With the casting announcement of Riz Ahmed (‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’) in Sony’s ‘Venom,‘ it was initially rumored that he would be playing a take on the serial killer Cletus Kasady who would become Carnage. A fan-favorite enemy of Spider-Man who just happens to be one of the most sadistic Marvel creations to date would be the perfect inclusion in the darker comic films which Sony seems to be pursuing but that no longer is the case here. This isn’t to say that we won’t be introduced to Kasady in the film, just that it doesn’t appear to be who Ahmed was cast to be.

The news came forth when a set photo emerged that featured Ahmed and claimed that he would be playing Dr. Carlton Drake of the Life Foundation in ‘Venom’. He is the man responsible for not only trapping Venom but putting Brock through some rather uncomfortable experiments before trying to take his life.

You can check out the set photo which found its way online below!

 

For those unfamiliar with Dr. Carlton Drake, he was a key character in the ‘Lethal Protector’ storyline. This was one of two storylines which inspired the plot for the film so the character choice is by no means a stretch of the imagination.

In the comics, Drake ran the Life Foundation which was able to replicate Venom’s powers by creating five synthetic symbiotes (Agony, Lasher, Riot, Phage, and Scream) which they tried to use to destroy Venom. If we’ve already got this many symbiotes active in the movie, it would make sense to not include She-Venom or even perhaps Carnage unless it was a brief introduction for a follow-up film.

Either way, it sounds like there is going to be a lot of symbiotes in the film if they even remotely follow the original story arc.

Do you think Sony has the right idea when it comes to ‘Venom’? Are you glad to hear that Riz Ahmed isn’t playing Carnage in the movie or would you have preferred an introduction to Kletus Casady right off the bat? Share your thoughts below True Believers!