Ever since his first and last cinematic appearance in the critically divisive trilogy topper Spider-Man 3 close to a decade ago, Sony and Columbia Pictures had long hoped to launch a spin-off franchise surrounding Peter Parker’s most formidable foe, the alien “symbiote” Venom.

Now, after years of production rumors and hearsay, the studio has finally announced an October 5th, 2018 release date for the long-gestating potential franchise launcher, Venom. This date previously belonged to Sony’s Girl With the Dragon Tattoo sequel, The Girl in the Spider’s Web, but then was moved to two weeks later on October 19th.

It is unknown whether or not this film will be part of Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe or Sony’s own “Spider-verse”. The upcoming Spider-Man: Homecoming, due out this Summer on July 7th, is a shared co-production between Marvel Studios and Sony, but while Spider-Man himself is en route to join the Marvel’s Avengers, a great deal of his rogues gallery is still under Sony’s owned screen rights.

No director is to be spoken of for the film just yet, but Scott Rosenberg and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 writer Jeff Pinkner recently turned in a draft for the script to the studio.

With the success of R-rated and darker edged comic book features such as Logan, Deadpool, and Suicide Squad, and the close-to-Halloween release date, it is hopeful that Venom will adhere closely to the character’s darkly psychological and violent comic book origins.