A Venom Sequel Is Happening, So Start Stocking Up on Snacks (Eyes, Lungs, Pancreas . . .)

Venom arrived in theaters back in October to middling reviews, but that didn't stop talk of all the potential sequels and spinoffs it might spawn.

In an August interview with Total Film, Tom Hardy revealed that Marvel could make up to three Venom movies, saying, "We've signed up for three of them. So it's very much an open case. We'll see what people's responses are to it." Variety also predicted that if the film delivered at the box office, then Sony would move fast to introduce a number of heroes and villains from the Spider-Man universe in the form of sequels to the Hardy outing, as well as stand-alone films. At the moment, Sony's licensing pact with Marvel affords it the rights to around 900 characters, so the possibilities are pretty much endless.

Now, in December, we have official confirmation that a Venom sequel is indeed moving forward thanks to the film's co-writer, Jeff Pinkner. While being interviewed by Discussing Film, Pinkner neglected to give away any major spoilers, but did mention that another film in the franchise is in the works. "I can't say anything other than that it is happening," he explained. After noting that he would not be writing the sequel, Pinkner also divulged that the second film will likely see the appearance of Tom Holland's Peter Parker. "Without revealing anything that I'm not supposed to reveal, it is not impossible a future . . .[that] Spider-Man will play a significant role . . . I think it's fair to say that everyone involved would be very excited by a Spider-Man/Venom movie."

You can say that again. At the moment, Sony is already moving forward with plans to make Morbius, a vampire and frequent foe for Spider-Man, with Safe House director Daniel Espinosa at the helm and Jared Leto starring. On top of that, The Equalizer 2's Richard Wenk is writing a screenplay centering on the story of Kraven the Hunter, and the studio is making moves to develop scripts based on the characters of Silk (a Korean-American superheroine), Jackpot (an older, female masked vigilante), and Nightwatch (a doctor-turned-hero with powers of invisibility). There was also a Silver & Black film in the works, which would follow Silver Sable and Black Cat, but Sony has nixed that in favor of breaking each character out into a stand-alone film, starting with Black Cat, aka burglar Felicia Hardy.