Though many expected the upcoming Venom film to hit an R for Restricted rating, it appears that those high up at Sony are looking to avoid this 17-and-up moniker for a more family-friendly PG-13 rating.

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Per Variety , it's become increasingly unlikely that Venom will end up being Sony's first R-rated Marvel movie. According to the article, various people at Sony think the film should push the boundaries of what could be considered PG-13 without actually wading in to R-rated territory. It's unclear if recent reshoots for the film in LA have to do with shifting the potential rating of the movie or not.The studio is reportedly doing this so future Spider-Man spin-offs from Sony can retain their family-friendliness that the wall-climber is known for. Therefore, if Venom goes too violent, it would be difficult for the studio to place the character into these other spin-off films without some trouble.Sony knows that Venom is one of the darker characters in Spider-Man comics, but Tom Hardy and director Ruben Fleischer intend to subvert this aspect of the film using humor, despite the film being billed as action, horror and sci-fi.Other Spider-Man spin-off films in the works include the Jared Leto-helmed Morbius , the Korean-American super-heroine Silk , and potential Silver Sable and Black Cat solo films In other Venom news, former symbiote host Topher Grace went on record stating his excitement for Hardy's portrayal of Venom , and read about how Venom could still get that iconic white spider symbol on his chest Venom is set to hit theaters on October 5.

Colin Stevens is a freelance writer for IGN, and he thinks PG-13 is fine so long as a Carnage film gets an NC-17 rating for unreasonable gore. Follow him on Twitter