While The Amazing Spider-Man 2 wasn't the hit Sony was hoping for, the studio is still chugging along with spinoffs of the franchise, and one female-led superhero movie, in the coming years. But could one fan favorite character be making a return in the Venom movie?

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According to Deadline last week, Sony has planned a female-led superhero movie, with a release date of 2016. The article also said that the Venom spinoff movie, directed by Alex Kurtzman, would be released in 2017.

ScreenRant speculated that the Venom movie could include a character from the first two Spider-Man movies, Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone), as an incarnation of the villain, Carnage. The article speculating on "if the Amazing Spider-Man film series continued to follow the Ultimate Spider-Man comic book continuity and introduced the Gwen Stacy/Carnage character."

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"That might seem like a stretch, but it would allow for Emma Stone to return to the current Spider-Man cinematic universe, and, frankly, a superhero movie headlined by Stone would have little to no problem bringing in a sizable audience."

Having Stone return to the franchise would be a smart move for Sony after she continued to be one of the better parts of the movies during the Spider-Man sequel. But having her play Carnage would also be something completely new for the actress, who has not dealt with much dark or evil material yet.

Either way, the set-up for the Sinister Six could lead to having both Venom and Carnage showing up in the spinoff movie.

Tags: Venom Movies Emma Stone