Word on the street has Woody Harrelson currently in talks to join Tom Hardy in Sony Pictures forthcoming Spider-Man spin-off, Venom.

Related: Venom News

As with previous casting announcements, Sony has been keeping a very tight lip, but Harrelson could well be placed in the role as some sort of henchman – we’re thinking maybe something along the lines of his character Colonel in this year’s War for the Planet of the Apes.

Ruben Fleischer is directing the comic-book outing which could see Harrelson join Hardy, Riz Ahmed, Michelle Williams and Jenny Slate on the cast.

Tom hardy Venom

Scott Rosenberg (“Jumanji”) and Jeff Pinkner (“The Dark Tower”) have written the script for “Venom,” with Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach producing the movie, along with Amy Pascal. Palak Patel are overseeing the project for Columbia Pictures.

Although Venom is intrinsically linked with Spider-Man, the neighbourhood boy hero will in no way be making an appearance in the film, but Sony hasn’t ruled out the possibility of Venom starring in the Tom Holland lead Spider-Man sequels.

Tom Hardy leads the cast as Eddie Brock, who in the comics was a photographer; Brock later becomes Venom after bonding with a Symbiote. Venom, conceived as a supervillain, became somewhat of an anti-hero. A Symbiote is a sentient alien, with a gooey, almost liquid-like form.

Harrelson has been a busy boy of late, having only just wrapped on the Solo: A Star Wars Story spin-off, he can also be seen in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri in the New Year. This past year we have seen him in War for the Planet of the Apes, The Glass Castle, The Edge of Seventeen and LBJ.

Venom will hit cinemas in October 2018