Sony Pictures has been trying to get a film based on the alien symbiote character off the ground for years, with Zombieland and Deadpool writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick knocking out the first script back in the late 2000s. A myriad of different directors, including Gary Ross (The Hunger Games), Josh Trank (Chronicle) and Alex Kurtzman (The Mummy, 2017) were attached to take the helm at one time or another. At one point Venom was part of an ambitious plan that connected to the Andrew Garfield Amazing Spider-Man movies, but after that interconnected universe was scrapped Sony went back to the drawing board and a brand new variation of the Venom movie was born.

Day 1. #Venom pic.twitter.com/ftkf9pEWn3

— Venom Movie (@VenomMovie) October 24, 2017

Venom is a Symbiote, a sentient alien, with a thick, gooey, liquid-like form that requires a human host to bond with for its survival. After bonding, the Symbiote endows its enhanced powers upon the host. Its first known host was Peter Parker, who eventually separated himself from the creature when he discovered its true nature. The symbiote went on to merge with other hosts, most notably Eddie Brock, its second and most infamous host, with whom it first became Venom proper and ultimately one of Spider-Man’s archenemies. We saw these events unfold in Spider-Man 3 (2007) starring Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker/Spider-Man and Topher Grace as Eddie Brock/Venom.

Venom first appeared in Spider-Man #300

Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland) is in the director’s chair and Sony managed to land Tom Hardy for the title role. We don’t know a great deal about this R-rated take on the Spider-Man comics character, but Kelly Marcel (Saving Mr. Banks), Jeff Pinkner (The Amazing Spider-Man), and Scott Rosenberg (High Fidelity) wrote the script and the wildly impressive ensemble cast includes Riz Ahmed (Nightcrawler), Michelle Williams (Manchester by the Sea) and Jenny Slate (Zootopia). The villain will reportedly be Carnage.

Topher Grace was the poor human symbiote for Venom in Spider-Man 3

Carnage is the offspring of Venom that merged with a serial killer, Cletus Kasady, who shared a prison cell with Eddie Brock on Ryker’s Island.

The tweeted photo doesn’t show Hardy in makeup or costume, but is simply a tease of the start of production taking place in New York City. Venom is part of an effort from Sony Pictures to build out its own superhero universe using an ensemble of different characters from the Spider-Man comics.

Oh yes, this Venom movie and the upcoming Silver & Black will not take place in the same universe as Spider-Man: Homecoming and its sequel, as the Tom Holland Spider-Man movies are a co-production with Marvel Studios and take place within the Disney-owned Marvel Cinematic Universe. So as long as Peter Parker is running around with Iron Man and Captain America, there will be no crossover with Spider-Man in these Sony-produced spinoff movies.

Carnage is an even more evil version of Venom

Venom opens in theaters on October 5, 2018.

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