Comedy, horror and an unmasked Tom Hardy: How ‘Venom’s’ director built a fresh ‘Spider-Man’ spinoff

In an edit bay on the Sony Pictures lot, Ruben Fleischer looked outwardly calm but was clearly feeling some heat. At 43, the director was just weeks away from the release of the biggest film of his career: the dark comic-book movie “Venom,” which Sony is banking on to launch a series of interconnected films that will expand on the world of the studio’s marquee comic-book star, Spider-Man.

“Every time, you’re nervous,” said Fleischer, who previously directed “Zombieland,” “30 Minutes or Less” and “Gangster Squad.” “But this is the most predominant film genre so you’re under a bigger magnifying glass. That’s a new experience for me.”