Gary Ross is a busy man. Already signed on to re-write Spider-Man 4, Ross is now delving deeper into the Spideyverse by writing and directing Venom. Venom is Spider-Man's symbiotic archnemesis, played by Topher Grace in 2007's Spider-Man 3.
As I feared, the studio plans to totally reboot the character and ignore his presence in the universally panned Spider-Man film. This also means that Topher Grace likely will not reprise his role as Eddie Brock, the man who becomes joined with the alien symbiote that spurs his hatred towards Peter Parker. The Spider-Man franchise figures to be even more in the spotlight now in the wake of the Disney/Marvel merger since studios are quick to establish their hold on these properties. Spider-Man 4 is scheduled to begin in 2010, while the fifth and sixth films are already in the scripting process.
