While doing press for his new CBS series Scorpion, Alex Kurtzman also offered a brief update on on his Venom spin-off for Sony Pictures, which he has been attached to direct since the project was announced in December.

When asked about what drew him to the spin-off, after writing the script for The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Alex Kurtzman revealed that he can do certain things with Venom that he can't with Peter Parker.

"There are certain lines that Spider-Man won't cross, because he's Peter Parker and Peter Parker will only do certain things. Venom is an entirely different character. Venom, in a weird way, is a representation of every line that will get crossed. He's a much darker character. I wouldn't even say he's more complicated, because I think they're both very complicated characters, but I think the attraction, for me, to Venom, is the idea that you can do things with Venom that you can't do with Spider-Man."

The character made his first Marvel Comics appearance in "Amazing Spider-Man" #299 back in 1986, when reporter Eddie Brock bonded with an alien symbiote, with both Eddie and the alien harboring a grudge against Peter Parker. However, Marvel rebooted the character in 2011, with Peter Parker's high school nemesis Flash Thompson taking over the Venom mantle. It isn't clear if Eddie or Flash will be featured in the spin-off at this time.

After Roberto Orci backed away from The Amazing Spider-Man 3 this summer, Sony shifted its release slate, moving the sequel up to 2018, while shifting another spin-off, Drew Goddard's The Sinister Six, into 2016. Alex Kurtzman is no longer involved with The Amazing Spider-Man 3 either, but he did offer this advice to whoever takes over the sequel.

"Spider-Man has always occupied his own wonderful, unique space. The stories have evolved, and Spider-Man has the benefit of having had so many more movies than even some of the movies that have 2′s and 3′s in front of them from Marvel. I think as long as it keeps staying true to character, and true to who Peter is, and putting him in interesting and complicated situations, it'll survive. Because it's so beloved - everybody loves Spider-Man."

Sony still hasn't issued a release date for the Venom spin-off, but a report surfaced last month that revealed Sony may be planning a 2017 release, and that the movie may include the villainous character Carnage.