Spider-Man fans rejoice! While Spider-Man: Homecoming is hitting theaters this summer, Sony’s just announced that it’s Venom spin-off has a release date. Die-hard web heads might recall that a Venom spin-off was announced last year – giving the iconic villain a spotlight at last. While news has been quiet on the Venom front so to speak, we’ve finally gotten a hint that there is something happening with Venom, Eddie Brock and much more thanks to a tweet from Exhibitor Relations. That’s right, Spider-man’s iconic bad guy and Marvel Comics’ anti-hero will be looking at an October release date in 2018. October 5th specifically.
Watch out, Spider-man. VENOM is now part of the release calendar web as Sony has slated the Spidey spinoff for October 5, 2018.
— Exhibitor Relations Co. (@ERCboxoffice) March 16, 2017
The last news fans had heard on the project came when rumor held that Dante Halper of Sleepless Nights had been hired to pen the script. According to The Hollywood Reporter the project is being overseen and produced by Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach. Rumor has it that the project isn’t slated to be set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Alex Kurtzman, famous for writing the Amazing Spider-Man will not direct this film, despite earlier reports.
Update from Sony: Alex Kurtzman no longer involved w/ VENOM. Scott Rosenberg & Jeff Pinkner (JUMANJI reboot) will pen the tale.
— Exhibitor Relations Co. (@ERCboxoffice) March 16, 2017
Fans of the comics will recall the “Venom” parasite as a figure who features in both the Spider-man mythos and the cosmic universe at large. While the symbiote has corrupted it’s hosts, taking over the forms of various individuals, like Eddie Brock, who bore a grudge against Spider-Man, his most recent turn in the comics has been as an anti-hero working with Flash Thompson and the Guardians of the Galaxy. A spin-off could denote a more heroic arc for the alien creature, could this be a subtle clue as to the nature of the film? Will we see Agent Venom with Flash Thompson as a host or will we see Eddie Brock and get a grim dark villain for spider-man to fight against? This leaves us with a lot of food for thought!
What do you think? Do you want to see Eddie Brock tackle the creature versus Tom Holland? Would you like to see Flash Thompson take on the symbiote and work with the Guardians of the Galaxy (perhaps in Guardians 3?) the possibilities are endless. In the meantime, get your wall-crawling web swinging fix with Spider Man: Homecoming, heading to theaters July 7th 2017.
Venom hits theaters October 5, 2018. Stay tuned for more details.