Last night came word that Sony had officially set a release date for an upcoming Venom movie, putting the standalone feature out on October 5, 2018. Lost in the shuffle of the announcement, however, was that writers Scott Rosenberg (Pain & Gain, Jumanji) & Jeff Pinkner (The Amazing Spider-Man 2) will pen the script for the film. Writer Dante Harper wrote a previous draft of the script.
It was reported last year that a Venom movie was being planned, but that it would likely not tie to Sony’s Spider-Man franchise (which, with the Civil War debut of Tom Holland as the webslinger, is now set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe). Whether or not those plans have changed remains to be seen. Check back for updates as they become available.
First appearing in the comic book series as an alien costume worn by Spider-Man in Marvel‘s “The Amazing Spider-Man” #252 in 1984, it was several years before the creature left Peter Parker and merged with photographer Eddie Brock, forming the antihero known as Venom. Since then, the character has appeared in a variety of different forms and bonded with several different hosts. In the “Ultimate” Marvel Universe, the suit has a more terrestrial origin, created by Parker and Brock’s scientist parents in an attempt to cure cancer. More recently, the Venom symbiote has been moving between hosts, including Mac Gargan (aka The Scorpion) and Peter Parker’s old high school rival, Flash Thompson.
Venom previously appeared on the big screen, played by Topher Grace in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 3. Since the release of that film in 2007, rumors have persisted about a solo Venom movie, but various iterations of the project have failed to materialize. Alex Kurtzman was set to direct a spin-off back in 2013, but he is no longer attached to the project.
Tom Holland’s Spidey can next be seen in Spider-Man: Homecoming, in theaters July 7. Sony Pictures Animation, meanwhile, is delivering a non-MCU animated Spider-Man movie on December 21, 2018, just two months after the new Venom movie release date.
