Venom: Let There Be Carnage

## Sony's Spider-Man Universe

*"Blood, Suffering all of those things are like song to my eyes because once I get there there is gotta be Carnage"*
―Cletus Kasady
***Venom: Let There Be Carnage*** is a superhero film based on the Marvel Comics characters Eddie Brock and Venom. It is the sequel to *Venom* and the fifth film in the Sony's Spider-Man Universe and the fifth installment of Phase One. The film was released in the United States on October 1, 2021.

The film is directed by Ruben Fleischer and stars Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock/Venom, Woody Harrelson as Cletus Kasady/Carnage, Michelle Williams as Anne Weying, Reid Scott as Dr. Dan Lewis, Stephen Graham as Patrick Mulligan, and Naomie Harris as Frances Barrison/Shriek.

The third film in the series, *Venom: Along Came A Spider*, released in 2027.

## Synopsis

Tom Hardy returns to the big screen as the lethal protector Venom, one of MARVEL's greatest and most complex characters. As the Lethal Protector, both Eddie and Venom try to live normal lives as they began to try be somewhat of a hero. However when a new evil symbiote as well as it host is

## Cast

* Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock/Venom
* Michelle Williams as Anne Weying
* Naomie Harris as Frances Barrison/Shriek
* Reid Scott as Dr. Dan Lewis
* Stephen Graham as Detective Patrick Mulligan
	+ Sean Delaney as Young Patrick Mulligan
* Woody Harrelson as Cletus Kasady/Carnage
	+ Jack Bandeira as Young Cletus Kasady
* Peggy Lu as Mrs. Chen
* Sian Webber as Dr. Camille Pazzo
* Scroobius Pip as Siegfried
* Larry Olubamiwo as Ravencroft Guard
* J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson (post-credits scene)
* Tom Holland as Peter Parker/Spider-Man (post-credits scene)

## Appearances

### Locations

* Area 51 (mentioned)
* San Francisco, California
	+ Anne Weying's House
	+ Chinatown
		- Mrs. Chen's Store
	+ Hotel Schueller
		- Eddie Brock's Apartment
	+ Life Foundation Headquarters (pictured)
* California
	+ Rodeo Beach
	+ San Quentin State Prison
	+ St. Estes Home for Unwanted Children
* Ravencroft
* Mexico
* Template:WPS
* Multiverse

### Events

* Carnage's Rampage
	+ Escape from the San Quentin State Prison
	+ Search for Cletus Kasady
	+ Rescue of Frances Barrison
	+ Duel at Grace Cathedral
* Battle at the Life Foundation (mentioned)

### Items

* *Template:WPS* (post-credits scene)
* Spider-Man Suit (post-credits scene)

### Vehicles

* Eddie Brock's Motorcycle
* LF2 (indirectly mentioned)

### Sentient Species

* Humans
* Living Vampires (engraving)
* Symbiotes

### Creatures

* Chickens
	+ Sonny
	+ Cher
* Spiders
* Template:WPS (picture)
* Template:WPS (costume)
* Template:WPS (mentioned)
* Dogs (mentioned)
* Template:WPS (mentioned)
* Template:WPS (mentioned)

### Organizations

* FBI (mentioned)
* Life Foundation (picture)
* *The Daily Bugle*
* *The Daily Bugle* (post-credits scene)
* San Francisco Police Department
* Template:WPS

### Mentioned

* Riot
* Nana Kasady (depiction; flashback)
* Roscoe Kasady (depiction; flashback)
* Louise Kasady (depiction; flashback)
* Bonnie and Clyde
* Harry Houdini
* Don Quixote (statue)
* Sancho Panza (statue)

## Production

During the long development of the 2018 film *Venom*, the character Carnage was expected to appear as an antagonist. During pre-production on that film, the creative team decided not to include the character so they could focus on introducing the protagonists, Eddie Brock and Venom. Director Ruben Fleischer felt that leaving Venom's most formidable villain for a sequel would give the franchise "a place to go" and would be a natural next step, so they decided to introduce Carnage in a mid-credits scene at the end of the first film with the intention of featuring him in a potential sequel. Fleischer wanted to cast Woody Harrelson in the role, feeling there was a "natural connection" between the character and Harrelson's performance in Natural Born Killers (1994), and asked Harrelson while the pair were discussing a sequel to their film Zombieland (2009). After meeting with Fleischer and Tom Hardy - who portrays Brock and Venom for dinner, Harrelson agreed to take on the part. Harrelson described his decision as a roll of the dice since he was unable to read a script for the sequel before signing on to the first film. In August 2018, ahead of Venom's release, Hardy confirmed that he had signed on to star in two sequels.
At the end of November 2018, Sony gave an October 2, 2020 release date to an untitled Marvel sequel that was believed to be Venom 2, which would place the film in the same release timeframe as the first Venom; box office analysts believed by then that Venomhad been successful enough to guarantee a sequel would be made. A month later, Venom writer Jeff Pinkner confirmed that a sequel was "happening", but he was not involved in writing it at that point. Fleischer reiterated this, saying that he could not discuss a sequel but he saw the first film as Brock and Venom "coming together. So there’s a natural evolution from that to [a sequel where it is] like, okay, now what’s it like to live together? It’s like a bromantic sort of relationship." In January, Kelly Marcel signed a "significant" deal with Sony to write and executive produce the sequel after also working on the script for the first film. This marked the official beginning of work on the film for the studio and was revealed alongside confirmation of Avi Arad, Matt Tolmach, and Amy Pascal returning as producers. Hardy and Harrelson were also expected to return for the sequel, along with Michelle Williams in the role of Brock's love interest Anne Weying. No director was confirmed for the film, with Sony considering replacing Fleischer due to his commitments to Zombieland: Double Tap (2019), though he still intended to be involved in Venom 2.

By the end of July 2019, Sony hoped for filming to begin that November and had met with several candidates to replace Fleischer as director since he was still completing work on Zombieland: Double Tap at that time; directors the studio met with include Andy Serkis, Travis Knight, and Rupert Wyatt. Sony was also interested in Rupert Sanders directing the film, but that "didn’t work out". Serkis confirmed at the start of August that he had discussed the project with Sony and it was "potentially something that might happen", shortly before he was officially hired to direct the film. Serkis was partly hired due to his experience working with CGI and motion-capture technology as both an actor and director. Discussing the film soon after his hiring, Serkis said that Hardy had been working closely with Marcel on the sequel's screenplay.

In September 2019, Hutch Parker was revealed to have joined the sequel as a producer several months earlier. A friend of Sony Pictures chairman Tom Rothman, Parker previously served as a producer for several Marvel-based films produced by 20th Century Fox. At that time, Reid Scott was also expected to reprise his role from the first film. In mid-October, Fleischer stated that he was happy to let Serkis take over the franchise following the negative critical reaction that the first film received, believing that reviewers had unfairly treated the "crowd-pleasing movie", potentially due to biases against Sony and towards Marvel Studios' rival superhero films. By then, the character Shriek was expected to appear in the sequel as a love interest for Carnage and the film's secondary villain. The casting was underway for the character, and the field for the role was expanding at that time with many different actresses being looked at for the part. Several days later, Naomie Harris entered negotiations to join the film in the Shriek role.

Principal photography began on November 15, 2019, at Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden in England under the working title Fillmore. Robert Richardson serves as cinematographer for the film, reuniting with Serkis after they worked together on Breathe (2017). In December 2019, it was reported that Stephen Graham joined the cast, while Harris was confirmed to be playing Shriek.