Venom was the surprise superhero movie hit of 2018, making $855 million dollars worldwide. The Spider-Man spin-off starring Tom Hardy cost a little over $100 million to produce, making it one of the year’s most profitable blockbusters. Given that, it was only a matter of time before a Venom sequel was announced, and according to The Hollywood Reporter, Sony has begun development on the sequel with Kelly Marcel writing the screenplay. Marcel recently wrote an live-action reimagining of 101 Dalmatians centering on Cruela de Vil for Disney and has a co-writing credit for the original Venom.

Not a whole lot is known about Venom 2, but the end credits tag of the first film had a cameo from Woody Harrelson as Cletus Kasady. In the pages of Marvel Comics, Kasady is a convicted serial killer who becomes Venom’s rival symbiote, Carnage. Harrelson has already confirmed he is going to have a greater role in the sequel, and both Tom Hardy and Michelle Williams are contracted to come back for another round as well.

The million dollar question, of course, is will a Venom sequel address the giant arachnid in the room, and finally feature Spider-Man in some capacity? Although the Marvel Cinematic Universe Spidey played by Tom Holland might be off limits, the recent success of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse has introduced general audiences to the idea that there are multiple Spider-Men across dimensions, so what if Venom’s universe has its own version of Peter Parker? Give him a costume distinct enough from Holland’s Spidey, and maybe bump up his age, and we think audiences would buy it.

Images: Sony Pictures