“This collaboration was born out of the great experience we and Marc had working with Alex, Bob, and Jeff on ‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2,’” Arad and Tolmach said following the announcement. “With more than fifty years’ wealth of stories in the comic books to draw upon for inspiration, the Spider-Man universe is truly boundless; in addition, the Spider-Man comics have the greatest rogues gallery of any series, and to have the chance to explore that on film is truly thrilling.”

Paul Giamatti Rhino
Paul Giamatti as Rhino will be one of the villains in the next Spidey

For those unfamiliar with the comics, this is big news because Venom and the Sinister Six are among Spider-Man's most formidable foes and some of Marvel's best known baddies. The Sinister Six comprise of founding member Doctor Octopus, with Electro, Kraven the Hunter, Mysterio, Sandman, and Vulture serving in its original form, however other villains have appeared under the Sinister Six banner, including Gog and the Hobgoblin, so there's no telling who will be part of the film-based Six until further details are announced.Electro will be appearing in the next Amazing Spider-Man, portrayed by Jamie Foxx, so depending on how the next film ends he could very well be among the baddies in the Sinister Six movie.

Why Sony's refusal to work with Disney could be a success

Venom was introduced to the Spider-Man movies in Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire's last outing in Spider-Man 3, when he was portrayed by Topher Grace. A full film dedicated to Venom has long been on the top of fanboy's wish lists and will give the writers a chance to explore the complex backstory of one of Spidey's most enduring villains. The Venom movie may also lead the way for a Carnage movie and further Symbiote-based stories. These storylines are typically more violent than your average comic boook story, which may work to Sony's advantage as they attempt to make a more mature Spider-Man film, similar to Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight franchise.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is slated to open 2 May, 2014, with the next instalments being set to open on 10 June, 2016 and 4 May, 2018 respectively.

Spiderman
Andrew Garfield will be sticking around as Peter Parker/Spider-Man for a while