Sony’s upcoming sequel Venom: Let There Be Carnage is playing with house money, as they say. The first movie far exceeded expectations at the box office, collecting a whopping $856 million globally off of a $100 million budget. A sequel was inevitable, given those numbers, and you know that the majority of the folks who dug Venom will check out Venom: Let There Be Carnage, just to see how they can expand on the universe. Or, in the case of Woody Harrelson, get very, very weird. I mean, just check out Harrelson on the latest Venom: Let There Be Carnage poster! Whatever he’s trying, I’m buying.
On the surface, this poster is about as standard as they come. It’s a variation of the “Floating Heads” concept that is used on 99% of movie theater lobby posters, and the biggest thing that sets its apart is the presence of the two symbiotes -- Venom and Carnage -- on the top of the poster, where they belong. They are, after all, the true stars of the movie, with all due respect to Tom Hardy and Michelle Williams, who are returning for a sequel to their hit film.
And then, however, your eye drifts down to Woody Harrelson’s psychopathic Cletus Kasady, and you remember that Venom: Let There Be Carnage has the capabilities of getting really weird. And dirty. And sinister. And manic. And campy. And yeah, that’s exactly what I want from this Venom sequel. I want the film’s producers to takeaway the message from Venom that audiences buy 100% into the lunacy of the first movie, so they’ll double down on it. Remember that scene with Tom Hardy climbing into the lobster tank? Ratchet that up, and give us even more.
Casting Woody Harrelson calls back to his iconic role as serial killer Mickey in Oliver Stone’s controversial Natural Born Killers, and if he’s able to channel half of that rage, unpredictability, and malice into Cletus Kasady, then Venom: Let There Be Carnage has real potential to shock and please.
Also, the wigs. They are spectacular.
The only way forward on Venom: Let There Be Carnage is to lean as far into the lunacy of the first movie, and it looks like director Andy Serkis is ready to embrace everything that comes with the alien symbiote. This is why the first trailer for the movie opens with a cooking sequence where Venom whips up multiple breakfasts for Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy). And why Venom gets super excited about seeing “a red one” when he spots Carnage for the first time in the longer second trailer!
Also, take note that in the above poster, the opening date for Venom: Let There Be Carnage is staying October 15, and the movie is not getting moved back to 2022. Which is great news. We’ll have Venom and Spider-Man in theaters before the end of the year. It’s a great time to be a Marvel fan.
