"What's really interesting is that you care that much to really look into it. It's cool," he said of the fan theories.

Now a trilogy, the "Venom" movies have a distinct tone for Marvel-derived products, neither somber nor self-referential. That's largely due to its star's input.

For three films now, Tom Hardy has smushed Jekyll and Hyde into one strange and slimy double act. The “Venom” movies have been consistently messy, almost willfully bad movies, but Hardy’s performance has been a strangely compelling one-body buddy comedy,