We are less than two months away now from the release of Venom and the official start of Sony's shared cinematic universe of Spider-Man characters. There are still a lot of things we don't know about Venom and Sony's plans for this universe long-term, but one thing that is clear so far is that the studio is going for top tier talent for these movies. To that end, Venom has added another member to its cast, and this time, it has borrowed from Marvel's Netflix-verse. Actor Ron Cephas Jones has joined the cast of the upcoming anti-hero flick.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Ron Cephas Jones, who plays Bobby Fish on Luke Cage, will be appearing in Venom. However, it is not yet clear what role he will be playing. In addition to his part on Luke Cage, Ron Cephas Jones is probably best known lately for his role on NBC's hit show This Is Us, for which he has received an Emmy nomination this year for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series. Early this year, Ron Cephas Jones was attached to another big superhero film on the other side of the comic book aisle when he was set to play the Wizard in DC's Shazam! but he had to pass on the role due to scheduling conflicts with the part then going to Djimon Hounsou. It is unclear if Venom was the source of those scheduling conflicts.
Although we have just found out that he will be in the movie, we don't know when exactly he joined the production, thus making it impossible to say how big of a role Ron Cephas Jones will have in Venom. He hasn't been seen in any of the trailers so far, but Venom could still be holding plenty back. Maybe he's just voicing a symbiote. Either way, whether his part is small or large, it is always a good thing to add talent, and with Tom Hardy, Riz Ahmed, Michelle Williams, Jenny Slate, Woody Harrelson and now Ron Cephas Jones in the cast, Venom certainly won't be lacking in the acting department.
What is interesting about this is that this will be the second Marvel (not Marvel Studios) property that Ron Cephas Jones is in. As Venom is set in San Francisco and not Harlem, plus the corporate divide, it seems extremely unlikely that the actor will be playing his Luke Cage character. However, it is interesting that he is in the Marvel Netflix-verse, which is kind of part of the MCU, albeit with almost no crossover, and now he will be in the MCU-adjacent Sony Spider-verse, which we don't yet know exactly how, if at all, it will connect to Tom Holland's Spider-Man and the MCU. Fortunately, we don't have long to wait to see how it all shakes out.
Venom swings into theaters on October 5th. Check out our guide for all of the upcoming Spider-Man spinoffs and our release calendar for all the biggest movies still to come this year.
