Meet the New Venomous Spider Named After Marvel Actor Tom Hardy
Venomius Tomhardyi is an actual spider found in Tasmania.
Tom Hardy has played many parts in his career, won multiple awards, and earned lots of money at the box office. Now, for the first time in his life, he has been bestowed with an honor that very few thespians have: He has gotten a spider named after him.
Hardy, who has been playing the Spider Man character Venom since 2018, in the Marvel movie franchise, recently had an Australian spider named after him.
After an expedition to Tasmania researchers announced that they had discovered a genus that resembled Hardy's character in the franchise.
They dubbed the genus Venomius and the only current species Venomius tomhardyi, publishing their findings in the open access journal Evolutionary Systematics.
In it, they explain that the genus is similar to the typical leaf-curling orb-weaving spiders, such as Phonognatha Simon, 1894 or Leviana Framenau & Kuntner, 2022, "due to a similar elongate cylindrical abdomen and colouration," they wrote, adding that "however, the genital morphology of the new genus is very different."
They added that Venomius tomhardyi has been collected in southern Australia, "from Tasmania to Western Australia," and that it builds a circular, vertical orb-web. "Spiders often hide in silk-lined hollows in branches of trees when disturbed during the day," they write.
The reason why they named the spider after the actor is that the pattern of black spots on the spider's abdomen is reminiscent of the face of the Marvel Comics character Venom.
Production recently resumed for V3N0M 3: The Last Dance, after a hiatus due to the actor and writer strike, with the actor sharing about it on social media. "Thankfully we are back to shooting; and I want to take a moment just to thank all the teams thus far on the ride from V1 to here all our fantastic Cast and crew- good friends and family – we've come a long way – it's been and continues to be a lot of fun this journey there's always hard turns to burn when we work but doesn't feel as hard when you love what you do and when you know you have great material and the support at all sides, of a great team," he wrote.
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"Surrounded by talented and passionate departments and when surrounded by people you love and care about it doesn't get any better," he added. "I want to mention very briefly how proud of my Director, writing partner and dear friend Kelly Marcel I am. watching you taking the helm on this one fills me with pride, it is an honour. Trust, your gut, your instincts are always spot on. First class – I back you. 100 %. As always. And I absolutely love working with you and watching you take on bigger challenges everytime. And to my great friend, face plant chief operator and brother @jaketomuri Jacob you still look f all like me bro. Here's to a great ride!!! #Venom3 #team."
