In 2007, Spider-Man 3 gave us the initial end to Tobey Maguire’s time as the character. It featured a load of villains, including Venom but the gooey character was way different from source material. Fans loathed it, but, now, one has come up with a neat reason for it.
Today, the notion the entity is actually an evil force from Hell is getting some traction on the section of Reddit where people post various fan theories. As the poster points out, Raimi often weaves the supernatural into the projects he works on. As well, the film does not confirm if the “substance” as it is referred to came from space at all when Peter goes to Dr. Connors for analysis and the writer also says its shapeshifting is a thing demons can do, while Tom Hardy’s version of Venom does not seem to have the skill. Others in the replies dismiss the idea and point out many of the bits in the film come from comics, while, for another — though it may not have merit — there is definitely a sort of allusion happening with what Raimi chose to depict on screen with the project.
A different user jokes the symbiote, as it can be seen as young in the piece, would have been afraid of being in a church for other reasons and, for a later Spider-Man 3 fan in the replies — when you consider Raimi loathed the character — the differences make sense.
Raimi as of May 2022 has not yet seen any of the Tom Hardy movies with the character. A third film with his version is in development but does not have a release date at this time, and appears to be going a bit more multi-versal. Someone from the recent Doctor Strange sequel has signed on in an undisclosed role, and Tom Hardy shares some writing duties, too.