Venom: Let There Be Carnage: Release Date, Cast And More

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Eddie Brock and his good buddy/alien parasite Venom are back for Venom: Let There Be Carnage. As you can probably tell from the title, another symbiote, Carnage, is in this film, too. Carnage finds a host in Cletus Kasady, played by Woody Harrelson. Harrelson had a cameo in the first Venom, where he appeared wearing the worst wig in cinematic history. Now he's back! Here's everything we know about Venom: Let There Be Carnage so far.

When will we get to see Venom: Let There Be Carnage? I'm glad you asked, because if you hadn't, this would be awkward. The Venom sequel is due out on September 24, 2021. Like many movies hitting theaters this year, Venom: Let There Be Carnage was originally supposed to open last year, on October 2, 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic put the kibosh on those plans, and the release date got moved to June 25, 2021. However, that date changed, too – and the film got pushed back to September. Other films opening that day include the musical Dear Evan Hansen and The Sopranos prequel The Many Saints of Newark.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage will also be heading to theaters, not streaming.

A full synopsis hasn't been released just yet, but Venom: Let There Carnage will have Tom Hardy's Eddie Brock/Venom dealing with Harrelson's Cletus Kasady, who becomes the host of the symbiote Carnage and escapes prison after a failed execution.

"[Venom and Eddie have] been together for... a year and a half, say, since the last story," director Andy Serkis said. "And they're figuring out how to be with each other. And it's like living with this maniac toddler. Eddie is really struggling. He can't concentrate. He's trying to get on with work. And he, of course, only thinks about himself anyway, on the whole."

The story will also involve Francis Barrison, Kasady's love interest who becomes the supervillain Shriek. "She's a damaged soul and she really has suffered in her childhood, but there is a real vulnerability about her, and she's in a lot of pain," said Serkis. "She's been living in isolation for years, years and years." He continued:

"With all of these characters, what's so beautifully drawn about them is that they're multi-faceted, they're totally truthful and believable, and yet ... She's dangerous too and I think she has her own sense of fairness and being just, and I think when that line is crossed, then you see a very, very dangerous, dark side to her, and that's what we wanted to do with the character."

And before you ask, no, Spider-Man probably isn't going to be in the movie.

Carnage is a Marvel character and Spider-Man villain created by David Michelinie and Mark Bagley. Carnage first appeared in the pages of  The Amazing Spider-Man #361 in April of 1992. The character became a fan favorite, and even got to star in his own video game, Maximum Carnage. Like Venom, Carnage is part of the alien parasite race known as Symbiotes. He's also an offspring of Venom, and as a result, is more powerful than Venom as well. Several different humans have been host to Carnage in the comics, but the most popular is Cletus Kasady, which is probably why they went with that character for the movie.

"This character was so much fun to work on in design and to take [from] the comic world," said Andy Serkis. "It was wonderful having the opportunity to take this character that's never been seen before on screen, as much as you do get to know him in our story and to really play with the physicality, how he moves, how he extrudes his tentacles."

Andy Serkis, AKA the motion-capture king best known for playing Gollum and Caesar in the newer Planet of the Apes series, is in the director's chair this time. Zombieland filmmaker Ruben Fleischer helmed the first movie, and let's be honest: his direction was a little blah, so handing the duties over to someone new is a good idea.

Kelly Marcel, who has a story credit on Cruella, and who wrote Saving Mr. Banks, Fifty Shades of Grey, and the upcoming Baz Luhrmann Elvis biopic, penned the script. Perhaps the most interesting new addition to the team is Robert Richardson, who is serving as cinematographer. Richardson is a legend, responsible for the cinematography of JFK, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, The Aviator, and so much more.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage has a cast that includes Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock/Venom, who are now living together like they're an old married couple; Michelle Williams as Anne Weying, Eddie's ex-girlfriend; Naomie Harris as Francis Barrison/Shriek, the love interest of Cletus Kasady; Reid Scott as Dan Lewis, Anne's boyfriend; Stephen Graham as Mulligan, a detective; and Woody Harrelson as Cletus Kasady/Carnage, a serial killer who becomes infected with a symbiote and becomes Venom's archenemy in the process.