You can’t keep a good Symbiote down. With Andy Serkis confirmed to direct, Venom 2 is officially a go over at Sony’s burgeoning Spider-Man multiverse. That means Tom Hardy will continue his brain-eating, lobster tank-bathing ways as everyone’s favorite alien-goo infected journalist/anti-hero, Eddie Brock. While the plot of the sequel to the 2018 hit is still under wraps — along with the question of whether or not Woody Harrelson will make his debut as Carnage, as teased in Venom’s post-credits scene — here’s one thing we can tell you: Michelle Williams will be back in black, too. “I’m in,” she reveals to Yahoo Entertainment during an interview about her latest film, After the Wedding.

It’s worth noting that Williams’s return was far from guaranteed: during interviews at the Sundance Film Festival, where After the Wedding premiered in January, she struck an uncertain note about her future with the franchise. “They have to pay me either way,” she joked to MTV News at the time. And while Hardy struck a deal for Venom 2 in June, the rest of the cast has yet to be officially announced.

View photos Williams and Tom Hardy in 'Venom' (Photo: Frank Masi/© Columbia Pictures/courtesy Everett Collection) More

But Sony has clearly decided that Williams — who plays Eddie’s alternately confused and bemused ex, Anne Weying — is too valuable to not have in the mix for a second Venom adventure. And the actress expresses genuine enthusiasm about coming back, especially with Serkis at the helm. “I’m such a fan of Andy’s, and I’m so inspired by what he’s been able to accomplish,” she says. “He’s so gifted in such a specific way, and I’m very excited to learn from him and be around him.”

She’s also excited by the prospect of revisiting, and expanding on, one of the best moments from the original movie — when the alien possesses Anne, spawning She-Venom and setting the table for one memorable Symbiote-on-human smooch.

View photos Williams briefly got to portray She-Venom in 'Venom' (Photo: Sony Pictures/YouTube) More

In a hilarious beat that follows the kiss, Anne expresses both shock and awe at her temporary transformation. “I just bit that guy’s head off,” she marvels, before expressing how disappointed she is to be left out of the climactic Symbiote slugfest that’s about to down. And Williams is rooting for Serkis to incorporate She-Venom into the action in the sequel. “I hope I get equal time that way — I can say that!”

Over the past two years, Williams has also been a vocal champion for equal pay in the workplace, using her own experience as a case study. In the fall 2017, she and Mark Wahlberg agreed to last-minute reshoots for the Ridley Scott film, All the Money in the World, after the director replaced Kevin Spacey with Christopher Plummer. Weeks later USA Today broke the news of a significant pay gap between the two stars: while Wahlberg was paid $1.5 million, Williams received less than $1,000. (Following those reports, Wahlberg donated his reshoot salary to Time’s Up in Williams’s name.) That disclosure brought renewed attention to the gender wage gap that exists across virtually every industry, and Williams continues to press the issue in a variety of venues, from Capitol Hill to the TCA Awards.

Asked whether she’s seen a change in the time that she’s been sharing her story publicly, Williams strikes a hopeful note. “I’ve felt from women coming up to me the impact that it’s had on them in their lives and in their places of employment, because they’ve been able to use this story as an example. It’s a helpful explanation tool because it really highlights the pay gap between the genders. And as I said in my speech on Capitol Hill, if it can happen to me — a privileged white woman in a privileged industry — imagine what’s happening to my sisters of color across other industries. What’s been so incredibly is the bravery of so many other women in so many other industries to talk about the abuses of power they’ve endured. You see the accumulation of it, and then you see the men who are in power staring to have their crowns removed. It encourages other women to think, ‘If there’s vindication for her, maybe there’s vindication for me.’”