Grace’s Venom is an evil creature. There’s no doubt about it. He says it himself; he likes to be bad. He doesn’t care who gets hurt so long as he has revenge on Peter Parker, the one who did him wrong. This Venom, or Eddie Brock, or whatever, just likes being mean, and he loves the power the suit he’s been given gives him.

The comic book Venom is a bit different. Though he started out somewhat similar, Venom is also choosier; he wants Spider-Man but he won’t go through people he perceives as ‘innocent’ to get to him. Venom will save police officers, children and anybody else he sees as good while slaughtering others deemed vile and corrupt. Even the pettiest of thieves caught committing a crime face possible death. In that sense the comic book Eddie Brock is a bit more psychotic; he thinks he’s a hero, and can act heroically, but is a bit too dark at his core.

On the plus side, though, he does actually team up with Spider-Man in the comics numerous times. Which is nice. But Eddie Brock has since lost the symbiote and there’s a new Venom in town, so, hey. Whole new ball game.

And here’s proof of that gradual transition from TV to the big screen: a list of Grace’s movies. There’s not many yet, but give him time.

2000 Traffic
2001 Ocean’s Eleven
2002 Pinocchio
2003 Mona Lisa Smile
2004 Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!, P.S., Ocean’s Twelve, In Good Company
2007 Spider-Man 3
2008 Kids in America
2009 Coxblocker, The Crusaders

Topher Grace bought into that very tradition when he appeared on the show in 2005 as host. And, as host, he appeared in the lion’s share of the skits, appearing variously as a paramedic, a trucker and an art dealer, among other things.

The trucker skit is especially funny. It features a number of truckers talking over CB radios about one of the strangest topics imaginable: Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston’s breakup. The bunch of them start to get really emotional about it. It’s pretty funny, especially when you look at Grace with his giant side burns.

Have a look at it and more on Grace’s media website.

So it was interesting to see him appear in both Ocean’s Eleven and Ocean’s Twelve, not as a main character, or even as a fictional character, but as himself. Yes, Topher Grace plays Topher Grace in two of the three Ocean’s Eleven movies.

But it’s not a spot-on Topher Grace. Rather he plays an exaggerated, almost loserish version of himself. In the first he’s trying to learn how to play poker among a group of other celebrities and manages (along, of course, with the other celebrities) to fail spectacularly at understanding teacher Rusty (Brad Pitt)’s tips. And, in the second, he’s so deeply enamored with a girl that he locks himself in Rusty’s apartment and trashes the place. It’s a fun example of self-satire and Grace carries it off with, well, grace.

Unfortunately Grace didn’t get the chance to reprise the role in the third movie as he was busy making Spiderman 3. A shame, because the movie could have only benefited from his presence.

It’s a new movie called Kids in America. A comedy created by the same writers as those who developed That 70’s Show, Kids in America will star Topher Grace as Matt Franklin, a recent graduate from college. Along with two of his friends (played by Teresa Palmer and Dan Fogler) Grace will try to maneuver through post-college life and win the girl of his dreams at a Labor Day party by tricking her into thinking that he works for influential investment bank Goldman Sachs.

Kids in America Topher Grace is set to open sometime in 2008, it also stars Anna Faris.

Well, a relationship that flopped. But only the romantic part; now the two are best friends.

The Ginnifer Goodwin Topher Grace relationship actually took place in 2002, two years before Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!. However their blossoming friendship apparently so impressed Grace that he suggested Goodwin for her role in Tad Hamilton, leading to her eventual acceptance by the director for the spot of Cathy.

Goodwin accompanied Grace to the opening of Spiderman 3, and the two are still good friends to this day. And from the sounds of it lots of people still want the pair back together, or at least they do online.

There have been several candidates over the years for the former That 70’s Show star. His first ‘casual’ encounter in the public limelight came with Anne Hathaway from 1999 to 2001, after which they split and Grace moved on to Ginnifer Goodwin in 2002. Ivanka Trump was his next notable squeeze in 2006, and for a brief period in 2007 he went out with Emmy Rossum, a lead actress in The Day After Tomorrow and Poseidon. His latest conquest was Kids in America co-star Teresa Palmer in 2007 and is currently dating Russian-Irish singer Katie Melua (below).

Which lucky ladies will be next in Grace’s already extensive and impressive repertoire? Only time will tell.

As photographer Eddie Brock, Grace vies with lead Toby Maguire as Peter Parker (Spiderman) for a staff position on the popular paper the Daily Bugle. After Parker manages to out some of Brock’s pictures as fakes, however, Brock becomes despondent and seeks for a way to get revenge – and finds it when an alien suit, which had previously turned Parker into an anger-driven “emo” kid, finds him.

The movie climaxes with a beat-em-up showdown between Spiderman and Venom that’s sure to keep fans gripped to the edge of their seats. Only one will live: so which is it going to be? You’ll have to watch and find out.

Check out the movie trailer for Spiderman 3 with Topher Grace below: