Jenny Slate is in talks to star in the 'Venom' movie.

Jenny Slate

Jenny Slate

The 35-year-old actress - who has had roles in 'Gifted' and 'Zootopia' - is set to join Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams and Riz Ahmed in the 'Spider-Man' spin-off movie.

At the time, Slate is reported to be wanted to play a scientist, Variety reports, but nothing more is known about her character.

In May, Hardy was announced to play the traditional 'Spider-Man' villain in Sony Picture's upcoming film focused around Eddie Brock - the first character to become the alien symbiote in the comic books - with the script penned by 'The Amazing Spider-Man 2' writers Scott Rosenberg and Jeff Pinkner.

'Zombieland' and 'Gangster Squad' director Ruben Fleischer is on board to helm the project which will be part of Sony's Marvel Universe - which exists outside of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

'Venom' marks the first time a Spider-Man villain will be getting their own standalone movie but the character did appear in Sam Raimi's 'Spider-Man 3' with the character being played by Topher Grace.

The symbiote, created by David Michelinie and artists Todd McFarlane and Mick Zeck, was first introduced in the comic books back in 1988 and is still a fan favourite villain and has appeared in other Marvel Comics including Iron Man, Deadpool and The Hulk.

Sony had planned to release a 'Sinister Six' movie featuring Venom but made the decision to start off with a standalone Venom adventure.

Sony and Marvel Studios reached a deal in February 2015 to allow Spider-Man - a character to which Sony bought the rights to - to be introduced into the MCU, with Tom Holland cast in the role and appearing as Spidey in a cameo capacity in 'Captain America: Civil War'.

Holland, 20, then made his first feature-length outing as the wall crawler in 'Spider-Man: Homecoming', a movie which resulted in profit for Sony rather than Disney owned Marvel.

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