Do you think Spider-Man’s a goody-two-shoes? Prefer your vigilantes with a bit more bite? Well, if you answered yes to either of those questions, we’ve got great news for you – we’re just a few short months away from the release of Venom 2: Let There Be Carnage.
Based on the comic book character of the same name, Venom (2018) saw Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) bond with an alien parasite to become the anti-hero Venom. Blessed with a whole host of eldritch powers, including super-strength, combat tentacles, and more teeth than a great white shark, Venom battled the evil symbiote Riot (Riz Ahmed) to save the Earth from an alien invasion. You know your typical superhero stuff… with more cannibalism.
Anyway, this symbiotic sequel will see Eddie return to battle his iconic comic book nemesis, the scarlet slayer, Carnage (Woody Harrelson). But you might be wondering when Venom 2 is set for release and want to know more about the plot. Well, don’t worry, dear reader; if you’ve got questions, we’ve got answers.
When is the Venom 2 release date?
Good news, unlike other movies that are getting delayed, the Venom: Let There Be Carnage release date has been moved forward to October 1 in the US at least. Here in the UK, the film is still set for release on October 15.
Like many movies originally slated for release in 2020, the Venom sequel has been delayed numerous times. The movie was initially scheduled for October 2, 2020, but the Covid-19 pandemic saw it pushed back to June 25, 2021.
It was then further delayed until September 17, 2021. The film was then knocked back to September 24. Rising Covid-19 infections in the US saw the movie get pushed back to its current release date.
Who is in the Venom 2 cast?
Tom Hardy returns as Eddie Brock, an investigative journalist who shares his body with an alien symbiote. Together the pair are the anti-hero Venom, San Francisco’s lethal protector. They’ll be facing off against the psychotic serial killer Cletus Kasady (Woody Harrelson), who becomes the host of the hyper-violent symbiote, Carnage.
Recent photos from China have given us our best look yet at Harrelson’s Carnage. He seems pretty comic book accurate, sporting the iconic blood-red suit, combat tentacles, and knife-like fingers.
Just as select IMAX theaters in China received a Venom statue for the first movie, select theaters are also receiving a Carnage statue for Venom: Let There be Carnage! pic.twitter.com/YPbOpaRfbr
— TheVenomSite (@thevenomsite) July 30, 2021
Eddie won’t be the only one trying to bring the symbiotic psycho to justice. He’ll be joined by Mulligan (Stephen Graham), a detective looking for the remains of Cletus’ victims, and Michelle Williams also returns as Anne Weying, a district attorney and Eddie’s former fiancee.
Carnage has his own backup in the form of his girlfriend Shriek (Naomie Harris), who, in the comics, is a powerful mutant with the ability to manipulate sound. Sean Delaney and Larry Olubamiwo have also been cast in undisclosed roles.
Andy Serkis has replaced Reuben Fleischer as director, partly due to Fleischer’s previous commitments to Zombieland 2 and partly because of Serkis’ experience working with motion-capture technology as both an actor and director.
Interestingly the hulking combination of Hardy and the symbiote is a CGI creation and not motion-capture. While Serkis obviously has a lot of experience with motion capture technology, he said he decided to render the character in CGI because it helped Hardy with his performance.
“I’ve spent a considerable amount of my life playing a character with two sides to his personality. I knew that this film would be about how to free up [Hardy] to imagine Venom’s presence,” Serkis explains. “We knew it would not be helpful for him to act opposite a man in a suit, because Venom is a symbiote, coming out of him. We wanted to give [Hardy] the freedom in his process to give the performance he wanted.”
Is Spider-Man in Venom 2?
Ever since the first Venom film was released, there have been lingering questions about the film’s place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While Kevin Feige was pretty emphatic in denying Venom is set in the MCU – telling AlloCiné [Via /Film] in 2017, “there is no plan for Venom in the MCU. It’s a Sony Project” – Sony has been a bit coyer about things.
Venom producer, Amy Pascal, claimed that Sony’s Marvel films were “adjacent” to the MCU (whatever that means) and teased a potential crossover. Since then, Sony and Marvel have renegotiated their shared custody of Spider-Man and his supporting characters.
We currently don’t know the specifics of that deal and if it allows for a Tom Holland cameo. Still, the appearance of Spider-Man graffiti, and Michael Keaton’s Vulture, in the Morbius trailer has got fans hopeful we’ll finally see a face-off between Venom and the Wallcrawler – despite Sony’s comments to the contrary.
Unfortunately, Andy Serkis has denied all rumours about a Spider-Man cameo or potential crossover. “We’re treating this very much as his own world. Venom’s story is his own world,” Serkis told IGN. “There are nods and little moments just like this – newspaper The Daily Bugle – but on the whole, he’s unaware, they’re unaware at this point of other characters like Spider-Man. So, that’s the way we’ve chosen to play this particular episode of the movie.”
That said, in recent years, Feige has admitted that Spider-Man and Venom meeting seems “likely“, so who knows? Maybe Andy’s just trying to keep things a surprise.
When are the Venom 2 trailer release dates?
The trailer for Venom: Let There Be Carnage was released on May 10, 2021. The short clip gave us our first look at Harrelson’s psychopathic symbiotic serial killer Carnage and tee’d up a brawl between the two.
A new Venom 2 trailer was released on 02/08/21. The trailer demonstrated how violent Carnage was going to be and a brutal fight between Venom and Carnage.
What is the Venom 2 plot?
Set one year after the events of the first Venom movie, the sequel will see Eddie struggling to adapt to sharing his body with the alien symbiote. Serkis told IGN the relationship between Eddie and Venom is central to the film, joking that they’re at “the Odd Couple stage of their relationship” and that they’re still figuring out how to live with each other.
Describing Venom as a “maniac toddler”, Serkis explained that the film would show how strained their relationship has become with Eddie unable to concentrate on work and Venom frustrated that he can’t do anything without permission.
In production notes for the upcoming movie, Serkis compares their relationship to the horror movie classic Jekyll and Hyde. “Eddie is rather arrogant, thinking life owes him a favour. Venom is the complete opposite, unfiltered and speaking his mind totally,” Serkis said. “And they’re trapped together. After meeting in the first movie, they’ve now got the seven-year-itch. They’ve had enough of each other and can’t wait to be apart.”
However, the pair will have to put their differences aside when a botched execution attempt sees Cletus Kasady become the host for the Carnage symbiote. With all the symbiote’s powers, Cletus easily escapes prison, forcing Eddie and Venom to swing into action before Kasady massacres everyone in San Francisco.
Serkis teased Harrelson’s terrifying performance in some recently published production notes. “Woody, as Cletus, has a way of turning on a dime and making you feel like you never quite know if he’s going to kiss you or kill you,” Serkis said. “When coupled with Carnage, he’s truly terrifying and a real threat to Venom and Eddie.”
Despite this, don’t go thinking this is going to be a bloodbath. Producer Avi Arad has already said the film wouldn’t be R-rated, and it was later confirmed that the movie would be PG-13.