last Dance has revealed that she made Tom Hardy wear a tuxedo in the film as a pitch for him to play James Bond.

Kelly Marcel, who also wrote on Saving Mr. Banks and Fifty Shades of Grey, has helmed the third film in the Venom trilogy, which stars Hardy as Eddie Brock, and is out in cinemas on Friday (October 25).

Marcel is a long-time friend of Hardy’s, and given the actor’s repeated connection to the currently-vacant Bond role, she has taken her chance to show the world what the visual might be if he were to portray the iconic character.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Marcel explained: “There’s always been these rumours about [Tom] playing James Bond, so I may have been showing what Tom Hardy’s James Bond might look like.”

Producers of the Bond franchise have not confirmed who will take on the role for the follow-up to 2021’s No Time To Die, which was Daniel Craig’s final instalment in the series.

Hardy has long been considered among the favourites, with the actor responding to the rumours as far back as 2017. Last year, he was named as the public’s second choice for the role, behind Idris Elba.

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It was, however, reported in March that EON Production had offered Aaron Taylor-Johnson the job after he impressed producer Barbara Broccoli in a screen test. The actor was asked about the rumours in April, but swerved the question, as he had done multiple times previously. Neither he nor the producers have confirmed or denied the speculation.

Former Bond actor Pierce Brosnan also weighed in on the potential casting, showing his support for Taylor-Johnson.

One of the other actors considered among the frontrunners, Henry Cavill, said earlier this year that he may be “too old now” to take on the role, while Saoirse Ronan recently pitched for her partner Jack Lowden to get the nod.

Venom: The Last Dance, meanwhile, has been hailed as “the best of the trilogy”, which started with 2018’s Venom and also included 2021’s Venom: Let There Be Carnage.

The films exist within Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, and Hardy also showed up as Venom in a post-credits scene in Spider-Man: No Way Home, where it was suggested that the character had returned to his original universe.