We’ve known for a few months now that Mad Max: Fury Road and The Dark Knight Rises star Tom Hardy will play the title character in Sony’s long-planned Spider-Man spinoff Venom.

Now it looks like Hardy has his first co-star, as Rogue One: A Star Wars Story star Riz Ahmed is currently in talks for a role in the movie.

We found out just last month that Mad Max: Fury Road, The Dark Knight Rises, and Inception star Tom Hardy was set to star in the R-rated Spider-Man spinoff Venom with Zombieland and Gangster Squad director Ruben Fleischer behind the camera.

Going with the R-rating—with confidence gained from the successful releases of Deadpool and Logan—is a great start. Now it looks like another step in the right direction has been taken. There was a rumor a few years back (when the movie was going to be co-written and directed by The Mummy director Alex Kurtzman) that the movie could feature none other than Carnage, and it appears that will be the case.

This year, Sony started to develop spinoffs based on Spider-Man supporting characters. This has been something that Sony Pictures CEO Tom Rothman and the studio has been cooking up for quite some time. While Sony has the authority to approve these spinoffs, they won’t officially be a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe – even though Spider-Man has already joined it.

Venom will reportedly be the first of the spinoffs to be released, with a Black Cat and Silver Sable film to follow. And now we know who will play Venom and who will direct the film as well. According to various reports, Tom Hardy (The Dark Knight Rises, Mad Max: Fury Road) will play the title character, while Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland, Gangster Squad) will direct. More on the full story below.

A new writer has been hired to work on the screenplay for Zombieland 2, a follow-up to the 2009 horror-comedy, for Sony Pictures.

Sony has brought in Dave Callaham for the next draft of the script. Callaham’s previous screenplay credits include DOOM, Horsemen, Tell Tale, and The Expendables, and he also had a story credit on the recent Godzilla reboot.

Just when you thought there was no more hope for Ant-Man, two more hopefuls have been added to Marvel Studios’ director shortlist. With Edgar Wright, Adam McKay, and Rawson Thurberdirect Ghostbusters 3, it almost seemed like no one would even touch Ant-Man with a ten-foot pole.

However Neighbor‘s director Nick Stoller and Goon director Michael Dowse are now the new front runners to direct the film. Hit the jump for more info.