'Venom' Movie Update: Solo Villain Film Won't Include Spider-Man, Gets 2018 Air Date

Spider-Man will be swinging into the theaters this June, but one of his enemies, Venom, will be starring in his own solo "Venom" movie in 2018. Sony recently announced that the villain will be having his own film, despite the fact that Marvel has rebooted Spider-Man's story in "Civil War" and "Homecoming".

There will be another Spider-Man movie in 2018, but it won't feature Spider-Man himself. The Verge reported that Sony will instead produce a "Venom" movie, which will focus on the titular villain, without the heroic web-slinger. How they will do this is still a mystery, but the studio revealed that it already has a script.

According to the publication, the studio could go with turning Spider-Man into the villain. Venom basically has the same abilities, except that he isn't the good guy. So, how will Sony turn him into the main character of the 2018 "Venom" movie if it won't feature Venom's superhero foe? Who will be the villain? Who will be the hero?

Films focusing on the villains as the main characters have already been done, like "Maleficent" and "Suicide Squad". Warner Bros. is even already working on "Black Adam", a spin-off movie about Shazam's nemesis, starring Dwayne Johnson. Den of Geek reported that the "Venom" movie will follow Sony's original idea back when it was producing "The Amazing Spider-Man", which starred Andrew Garfield in the lead role.

Alex Kurtzman directed the rebooted series and already had an idea for Venom's character. However, he won't be back to direct the "Venom" movie. He is currently busy producing the new "The Mommy" starring Tom Cruise. Sony's 2018 movie will reportedly not be related to Marvel's upcoming "Spider-Man: Homecoming" universe, so it's going to be a separate, standalone film.

The "Venom" movie release date is set on Oct. 19, 2018, which coincidentally means it will go up against "The Girl in the Spider's Web". Dante Harper wrote the script for the film, while Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach were tapped to start the filming as producers. Topher Grace previously played Venom in 2007's "Spider-Man 3", but there's still no news about the new Venom actor.