Tom Hardy confirmed for 'Venom 2' following rumours of possible Spider-Man crossover

Tom Hardy will return for Venom 2, producer Amy Pascal has confirmed.

Speaking to Fandango, she said: “I can say that Tom Hardy will be back, magnificently playing that character as no one else can.

“It's a couple of things. One of them is that Sony did a great job creating that franchise and giving it a life and giving it its own world. Then there's Tom Hardy.”

She went on: “When you think of Venom, you'll never be able to think of anyone but Tom Hardy sitting in that bathtub of lobsters. And once you saw Tom Hardy do this character, that's all you needed to know.”

It was revealed at the beginning of the year that a sequel was in the early stages of development, but this now firms up Hardy's involvement.

The first movie, despite middling reviews, was a box office smash, making $855 million (around £675 million) worldwide.

So while a sequel was highly likely, the ball may have been in Hardy's court as to whether he wanted to play the journalist Eddie Brock – who becomes infected with an alien symbiote – a second time.

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The confirmation comes as Marvel boss Kevin Feige has said a possible crossover with Venom and Tom Holland's Spider-Man 'seems likely'.

Venom is very much from the world of Spider-Man comics, but Peter Parker did not appear in the first movie.

Feige told Cinemablend: “I think probably it’s up to Sony. Sony has both those characters and has Venom in their world. I don’t know what their plans are for another Venom or if they’re doing that. But it seems likely at some point.”