Venom: Topher Grace SPEAKS OUT on Tom Hardy taking over after Spider-Man 3 flop

Grace was hired when Venom made an appearance in Spider-Man 3, although fans weren’t overall impressed and even director Sam Raimi said he “didn’t really believe in” the character.

But Grace has absolutely no hard feelings about Hardy taking over.

Speaking to Inverse, he said: “To me — I truly mean this — I think Tom is the guy to play that role.

“I’m thrilled to watch it as a fan. I really mean that.”

He added: I think he’s just the best dude. He’s proven he can do comic book villains amazing.”

Addressing his own outing as Venom, he mused: “I understand Sam’s interpretation, which was to do a dark version of Tobey Maguire’s character.

“I was thrilled because I was such a fan of the character, but I was aware of how it was different from what I had grown up reading.

“I thought it was cool, but I’m really excited to see [Tom Hardy’s version]. That’s the character I grew up with.”

Hardy himself has recently spoken out about the part, which can be seen in cinemas in October.

“The character has an ethical framework, the alien by virtue of coming from another planet doesn’t have the same ethical framework, and they have to work out how to be together so they click,” he told Esquire.

“He now has a beast who lives rent-free in him. It could be like somebody who’s contracted a tropical disease and gone mad.

“It’s like acting out mental illness in some aspects, of which I have a fair understanding, having had a certain amount of mental health problems of my own, which are relevant, being an addict. So I might as well f**king use it.”

“I’m used to being in the third person,” he went on.

“I think I have multiple personas and characters in me that present and represent different parts of me, that I allow to sit in the driving seat. They’re all me.”

Riz Ahmed and Michelle Williams also star in the film, directed by Ruben Fleischer.

Venom is out on October 5.