Sony isn’t ready to bid farewell to Venom. THR reports that the studio is developing an animated Venom movie and has tapped Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein, directors of Final Destination Bloodlines, to direct the produce the film. Could this be Venom’s own version of Into the Spider-Verse?

Tom Hardy Will Be Involved

The report states that Tom Hardy, who played the character in the three live-action movies, is involved in the project, although it’s unclear exactly how. He may produce the film, or even return to voice Venom. The project is still early in development, so details are sparse.

A writer’s room is being set up at Sony Pictures Animation to develop the script.

Venom Was the Only Success in Sony’s Spider-Man Franchise

Venom was the first movie in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, a franchise centered on characters and properties associated with Spider-Man… but that don’t actually feature the web-slinger. Not the most brilliant move in the world, but the 2018 movie was a huge box-office success despite largely negative reviews.

Hardy returned for Venom: Let There Be Carnage and Venom: The Last Dance. The Venom trilogy wound up being the only successful films in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, as Morbius, Madame Web, and Kraven the Hunter each crashed and burned.

Venom & Spider-Man?

Throughout the three Venom movies, fans kept their fingers crossed that the character might cross paths with Spider-Man, but with the exception of a mid-credits cameo in Spider-Man: No Way Home, it never happened. Hardy said that a true crossover with Tom Holland’s Spidey got close, but “studio politics” got in the way.

“We got close,” Hardy said. “We got as close as I could possibly imagine getting, apart from doing a film together, which I would have loved to have done because that just means so much fun.“

Hardy added that a Venom and Spider-Man crossover would have skewed toward younger audiences. “Fundamentally, for me, it would be for the kids,” he explained. “Because, you know, as much as adults love superhero films, as you can tell by the box office when they’re successful, I think I’m constantly reminded by children how important these characters are. And they don’t know why their favorite characters aren’t in films together.“

What do you think of Venom getting an animated movie?