'Venom: Let There Be Carnage' Teaser Makes It Clear That Yes, That Really Is The Title

Yesterday brought the disappointing news that Venom 2 was being pushed back eight months from a theatrical release in October this year to a mid-summer release in 2021. But there was also some good news along with it as the title for the sequel was revealed to be Venom: Let There Be Carnage. Just in case you doubted that this over-the-top, on-the-nose title wasn't real, an official Venom 2 title teaser has been released by Sony Pictures confirming that there will indeed be Carnage next summer.

The original Venom introduced Woody Harrelson as Cletus Kasady, the serial killer who bonds with another symbiote that turns him into the lethal villain known as Carnage, in a post-credits scene. So we knew this was coming. There's even some red that takes over the "Carnage" part of the title, just in case you didn't get it.

A lot of people were dunking on this title across social media after it was announced yesterday, but honestly, I think it's a great title for the tone that the first Venom didn't strike intentionally enough. You can't deny that Venom was surprisingly goofy. Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) ate a mess of frozen tater tots, he slunk into a lobster tank, he talked to himself like Jim Carrey in Me, Myself & Irene.

What this title tells me is that maybe Sony Pictures and director Andy Serkis know what they have here, and they're leaning into the campiness of it all. That would make this work much better than the first Venom, which felt like it was trying to be too serious for its own good when it needed to go in the other direction.

Along with Tom Hardy and Woody Harrelson, Venom: Let There Be Carnage will also bring back Michelle Williams as Anne Weying. The sequel will also see Naomie Harris (Skyfall) playing another symbiote called Shriek, giving us even more goopy villains.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage is slated to arrive on June 25, 2021.