The last couple years have been, to put it mildly, kind to Lin-Manuel Miranda. Hamilton propelled him to worldwide fame, he was tapped to write songs for Moana months before the Founding Father-centered stage musical premiered, and he even contributed some music to Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Miranda already has a packed schedule for the foreseeable future, but at some point, there's a Spider-Man villain he'd like to play on the big screen: Carnage.
On the most recent episode of the Meet the Movie Press YouTube podcast (via MCU Exchange), host Simon Thompson mentioned that Lin-Manuel Miranda had told him that he is a huge Carnage fan, and he would relish the opportunity to portray the psychopathic antagonist in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. According to Thompson:
He (Miranda) is a big fan of Marvel. And there is one particular character that he would actually like to play. It's Carnage. He said if Disney and Marvel were looking at doing a Maximum Carnage movie or bringing Carnage in (the MCU) as a character, he wants to be Carnage. Genuinely as a fan, he would love to play Carnage. That's a goal of his.
While the chances of a Maximum Carnage movie being made (or any solo Carnage movie for that matter) are unlikely, it's not impossible that Carnage could be introduced in a future Spider-Man movie. Carnage has been seen in numerous animated series and video games since being introduced in the early 1990s, so he's earned enough cred to be brought into live action. Obviously Venom would need to be introduced beforehand since in the comics, that symbiote "gave birth" to the one that bonded with serial killer Cletus Kasady and turned him into Carnage. Once that was dealt with, then the door would be open to pit Carnage against Tom Holland's Peter Parker in a Spider-Man: Homecoming sequel.
As it stands now, Lin-Manuel Miranda will be busy with a variety of Disney projects in the coming years, from playing Jack in Mary Poppins Returns to co-composing the live action Little Mermaid movie with Alan Menken. Fortunately for him, since Marvel is part of the Disney family, one would think that might help Miranda's odds of playing Carnage should the character be introduced to the MCU. And yes, Miranda doesn't look like the red-haired Cletus Kasady (when he doesn't look monstrous), but the man's acting talents and passion for the character are more than enough to overlook a minor difference in physical appearance.
What do you think of Lin-Manuel Miranda playing Carnage on the big screen? Is it a good idea or does it miss the mark? Let us know in the comments below.
