Did Tony Todd voice Venom? Marvel role explored as actor dies aged 69
American actor Tony Todd passed away on November 6, 2024, at his home in Marina Del Rey, California, at the age of 69. The late actor's representative confirmed the news of his death to PEOPLE, however, a cause of death wasn't specified.
While he was known for his roles in Final Destination and Candyman, Tony Todd was one of the few actors who portrayed characters for both DC Entertainment and Marvel Studios. The late actor voiced Venom in Marvel's Spider-Man 2 and Icon in DC's Young Justice, Hunter Zolomon in The Flash, and Darkseid in Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League vs. Bizarro League, among other movies.
As per the Marvel cinematic universe wiki site, Tony Todd was originally cast for the role of Dormammu in Doctor Strange as an alternative for the character if Benedict Cumberbatch's voice didn't sit right with the filmmakers. However, the makers decided to use their original choice and Tony's recordings were left unused in the movie.
"He brought so much joy to our studio during the production of Marvel's Spider-Man 2": Insomniac Games' X account remembers Tony Todd
Insomniac Games, the company for which Tony voiced Venom in Marvel's Spider-Man 2, took to X (formerly Twitter) on November 9, 2024, to post a tribute to the late actor. In the tribute post, Insomniac Games mentioned:
"Insomniac Games is heartbroken by the passing of our friend Tony Todd. He brought so much joy to our studio during the production of Marvel's Spider-Man 2 and to many fans around the world with his inimitable voice and presence. We are Venom... forever."
Tony spoke about his role as the voice of Venom in Insomniac's Spider-Man 2 at the San Diego Comic-Con in July 2023 wherein he talked about how he viewed the character. He said that even though Venom is a symbiote, he needed to make the character human first.
Talking about the process of voicing Venom, Tony Todd said:
"They had to be relatable and he had to have an objective and follow that through. I come from the theater. I have a Masters in Theater, so I take every job, whether it's voiceover, TV, film, as a well-made script and we just went with the flow. For me, Venom was fun to do and I wanted to make sure that there was a joyous quality in his destruction."
Tony continued:
"He's only here on Earth for a little bit and then he's going to move on somewhere else, so I wanted to make sure that he left that impact of joy, and tenacity, and deliciousness."
Additionally, during an interaction with IGN in October 2023, Tony Todd hinted how Insomniac had used only 10% of his character's dialogue which led to fans speculating that the situation around downloadable content (DLC) couldn't materialize.
According to the Comicbook website, Tony had spoken about having done a lot of work for Marvel's Spider-Man 2 which wasn't used in the final game without specifying a clear reason for the same.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter dated June 3, 2024, Tony Todd spoke about becoming the voice of Venom and said that it was probably the most voiceover sessions he had done for any job.
The late actor also added that he had a smile on his face throughout the process stating that if one loves what they do, they're going to spread the joy.