Bad news for people who like seeing Tom Hardy get covered in black slime; Venom 2 has been delayed again. Venom: Let There Be Carnage will now premiere on October 15 instead of September 24. According to Variety, Sony made the decision to postpone the movie based on surging Covid-19 case numbers thanks to the highly contagious Delta variant.
While it’s just a few weeks delay, the potential ramifications of this decision are huge for the autumn/winter theatrical release schedule. Venom 2 is now set to hit theatres on the same day horror movie Halloween Kills is due for release, and just a few weeks ahead of the release of Dune. That’s quite a competitive theatrical landscape to release a movie into, and we wouldn’t be surprised if other films choose to delay their release to avoid bumping into another blockbuster.
Venom’s release wobble has got fans concerned about Spider-Man: No Way Home as well. Sony still hasn’t released a trailer for the highly-anticipated action movie, and that’s got people worried. It could just be that Sony is concerned about spoilers, but there’s every chance that they just don’t want to release a Spider-Man movie at a time when it won’t perform financially.
Both Black Widow and The Suicide Squad have already disappointed at the box office this year, proving that even the MCU and DCEU can falter. Sony executives will likely be keeping a keen eye on the performance of Marvel’s Shang-Chi, which is eschewing the simultaneous Disney Plus Premier Access and theatrical release strategy Disney has been using since cinemas reopened. If the kung-fu fantasy movie performs, it may indicate that audiences are willing to head back to the cinema to see their heroes on the big screen.
Venom 2 will see Tom Hardy reprise the role of Eddie Brock, an investigative journalist who becomes bonded to an alien parasite known as Venom. This symbiote gives Eddie incredible eldritch powers, and he uses his new abilities to protect the city of San Francisco from crime, usually by eating the criminals.
While Eddie’s no stranger to battling evil symbiotes, this time he’ll be going up against his deadliest foe yet, Carnage (Woody Harrelson). Carnage is the symbiotic spawn of Venom, which bonded with the serial killer Cletus Kassady to become the ultimate supervillain. He’s basically a walking blender who likes nothing more than turning people into gory smoothies.