Chiwetel Ejiofor starring in Venom 3

Chiwetel Ejiofor is to star in 'Venom 3'.

The 45-year-old actor has boarded the cast of the upcoming Sony and Marvel superhero movie and will star alongside Tom Hardy who is returning as the titular character.

The franchise's writer Kelly Marcel is set to direct the latest 'Venom' film and Juno Temple has also been cast.

Plot details for the movie are unknown – other than Hardy reprising his role as Eddie Brock/Venom - and it is not clear who Chiwetel will be playing in the blockbuster.

Marcel is also working on a screenplay based on a story she has written with Hardy.

It is also unknown whether any characters from previous films will be joining Hardy or if any stars from the Sony Pictures Universe or Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) will feature in the movie.

Ejiofor has experience in the superhero genre after starring as Karl Mordo in the MCU picture 'Doctor Strange' and the sequel 'Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness'.

Tom had previously suggested that the 'Venom' story would be a trilogy.

The 'Inception' star said: "These things [usually] come in threes. If there's going to be a new one – and they depend heavily on the success of each individual one, so you can't count on them ever happening again – every one has got to be as if it was the last one.

"But I think it's really important, if you go into something, thinking that one, two and three are the same ... the same story, the same film. So that you don't surprise yourself by being caught out by suddenly having to do a third from nowhere."