Sony Pictures' highly-anticipated Venom movie has a cast that keeps growing and growing, with Veep star Reid Scott entering negotiations for an unspecified role. It's possible that his character may have roots in the Marvel Comics, or that he could also be a brand new character created for this spin-off, but those details have not yet been made available. We reported last month that Venom production was delayed, with filming reportedly beginning on October 23 in both Atlanta and New York City. With the cast coming together the way it is, it's possible that filming may begin very soon.

Regardless of who he's playing, Reid Scott joins a cast that includes Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock, a.k.a. Venom, Riz Ahmed, rumored to be playing the primary villain Carnage, Michelle Williams, rumored to be playing Ann Weying, a.k.a. She-Venom, a lawyer and ex-wife to Eddie Brock. We also reported earlier this month that comedic actress Jenny Slate was in talks to play a scientist, but there is no indication as to whether or not she's playing a character who has roots in the Marvel Comics as well. If production does in fact start exactly one week from today, then this could be the first in a string of final casting announcements this week before filming gets under way.

Sony Pictures set a Venom release date of October 5, 2018, which will go up against director Drew Goddard's Bad Times at the El Royale, starring Chris Hemsworth, Jeff Bridges and Cailee Spaeny. Drew Goddard was, oddly enough, at one point attached to direct a Sinister Six spin-off of The Amazing Spider-Man and The Amazing Spider-Man 2. That never happened since Sony ultimately made a deal with Marvel Studios to share the rights to Spider-Man, with a new reboot that would bring the character into the MCU. There was also a different Venom spin-off being developed at that time, by filmmaker Alex Kurtzman, but he is not involved in this project.

While Sony has stated that Tom Holland's Spider-Man will not be featured in any of these stand-alone spin-off movies, there is the possibility that characters like Venom could appear in future Spider-Man movies, perhaps the Spider-Man: Homecoming 2 sequel that is currently slated for release on July 5, 2019. Venom was previously played on the big screen by Topher Grace in the divisive 2007 sequel Spider-Man 3, which performed well at the box office but was panned by many fans and critics, which lead to the studio rebooting the franchise with The Amazing Spider-Man and The Amazing Spider-Man 2, which also didn't work out so well for the studio.

Ruben Fleischer (Zomebieland) is directing Venom from a script by Scott Rosenberg (Jumanji), Jeff Pinkner (The Dark Tower), and Kelly Marcel (Saving Mr. Banks). Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach are producing the movie, along with Amy Pascal. Reid Scott is best known for his role as Dan Egan on the hit HBO series Veep, which will air its final season next year. He also lent his voice to Turbo on the Netflix animated series Turbo FAST. He most recently was seen on the big screen last month in Home Again alongside Reese Witherspoon. This Spider-Man spin-off news comes to us courtesy of Variety, and hopefully we'll have more on this Venom movie soon.