Stephen Graham signs up for 'Venom 2'

British star of This Is England Stephen Graham is signing up for Marvel sequel Venom 2, according to reports.

Deadline reckons that Graham will be joining Tom Hardy, Woody Harrelson and Bond star Naomie Harris on the bill.

But as yet, his character remains under wraps.

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Andy Serkis is stepping in direct the sequel, his first major studio movie following his Jungle Book live-action tale Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle and biopic drama Breathe with Andrew Garfield and Claire Foy.

Meanwhile, Graham has recently been seen in Martin Scorsese's The Irishman, playing Anthony 'Tony Pro' Provenzano, a mob-connected vice president of the Teamsters union.

Venom 2, meanwhile, will pick up directly from the first movie, in which Tom Hardy's Eddie Brock is subsumed by an alien symbiote.

Harrelson was seen in the mid-credits final scene of the first movie, directed Ruben Fleischer, playing the serial killer Cletus Kasady, aka Carnage.

Michelle Williams will also return to reprise her role as district attorney Anne Weying, Eddie Brock's former fiancee.

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It's also thought that the character Shriek will also feature, aka drug dealer Frances Barrison, an associate of Carnage and a powerful mutant, though according to Deadline the role is yet to be cast.

Despite some middling reviews, Venom was a smash at the box office, making $856 million from a superhero-modest budget of around $100 million.

Filming began last month at Leavesden Studios, with the movie set to land in October, 2020.