We haven’t heard much about the rumored Venom solo spinoff film since Sony announced it was developing it last July. Venom made his first film appearance in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 3, which you might remember for its multiple dance scenes and lack-luster plot. The rumor going around when 3 came out was that Raimi didn’t really want to include Venom, but Sony told him that a popular Spider-Man villain and fan pressure goes beyond artistic control.

Now, two writers claim that the Venom script is in their hands…

From Sci-Fi Wire:

Sony is officially moving forward with its Spider-Man spinoff movie focusing on Venom and has hired Zombieland writing team Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese to pen the script, the writers told a group of reporters.

“We had a really great relationship with Sony on [Zombieland], and so that was a nice in for us there,” Reese said in a group interview. “It gave us a leg up.”

The duo is already working on the script, but they are sworn to secrecy on the details. “We’re under strict orders on Venom,” Wernick said. “We can’t talk about it. It’s just super secret.”

Unlike Spider-Man director Sam Raimi, who has admitted that he wasn’t a Venom fan before directing Spider-Man 3, Wernick and Reese said they are big fans of the comic character and have recently been doing their research to ensure that they do justice to him. “We read [Venom] growing up, but we were not experts,” Reese said. “We certainly know the mythology of Venom, but went back and learned more when it became clear that we could actually get this job.”

So, yes, Venom is in the hands of guys who are actually researching Venom, which is a start. Though, if you follow Venom through the comics, there’s also a lot of crap in there.

Let’s hope they find some way to bring this guy back to film and make him an actual character. Not that I’m calling for Topher Grace to come back (though I wouldn’t mind it, I think he delivered the best thing possible with the crappy “show Venom’s face” design), but Venom’s always been a counter-point to Spider-Man and if it’s not a wussy little kid that turns into a hulking monster, what good is the story at all?