At this year's Sao Paulo Comic Con Experience, Tom Hardy spoke about the upcoming Venom movie and its importance within the Marvel Universe. He also explained how a Venom movie could be made without Spider-Man.

Venom is just one among many comic book movies set for release in 2018, as Sony hopes to kick start its Marvel Universe. With the names that are involved, and the studio’s plans, this is certainly one of the most interesting projects of its kind.

To promote #Venom movie, they went live to Atlanta, and @rubenfleischer and Tom Hardy talked for a bit. Tom then showed off a Venom shirt, and all of a sudden people started handing them out. pic.twitter.com/8sUk3pmZZS

"” Steven Weintraub (@colliderfrosty) December 9, 2017

Addressing the Sao Paulo Comic Con Experience audience through a recording made in the Atlanta studio where the movie is currently filming, Tom Hardy revealed that Venom will be based on the 1990s Lethal Protector stories, in which Erick Brock moved to San Francisco after agreeing on a truce with Spider-Man. There, he became an anti-hero and protected the city (via Comic Book).

Hardy added that he'll do the character justice, and fans should expect plenty of action and dark humor from the movie.

In addition, Hardy said that Venom is an important Marvel Universe project. Of course, he wasn't talking about the Marvel Cinematic Universe; he was talking about the Sony SpiderVerse. Then again, after last summer’s Kevin Feige/Amy Pascal interviews, one might believe that Disney’s plans are bigger than any of us can imagine.

After all, nobody expected the X-Men and the Fantastic Four to return to Marvel a couple of months ago, but this will apparently happen by the end of 2017.

Venom will be released on October 5, 2018.