As the world slowly tries to get things back to normal(ish) in a post-pandemic landscape, a return to movie theaters is in sight, with many chains already having opened their doors in limited capacities in areas around the United States.
Even though it might feel more further out, September is only 4 months away, and in that month, Sony will bring Marvel fans the second installment in the Venom film franchise, titled ‘Venom: Let There Be Carnage.’ The name is an obvious direct acknowledgement of the fact that another villain from the Spider-Man realm, Carnage aka Cletus Kasady, will be making his cinematic debut.
Portrayed in the new film by Woody Harrelson (as he technically reprises the role from the mid-credits scene of the first ‘Venom’ film), Carnage is not the only bad guy that anti-hero Venom/Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) will have to contend with; although shown sparingly in this trailer, we get our first look at Naomie Harris as fellow insane-asylum inmate Shriek. In the Marvel Comics, Shriek is a mutant with the ability to manipulate sound; she debuted in comic pages in the 1990s around the same time as Carnage, and the two characters have often been portrayed in a romantic entanglement, but no immediate word has been given on how the character may be altered to fit the film’s narrative.
Also conspicuously missing from the trailer is Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, as many people had theorized that he would make a “surprise” appearance in the footage. This is not to say that he may not still be in the film itself, as Sony does have a renewed cinematic Spider-Man agreement with Marvel as of last year – viewers will now simply have to wait and see. Of particular note to Marvel/MCU diehards are brief appearances in the trailer around the 1:12 mark of the online and print versions of The Daily Bugle, the long-time Spider-Man newspaper and news source introduced directly into the MCU by way of mid-credits scene in ‘Spider-Man: Far From Home.’
Here’s the trailer itself, along with the “official” synopsis from Sony:
Tom Hardy returns to the big screen as the lethal protector Venom, one of MARVEL’s greatest and most complex characters. Directed by Andy Serkis, the film also stars Michelle Williams, Naomie Harris and Woody Harrelson, in the role of the villain Cletus Kasady/Carnage.
Directed by: Andy Serkis
Screenplay by: Kelly Marcel
Story by: Tom Hardy & Kelly Marcel
Based on the Marvel Comics
‘Venom: Let There Be Carnage’ is scheduled to premiere in US theaters on September 24, 2021.
