Tom Hardy is getting his big superhero movie breakout with Venom this fall, but like so many superhero movie stars, he's actually contracted for a much bigger franchise to follow. In a new report from Total Film Magazine (via CBM), Hardy confirms that he is in fact already signed on or an entire Venom trilogy.

As Hardy reveals in the interview:

"I'm open to whatever you want to do with it. We've signed up for three of them. So it's very much an open case. We'll see what people's responses are to it. I think it's an awesome character. I love playing both of them. It's an amuse-bouche, and for Sony, it's the Venom-verse launched in isolation, as it were."

There seems to be a growing amount of momentum behind Venom, as we head into the fall season. The official Venom trailer has more views than any Spider-Man movie Sony has ever put out; and recent projections suggest the film is going to break records on opening weekend in October. If Venom is indeed a success at the box office, then expanding the franchise into a trilogy will be all too easy.

As is the case with so many superhero franchises these days, Marvel fans are almost more excited for what's to come in the Venom sequels than they are for this first film's revised take on the character's origin. Of particular interest is Woody Harrelson, who appears in Venom in a mysterious cameo role - one that he's already teased could get much bigger in the Venom sequel(s). Many fans have taken that assertion as a clear hint that Harrelson is playing Venom's rival Cletus Kasady / Carnage - a reveal that would make Venom 2 an easy sell for most Marvel fans.

After the introduction of Carnage, fan theory has landed on the best scenario for a third films possibly being an adaptation of the "Maximum Carnage" crossover event from '90s Spider-Man comics. In that story, Carnage becomes something of a serial killer cult leader, terrorizing NYC with a string of murders and general terrorism. If the Venom franchise is extremely popular and successful at that point, then talk of things like a full crossover with Tom Holland's Spider-Man or other Sony Universe of Marvel Characters franchises (Silver Sable, Black Cat, Morbius) would be more likely to be included. That's a three-part plan that fans could definitely get behind.

However, baby steps before we spring: Venom will be in theaters on October 5th.