The big fad in Hollywood right now is to make connected universes out of any successful entity. According to a report by Collider, Sony has set its sights on building an expanded universe, beginning with the already announced Venom project.

Building off more Hollywood fads, Venom will apparently kick off its connected universe with an R-rating. This will put it in the same category as Deadpool and Logan and will allow it to utilize violence and dark humor.

The script for Venom is ready, but no director or lead actors are attached to the project. If Sony hopes to meet its self-imposed October 5, 2018 release date, it better get things moving quickly.

Venom is not the only movie announced

Sony also recently announced the second project of its budding universe, Black Cat and Silver Sable. A release date, casting and its connection to Venom is still up in the air.

These films from Sony won't be connected to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in any way, so you can forget about Spider-Man making an appearance—unless Marvel Studios gives the green light. Venom is a well-known comic book character so there's always a built-in fanbase. Now, it's just a matter of Sony putting the pieces into place and building out a believable, well-thought out movie universe.