Tom Hardy Jokingly Compares Himself To Sad Ben Affleck When He Says 30 To 40 Minutes Of 'Venom' Was Cut

If you’ve been following the development of Sony’s upcoming blockbuster “Venom,” you know that the film has gone through some changes in the last year. For months, everyone (including the director) assumed the film was shooting for an R-rating, fully embracing the adult nature of the anti-hero who tends to bite the heads off of people and rip them limb from limb. It seemed like Sony was going for an adult superhero story a la “Logan” or “Deadpool.” But then, something happened. And now the film is PG-13 and it’s clear that the studio is hoping a Marvel Studios collab is in the future. Well, when you hear star Tom Hardy talk about the film, it sounds like there might be two different versions of the film that was made.

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In an interview with Comics Explained, Hardy and co-star Riz Ahmed are asked a fairly common question at press junkets — what was your favorite scene to film? However, Hardy’s answer is actually not so common and could be interpreted in a number of ways.

“There’s things that aren’t in this movie. There are like 30 to 40 minutes worth of scenes that aren’t in this movie,” he answered.

Hardy continued by describing the scenes he’s talking about, “Mad puppeteering scenes. Dark comedy scenes. You know what I mean? They just never made it.”

At this point, Ahmed, the professional that he is, interjects and jokes about why the scenes were cut. He says there’s probably a reason that they didn’t make it into the film, hinting that they weren’t up to par with the rest of the production. He jokingly adds, “I hate to break it to you.”

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Hardy then alludes to the famous Sad Ben Affleck meme, and says, “Is that “The Sound of Silence” that plays on my face? ‘Hello darkness, my old friend.’ Thanks, bro.”

As funny as the exchange between actors is, the answer is very telling. It’s not uncommon for films to cut that amount of footage during the editing process. Hell, we just talked about how the editor of “Blade Runner 2049” had to cut 4 hours down to a little over 2 hours. But, this Hardy answer, combined with the recent assertion from director Ruben Fleischer that there might be an unrated cut, can lead one to speculate that an entirely different film was created during production.

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Perhaps, the film that Tom Hardy and Ruben Fleischer signed on to do was the project that fans were anticipating? Namely, the adult-oriented R-rated film. And maybe sometime during production, the studio got cold feet about spending so much on a film that wouldn’t be seen by those under 17? It’s starting to sound like a possibility more and more each day.

All this to say, it wouldn’t at all be surprising if Hardy and Fleischer are the first two to speak out about the R-rated version of the film that was cut, and why the changes were made, if “Venom” doesn’t have the box office debut that Sony is hoping for. Recent Hardy collaborator Josh Trank infamously did that when “Fantastic Four” bombed in 2015, divorcing himself from the film in a public way.

It’s all speculation at this point, but definitely something to keep an eye on. Also worth keeping an eye on? These two new clips from “Venom.” The first shows Hardy’s performance as Eddie Brock dealing with a conversation with his love interest, played by Michelle Williams. The other feels ripped from Blumhouse’sUpgrade,” with the symbiote controlling Brock’s body as the human character watches in disgust.

“Venom” hits theaters on October 5.