Sony’s Spideyverse is expanding. After negotiating for joint custody of Peter Parker with Marvel-Disney, the studio started planning a villain-y spinoff series which would eventually involve Spider-Man character Venom. Today, Sony has fast-tracked their Venom movie, which is now set for an October 2018 release date.

The Wrap reports that after today’s shakeup which involved Aquaman’s release being pushed back to December of that year due to James Cameron’s perpetually-in-pre-production Avatar 2, Sony snatched up Aquaman’s previous date, October 5, 2018, for Venom. The spinoff will focus on the super-antihero, and hopes to launch a series of films disconnected from Tom Holland’s Spider-Man movies. It was actually planned as a follow-up to Sinister Six, but after that was scrapped, plans for Venom were put on hold until now. Other plot details for Venom are so far under wraps.

Venom is a pretty iconic character in the Spider-Man universe, but most laymen know him as the creature that made Tobey Maguire do his emo dance in Mary Jane’s jazz club in Spider-Man 3. He’s an alien symbiote that needs a host in order to live, but in return that host is granted superpowers, so it’s not that bad a gig. Venom had a gradual journey in the comics from simple costume update to villain to antihero to the hero he is today, but we don’t know when in this personality timeline the new movie will be set. If Sony’s taking any cues from DC, there’s a chance this could go dark and gritty. Alex Kurtzman, writer of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and director of the upcoming Mummy reboot, will direct.

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