Hoping to ride high on the new Spider-Man: Homecoming, Sony has once again started to lay the groundwork for an expanded Spidey universe, albeit one without the same direct Marvel partnership. A movie about alien villain/anti-hero Venom has been in development for a while and has scored a coup: Tom Hardy will star for Zombieland director Ruben Fleischer.
It's surprising to see Hardy agreeing to another superhero-based role after Bane, but he's a fan of the character and clearly he thinks there's something to work with in the alien symbiote that requires a human host to live and bestows great powers with little responsibility. In Venom's case, that host is journalist Eddie Brock, the role Hardy is taking on. Relegated to a side threat in 2007's Spider-Man 3, the creature was supposed to come back after Sony decided to spin-off an entire Spider-cinematic universe. Alex Kurtzman was aboard to write and direct a new movie, but all of that was mothballed when The Amazing Spider-Man 2 failed to generate much interest (and suffered low box office returns).
This is a big step in putting things back on track, though of course there's the matter of Homecoming performing at the box office. Fleischer will start the cameras rolling in autumn with a 5 October, 2018 release date in his sights. This could crack open the door for other Spidey characters, such as the long-gestating Black Cat movie, but let's not count the spider-eggs before they're hatched. Sorry for putting that image in your head, by the way.