Carnage Will Be The Villain In Sony's 'Venom' Movie, Kraven And Mysterio Spinoffs In The Works
Spider-Man fans have spent years hoping to see the alien symbiote Carnage appear as a movie villain, and it appears that they'll finally get their wish: it just won't technically happen in a Spider-Man movie.
A new report claims that Carnage is set to appear as Sony's Venom movie villain, opposite Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock/Venom. Plus, there's some new info about the Spider-Man: Homecoming sequel, and new spinoffs surrounding Spidey villains Kraven the Hunter and Mysterio.
In a larger piece about new Sony's relationship with Marvel Studios, The Hollywood Reporter matter-of-factly mentioned that Carnage will appear as the villain in next year's Venom movie. That aligns with what I've heard: that this project is essentially the same as the Venom Carnage movie the studio was developing back in 2014. (Of course, there may have been some tweaks since then.)
In the comics, Carnage is Cletus Kasady, a serial killer who merged with the offspring of the alien symbiote Venom and resulted in an amplification of his already-psychotic nature. He's a good representation of the "extreme" trend that permeated comics in the '90s: he's sort of like Venom, but blood red and much crazier and way more hardcore. Paging Jackie Earle Haley...
Elsewhere in the piece, THR's sources tell them that Sony is also developing spinoffs centered on Kraven the Hunter and Mysterio, two more Spidey villains from the comics. Kraven the Hunter, real name Sergei Kravinoff, is an over-enthusiastic big game hunter who gets it in his mind that bagging Spider-Man would prove he's the greatest hunter in the world. He often uses a serum that gives him super strength comparable to Spider-Man's, and prefers not to use guns, instead relying on brute strength and other means of hunting his prey. Mysterio, real name Quentin Beck, is a former Hollywood stunt man who realizes he has a knack for illusions and uses those abilities to become a supervillain. Bruce Campbell (Evil Dead 2) was reportedly considered to cameo as Mysterio in Sam Raimi's abandoned Spider-Man 4, so maybe Sony will give him the chance to fulfill that role in a larger capacity in a spinoff.
Meanwhile, Tom Holland is only contracted to appear in Spider-Man 2 and 3 (along with Avengers: Infinity War), but the intent is to bring him into Sony's new cinematic universe that's technically adjacent to the MCU. Homecoming villain Michael Keaton is only contracted to appear in one movie, and the Homecoming sequel will also feature another major MCU character, much in the way that Homecoming prominently features Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man. THR says that Iron Man won't be showing up in Spider-Man 2, so go ahead and place your bets below about who Spidey will be hanging with next time.