‘Venom’ Director on Spider-Man Appearing in the Film

Venom director Ruben Fleischer isn't saying whether or not Spider-Man is swinging into his famous foe's first solo movie.

"I honestly don't know what I'm allowed to say," he told the LA Times. "I mean, I know the answer — I've seen the movie. But I don't want to get in trouble for saying something I'm not supposed to."

Spider-Man's rumored involvement has long been murky and muddled by comments made by Amy Pascal, who produced both Spider-Man: Homecoming — set firmly in the Disney-owned Marvel Cinematic Universe — and Venom, the first entry in Sony's planned 'Sony Universe of Marvel Characters.'

Last June, Pascal told FilmStarts both movies "will now take place in the world that we are creating for Peter Parker," who in the MCU is a 17-year-old rookie superhero played by Tom Holland.

"They'll be adjuncts to it, they may be different locations, but it will still all be in the same world," she said. "And they will be connected to each other as well."

While Pascal tried to characterize — either intentionally or accidentally — the then-unnamed Sony Universe of Marvel Characters as an offshoot of Marvel Studios' 10-year-running shared universe, Marvel chief Kevin Feige told AlloCine there is "no plan" for Venom in the MCU, calling the Tom Hardy-led movie "a Sony project."

Pascal later clarified her comments when speaking to ComicBook.com during the Spider-Man: Homecoming press tour, telling us "all these characters are a part of the Marvel comic book universe."

"In that universe, they are all related to each other. Kevin makes characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe," she said. "These characters are separate, except for Spidey, who belongs in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which is why he's there."

Asked if that rules out a future Spider-Man and Venom crossover, Feige said, "We never say never," with the addendum a merger isn't likely to happen "any time soon."

In January, Jon Schnepp of Collider Heroes claimed Holland filmed a cameo as Peter Parker — not Spider-Man. Earlier this month, Variety alleged Sony was pushing a hard PG-13 for Venom instead of the proposed R-rating, a move that would potentially allow future Spider-Man crossovers.

Fleischer told ComicBook.com during San Diego Comic-Con he aimed to make Venom "tonally different from everything else," saying the nature of the character allows for a "darker" and "more menacing" Marvel Comics adaptation.

"This feels very much like Venom's movie," he explained when asked about a Spider-Man appearance. "It's the introduction of the character. As to where it will go in future movies, and who he'll run across, I can't say."

Sony is concurrently developing Spider-Man-less movies starring longtime frenemies Black Cat, Silver Sable, and Morbius the Living Vampire. Venom opens October 5.