Sony announced plans to tear down the walls around Peter Parker’s current universe and expand it to introduce new villains and heroes.

Talking with investors last week, Sony Pictures Entertainment Chairman Michael Lynton said, “We do very much have the ambition about creating a bigger universe around Spider-Man. There are a number of scripts in the works.”

Co-chair Amy Pascal added, “We are going to access Marvel’s full world of Spider-Man characters, so be on the lookout for new heroes and villains.”

The character and his comrades are tangled in miles of red tape, but Lynton confirmed to the group that the studio is working with Marvel and Disney to fully capitalize on any forthcoming titles. The collaboration is essential, because as Deadline points out, Sony owns the rights to Spider Man and related characters, but Disney, as the parent company of Marvel, owns the merchandising rights.

Of course, this doesn’t mean we are any closer to seeing Parker join forces with the Avengers or X-Men. But it does at least give us hope that a standalone Venom movie could be in the works. Amazing Spider-Man producer Matthew Tolmach revealed an interest in developing a film around the anti-hero last summer.

“The truth is he also deserves his own movie. We’ve been sitting around in a room talking about Venom stories, and it’s a really full-bodied complicated character, Eddie Brock and this character. Maybe people feel there wasn’t enough of a chance to unravel it, but we’re all in on him,” said Tolmach to Crave Online.