Woody Harrelson in Talks for Sony's Venom Movie

Woody Harrelson is up to join Tom Hardy in Sony’s Venom movie

Woody Harrelson (the Hunger Games franchise, True Detective) is in talks to join Tom Hardy (Inception, The Dark Knight Rises) in Sony’s Venom movie, according to Variety. The cast currently includes Riz Ahmed (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story), Michelle Williams (Blue Valentine) and Jenny Slate (Zootopia). Woody Harrelson will reportedly play a henchman, though there is no other information at this time. Sony has not commented on the casting.

Venom will hail from Sony’s Marvel Universe of characters and will not be a spinoff of the current Marvel Cinematic Universe, wherein Sony allows Spider-Man to be played by Tom Holland. Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach are producing along with Amy Pascal, with Palak Patel and Eric Fineman overseeing for Columbia Pictures.

Writers Scott Rosenberg (Pain & Gain, Jumanji) & Jeff Pinkner (The Amazing Spider-Man 2) will pen the script for the Venom film, which is set for an October 5, 2018 release date.

First appearing in the comic book series as an alien costume worn by Spider-Man in Marvel‘s The Amazing Spider-Man #252 in 1984, it was several years before the creature left Peter Parker and merged with photographer Eddie Brock, forming the antihero known as Venom. Since then, the character has appeared in a variety of different forms and bonded with several different hosts. In the “Ultimate” Marvel Universe, the suit has a more terrestrial origin, created by Parker and Brock’s scientist parents in an attempt to cure cancer. More recently, the Venom symbiote has been moving between hosts, including Mac Gargan (aka The Scorpion) and Peter Parker’s old high school rival, Flash Thompson.

Are you guys excited to see Woody Harrelson in the Venom movie with Tom Hardy? Let us know in the comments.

(Photo credit: Getty Images)