As we’ve discussed at length already, Ruben Fleischer’s Venom is being released into theaters next month as a “PG-13” rated film, contrary to Fleischer’s repeated comments that the film was always intended to be a rated “R” movie. We just have to make peace with that, but we suppose there’s always the potential that sequels could go the rated “R” route… maybe?

Hey, it happened with the Alien vs. Predator sequel, right?!

In a chat with MTV International this week, Venom star Tom Hardy talks about the film’s PG-13 rating, noting that his desire is to see the franchise eventually cross into “R” territory.

“It’s a PG-13 in the States. But to be fair, the thing can fulcrum into R-Rated,” Hardy told the outlet. “My littlest ones, they watch Spider-Man and Venom quite comfortably and Venom toys appear and LEGO appear in my nostril in the morning, you know what I mean? So it’s not like they’re scared by him. And at the same time there’s a lot within the real estate that you can actually imbue with a complete sense of gratuitous ultra-violence if you really wanted to, and I think you’ve got the right people for that job if you want to push it. That’s where I’d love to go with it.”

Hardy also added, “And I’d love to through all the Avengers as well with it. But that’s above my pay grade.”

Of course, if the PG-13 Venom slays the box office next month, as it’s expected to, we can’t imagine Sony shifting to an “R” for its sequels. So this one is probably a pipe dream, alas.

Check out the full interview with MTV below.