Prior to the release of the new Spider-Man: Homecoming trailer, Sony announced plans for a new Marvel Universe–one said to be not attached to the Marvel Studios movies.
Now Spider-Man: Homecoming director Jon Watts confirms the Venom movie is not a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe or his Spider-Man: Homecoming film as he fills in Fandango:
It’s not. It’s not connected to the Marvel world, so that’s really intriguing… what that will be. I don’t know anything about it. It’s not connected, so there’s not that overlap. I’m only focused on my movie right now.
Sony, who owns the rights to both Spider-Man and Venom, has been said to be developing their own Marvel Universe as they own the rights to upwards of 900 of the Marvel comic book characters.
In addition to Venom, Sony is also developing a movie based on the Spider-Man female characters, Black Cat and Silver Sable (again, not connected to the MCU).
The Venom movie has also been described as an action horror sci-fi film, which is leading to speculation Sony might go with an R-rated version.
Venom hits October 5, 2018 and looks to film this Fall.