New plans have emerged for Sony Pictures' fourth Venom movie. The Spider-Man studio has plenty of history with the Venom name, releasing three live-action movies between 2018 and 2024 starring The Dark Knight Rises actor Tom Hardy. After Venom: The Last Dance, it looked as though the Hollywood giant had put the sinister symbiote to rest, but that does not appear to be the case.
Sony is returning to the world of Venom, but with a twist. The Hollywood Reporter has reported that a new Venom movie is in the works from the Venom studio; however, instead of being another live-action super-powered adventure, it will be fully animated. The upcoming film is said to be directed by Final Destination: Bloodlines' Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein, with former Venom star involved in some capacity.
It is unclear what Hardy's involvement in the project will entail, as well as whether the movie will tie into Sony's thought-to-be-dead Spider-Man Cinematic Universe (SSMU). No further information on the film has been made available at this time.
Back in December 2024, it was reported that Sony was going back to the drawing board for its Spidey-based efforts (outside of the Tom Holland-led Spider-Man films), after a string of critical and financial failures following the first Venom film. Sony's villain-based spin-off franchise would never reach the heights of the $1 billion-making Venom.
It would seem that this new animated film may fit into whatever those retooled Spider-Man-adjacent plans for the studio may be. The web-slinging studio will return to the comic book world later this year with the release of Spider-Man: Brand New Day. It is also set to debut the animated Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse next year, due out on June 18, 2027.
The Venom Animated Movie Set the Path Forward for Sony and Spider-Man
Since Sony Pictures seems more than happy to lend Spider-Man to Marvel Studios for the Tom Holland-led Spider-Man movies, the studio has had to get creative with where it takes the rest of its Marvel-based fare.
Yes, this has primarily produced some of the most critically maligned movies of the genre, but it has also made the Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse films, which were the exact opposite. The Spider-Verse movies have been a bright shining light for Sony.
So, when Venom: The Last Dance and Kraven the Hunter fell flat on their faces back in 2024, it would make sense that Sony eventually concluded that animation could be the way forward, thus resulting in a full-on Venom animated movie.
Sony Pictures Animation has been a stand-out in the animation industry since the first Spider-Verse film. Outside of its web-based efforts, it has also produced the acclaimed K-pop Demon Hunters and the recently released GOAT. Using the award-winning studio for even more of its super-powered fare is a wise choice, and could set the foundation for what Sony wants to do with its vast stable of Marvel characters once the Spider-Verse movies come to an end.
This would capitalize on the goodwill of the Spider-Verse films, while giving fans their Marvel fix with another character that the Spider-Man studio owns the rights to.
