Andy Serkis to direct Venom 2

Andy Serkis has been confirmed as the director of Venom 2.

The British filmmaker will direct the sequel to last year's Marvel comic book movie, starring Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, and Riz Ahmed.

"Verified It's actually happening. I can feel it, the Symbiote has found a host in me, and I'm ready for the ride...Can't wait," Serkis wrote alongside a picture of him posing with a Venom comic on Instagram, shortly after it was confirmed he had landed the coveted role.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the 55-year-old flew to Los Angeles last month to meet with Sony studio bosses, and was one of several filmmakers in the running for the job.

It will be the third directorial offering from Serkis, after he helmed 2017 drama Breathe and last year's Netflix project Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle, which was a take on the Rudyard Kipling stories.

The father-of-three is best known for his motion capture acting work for characters including Gollum in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Supreme Leader Snoke in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, and as chimpanzee Caesar in the Planet of the Apes saga.

Venom 2 will once again star Hardy as the journalist Eddie Brock who inadvertently becomes intertwined with an alien symbiote. And according to multiple outlets, the sequel will revolve around villain Cletus Kasady, aka Carnage, after Venom's end credits scene teased Woody Harrelson in the role of the incarcerated criminal.

Producer Amy Pascal also hinted at the possibility that Tom Holland's Spider-Man could show up in sequel, as Venom is one of the web-slinger's adversaries.

"Everybody would love to see that," she shared. "You never know someday... it might happen."