Tom Hardy, Woody Harrelson, and the greatest symbiote clash of the century is coming.
After the first “Venom” film, we’re all eagerly awaiting the supposedly even more
impressive villainous sequel. Here's everything we know about “Venom: Let There Be Carnage.”
While Marvel Studios may reign supreme as the top dog in the comic book movie world,
it's hardly the only studio bringing some of Marvel Comics' biggest names to the silver screen.
For decades, Sony Pictures has brought fan-favorite Spider-Man to the movies,
through both live-action and animation. The studio has wrung so much mileage out of the character,
that it's already seen him through three iterations, beginning with Tobey Maguire,
re-starting with Andrew Garfield, and ending with Tom Holland. But the valuable Spider-Man IP
doesn't just include any and every conceivable form of Spidey himself,
including, apparently, a Spider-Pig. It also includes all the ancillary and related characters
connected to Marvel's classic Spidey stories that were rolled into the original Sony licensing deal.
Taking a page out of the MCU's book, Sony's begun expanding its franchise to include films that
actually focus on secondary characters, even villains. In the Spider-Man canon,
that means one villain first and foremost: Venom—all due respect to the Green Goblin.
Venom got his first solo film in 2018, to the delight of comic book fans everywhere. "Venom"
opened to theaters on October 5, 2018, introducing the world to Tom Hardy's interpretation of Eddie
Brock, the host body of the titular symbiote. The film's release marked the first cinematic
depiction of the iconic, toothy villain since teen idol Topher Grace first gave the character life
in "Spider-Man 3." Over the course of the "Venom" movie's theatrical run, it raked in roughly $856.1
million at the box office, more than making back its budget of somewhere between $100-$116 million.
Although it wasn't necessarily a home run with critics, casual moviegoers seemed to enjoy it.
Considering the largely positive fan response and impressive financials,
Sony greenlit a sequel in no time, entitled "Venom: Let There Be Carnage."
Like many other recent films, the pandemic has played a part in "Venom:
Let There Be Carnage’s" delayed release date. With Andy Serkis at the helm,
the film was planned to hit the big screen on October 2, 2020, which obviously never
came to pass. Sony moved the date to June 25, 2021 and then, again, to September 24, 2021.
Sony Pictures Entertainment Chairman Tony Vinciquerra told RadioTimes,
"What we won't do is make the mistake of putting a very, very expensive $200 million movie out in
the market unless we're sure that theaters are open and operating at significant capacity."
Fortunately, with the U.S. starting to return to normal and emerge from the troubles of the
pandemic, the sequel should stick with it’s latest date. So, when will this movie be released? Well,
as we make this video it’s slated for October 15, 2021. But let’s be honest, is that gonna change?
Likely. Just keep checking Looper and we’ll let you know when it comes out.
Most audiences will pay to see Marvel’s antihero, Venom, brought back to the big
screen no matter what. But, fortunately with this film, they'll also get the chance to
check out an impressive assortment of actors doing what they do best at the same time.
As far as returning cast members go, Tom Hardy is coming back as Eddie Brock with his alien
parasite in tow. Because, honestly, who else could embody this character at this point?
“We are Venom.”
Interestingly, Hardy also earns his first "Story by" credit
on "Let There Be Carnage." It’s a worthy nod to his immeasurable contributions to
shaping the character and the script during the long development cycle.
Brock's ex-fiancé, Anne Weying, will once again come to life thanks to the acting talents of
Michelle Williams. Reid Scott is also set to reprise his role as her current flame,
Dan Lewis. The big news, of course, is Woody Harrelson's return as the psychotic Cletus
Kasady, whom he portrayed in the post-credits sequence of 2018's "Venom." This time around,
he'll finally come into his own when he is bonded with the murderous red-and-black symbiote,
Carnage. Early looks at Kasady and his alien parasite reveal a Harrelson
completely in his element, and ready to bring a new dynamism to the franchise.
Alongside Harrelson, rumors are swirling that franchise newcomer Naomie Harris will
play another Marvel villain named Shriek, who will likely double as Kasady's love interest.
Stephen Graham and Sean Delaney will also appear, but the nature of their roles remains unknown.
Plot specifics for "Venom: Let There Be Carnage" are still rather vague,
but a few smaller ideas are floating around at the moment. It's pretty much a given that this movie
will focus heavily on Eddie and Venom's dynamic as they continue adjusting to living together as
one integrated, human-parasite combo deal. As producer Matt Tolmach told "CinemaBlend,"
"The heart of 'Venom' was always the relationship between Eddie and Venom. These two characters,
these two sides that had to figure out how to live together and that were somehow better
together than they were separately, or more successful, and what that meant."
One can only hope that the two of them will be on the same page in "Let There Be Carnage" because,
as the title suggests, a showdown against Carnage is all but a certainty.
“There’s gonna be carnage.”
With the added dimension of Shriek reportedly planting herself firmly in Kasady's camp,
this sequel could spell bad news for Brock and his parasitic friend. It's also worth
noting that with Sony's decision to move forward with the Jared Leto "Morbius" solo
film, there could be space to tie the "Venom" continuity into an even bigger cinematic whole.
Will Venom be a part of the MCU? At this point, no, he will not. But the confusion
is understandable. The wide world of cinema based on classic Marvel Comics characters used
to be somewhat straightforward. Before Marvel Studios was even really a thing,
Marvel Comics offloaded the film and TV rights to some of its individual properties to a couple
of different buyers. 20th Century Fox gobbled up the "X-Men," an obvious prestige piece of
the Marvel canon. It’s also the reason Disney had to build Phase 1 of their MCU around The
Avengers instead of the more popular mutants. In this same era of high-risk comics ventures,
Sony Pictures got ahold of Spider-Man and many related characters and story
elements. Interestingly, the success of Fox's "X-Men" films and Sony's original "Spider-Man"
trilogy was clearly the business predicate for the creation of Marvel Studios and the MCU.
Fast-forward to 2021, and Disney has now reacquired the X-Men by way of its expensive
acquisition of 20th Century Fox. The Spider-Man character has found his way back into the MCU, as
well, but only with the permission and substantial profit participation of continuing rights-holder,
Sony Pictures. The Tom Holland Spider-Man is the result of a special business arrangement between
Sony Pictures and Disney. It does not officially transfer the character's rights back to the
latter, nor does it have any meaningful creative or intellectual property impact on ancillary
characters like Venom. The films "Venom," "Venom: Let There Be Carnage," "Spider-Man:
Into the Spider-Verse," and the upcoming "Morbius" all exist in the Sony Pictures Spider-Verse. These
properties are — at least in theory — loosely bound to each other, but they don't have
anything to do with Marvel's Phase 4, Wanda's sitcom Hex, or the drastic ending of “Loki.”
Fans were quick to dissect the brief video, looking for
any and every possible clue about the future of Hardy's Venom and Harrelson's Carnage.
The first few seconds of the trailer are pure Hardy. We see Eddie alone in the kitchen,
fixing up a little breakfast for himself. Meanwhile his body shoots out reckless black
appendages that are, at least ostensibly, trying to help. A hand-drawn sign on the exposed-brick
wall of his apartment reads: "Rules: No eating people." which seems… a pretty reasonable rule
to have. In some ways, these scenes reveal an Eddie Brock more at ease with his bodily
companion than he was in the first film. Though, there are certainly still some adjustments that
need to be made. At least the two roommates are feeding together — and not on human heads.
"I have no problem with you sticking around but if you do, we're gonna
have to have some ground rules. You cannot just go around eating anybody."
Later in the trailer we get our first good look at the return of Woody Harrelson as Cletus Kasady,
still imprisoned and awaiting his execution for all of his previous dirty dealings.
The trailer actually shows us a grim clip of Kasady entering the execution booth.
The executioner sets him up for lethal injection, the needle slips in his vein,
and the deadly drug cocktail starts to pump. It's at this moment that the Carnage organism
awakens inside Kasady, trashing the execution booth and putting an end to the proceedings.
The rest of the trailer is all fast cuts and percussive action. In other words,
exactly what you'd expect from a "Venom" sequel. It's good to know that "Let there
be Carnage" appears to have carried over its predecessor's black sense of humor,
at least. More trailers may be forthcoming as the September 24 release date approaches, so stay
tuned for any additional peeks before the whole feature at last descends upon the Spider-Verse.
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