Tom Hardy is dropping the mask he wore in The Dark Knight Rises for a starring role as the titular villain in Sony Pictures’ Venom, Sony Pictures confirmed today.

Venom is the first of many Marvel-based projects that Sony plans to release over the coming years. The studio’s next project, Spider-Man: Homecoming, will be released as a joint project between Marvel Studios and Sony. Sony is also developing a Silver Sable/Black Cat film, but there’s no word on when that may come to fruition.

Tom Hardy is Eddie Brock in #Venom, the upcoming film from Sony’s Marvel Universe releasing October 5, 2018 – production starts this fall. pic.twitter.com/OZQqDEvoum — Sony Pictures (@SonyPictures) May 19, 2017

Venom is one of the more popular villains in the Spider-Man universe and made his first big screen, live-action debut in Spider-Man 3 back in 2007. That version of the villain was played by Topher Grace, but unfortunately for Sony, Spider-Man 3 wasn’t well received by critics. Despite the negative attention the movie received, it still managed to gross more than $330 million worldwide upon its release.

The move from DC to Marvel also grants Hardy acceptance into an exclusive club held by some of the biggest actors working today. Others, including Halle Berry (Catwoman, X-Men), Ben Affleck (Daredevil, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice), Chris Evans (The Losers, Captain America), James Marsden (Superman Returns, X-Men) and Ryan Reynolds (Green Lantern, Deadpool) have all been in DC and Marvel films at some point in their career to varying degrees of success.

Venom is scheduled to be released on Oct. 5, 2018. It will be directed by Ruben Fleischer, best known for his work on Zombieland.