Fans of the popular Spider-Man comics' villain, Venom, were excited when they heard that he would be one of the antagonists in Spider-Man 3 but the luke-warm reaction from fans after the movie was released left much doubt that the character would ever be seen on celluloid again. However, much to everyone's surprise, Marvel Studios founder Avi Arad announced in summer of 2007 that a spin-off featuring the character was in the works. Writer Jacob Aaron Estes was first commissioned to draft a script but after the studio rejected it, Zombieland writers Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese were brought on to write the screenplay. Wernick and Reese turned in two drafts of their script and the studio decided to push forward by bringing in Seabiscuit writer/director Gary Ross to do a rewrite and possibly direct the film.

But the obvious question still remains, will Topher Grace, the actor who originated the role in Spider-Man 3, reprise his part in the upcoming spin-off? Grace is of course, best known for playing Eric Forman for almost eight-years on the popular Fox TV series, That '70s Show, as well as films like Traffic and In Good Company. We recently had the opportunity to catch up with the busy actor and asked him if returning to the role of Venom was something that he was interested in doing? "Um, I don't know? You know, I guess," replied Grace reluctantly. We continued by asking if he had been approached at all by producers or the studio about appearing in the film? "I don't know, I haven't heard anything," he said. So just to be clear, at this time you don't plan on appearing in the film, we followed up by asking. "No, I don't think so," answered Grace. So there you have it, Grace has no intentions, right now, of returning to the part, which has been said will be more of an anti-hero than a killer or villain in the new film. The film is set for a 2012 release and will be produced by Disney Studios as part of their resent headline-making acquisition of Marvel Entertainment.