Here's a fan theory going around that will be of particular interest to fans of our favorite neighborhood webslinger: maybe, just maybe, we could end up seeing Venom in Marc Webb's sequel to The Amazing Spider-Man.
Webb tweeted this picture of a locker recently with the hashtag "#happybirthday" attached. Eagle-eyed writers at ComingSoon (via Slashfilm) have pointed out that this same locker (down to the number and everything) can be seen in Marvel's Ultimate Spider-Man comic series as an Oscorp locker where the Venom symbiote is kept. So what's with the Happy Birthday wish?
It could be that this month is technically the 25th anniversary of the Venom Character, or, as Crave Online suggests, Webb could have been leading us to assume that Dane DeHaan will play Venom as it was Dane's actual birthday when the photo was posted and he's already been hired to play the new Harry Osborn. That would certainly differentiate Webb's Spidey series from Raimi's, and give DeHaan a chance to not have to try to recreate James Franco's performance (not to mention altering the trajectory of the character so he doesn't ultimately become the Green Goblin, which we've already seen plenty of in the previous films). But it's still too early to know anything for sure.
Keep in mind, Webb already has Jamie Foxx as Electro and Paul Giamatti as Rhino locked down as two of the sequel's villains, so we'll have to wait and see if he can cram even more villains into this second movie, if he's just planting the seeds for Venom to take hold in the third film, or if he's just messing with us all entirely. Do you want Venom in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, or is that too much too soon?