Tag: Venom

R-Rated ‘Venom: Let There Be Carnage’ Was Considered At One Point

There has been much debate on the Venom franchise’s choice on a PG-13 rating. In the first film, the character chews off someone’s head and is no stranger to darker stories. Yet, they still went with the audience rating that draws in the most viewers. It wasn’t a surprise that the sequel would share the same rating, but it looks like it was on the table at some point in development for Venom: Let There Be Carnage.

In an interview with ComicBook.com, Tom Hardy does confirm they’ve explored the potential of an R-rating. Yet, it seems they wanted to not limit their choices based on the comics, but rather focus strongly on what was right for the film’s overall tone.

100% we considered it. With all of these symbiotes, you know, you consider it. You read the comic books and it is extreme, but that’s not what we’re here to do. We came here to make a movie which, and correct me if I’m wrong, I mean, there’s a law and a rule into creating a movie that’s accessible to a lot of people, as well as that caters for everybody, including the hardcore fans.
Tom Hardy

He does go on to say that they wanted to stay true to Carnage as much as possible, highlighting the scene where he stuffs his tongue down one person’s throat.

So I hope the hardcore fans at least take home that they look at Carnage and go, ‘Yeah, I recognize Carnage from the comic books. I’m happy with that.’ And yeah, no, we didn’t bite everybody’s head off, but we did stick a tongue down someone’s throat pretty… and managed to come in at a level of rating which is reputable so that grandma can come but also I’ll come watch it too.
Tom Hardy

The comment of wanting to watch a film titled Venom with grandma is quite a funny idea. Mine would already hit her limit with the whole gooey alien monster that takes over human bodies to kill strangers. Still, it’s great they are putting the film’s overall theme first instead of forcing a rating in. Director Andy Serkis does tease they also want to leave some moments to the viewer’s imagination. Logan and Deadpool proved the potential of an r-rated project, but not every director will feel comfortable with it. So, here’s hoping that Carnage remains true to his name throughout the film.

Source: ComicBook

September 22, 2021
‘Venom: Let There Be Carnage’s Success Could Determine an Eventual Spider-Man Crossover

Sony’s Spider-Man universe is set to expand and many have been wondering when Venom might finally face-off against the wall-crawler. It’s a big year for the franchise, as the Tom Hardy-led sequel Venom: Let There Be Carnage premieres in October with the third entry in the Tom Holland-led Spider-Man films arrives in December. It’s going to be quite the year, especially as we enter the multiverse and the many rumors surrounding these projects.

Andy Serkis, the director of the Venom sequel, has recently stated that the two will collide in the future at some point in an interview with IGN during the film’s premiere. He loved the idea but wanted to spend more time with Venom before their eventual clash. His earlier statements were a bit more open-ended but in an interview with the YouTuber Jake’s Takes, he seemed surprisingly more definite in his answer on an eventual crossover, as it seems a lot is riding on this film’s success.

Let’s see what happens on this one first. There’s more still to unpack in the Venomverse before we go there, really.
Andy Serkis

The wording of Venomverse is interesting, as it makes this franchise stand out from the recently titled Sony’s Spider-Man Universe. There still is no word if it may crossover into the upcoming Morbius film or how they might expand the franchise. He does highlight again that they’ll collide if they are allowed to continue making Venom movies, which highlights that there might be some pressure that Let There Be Carnage performs. Sony seemed nervous with its release, as they constantly pushed it back.

If you’re interested, you can check out the full interview here:

Source: YouTube

September 20, 2021
‘VENOM’ Sequel’s Andy Serkis Has No Doubt Spider-Man Will Face the Symbiote In a Future Project

Spider-Man found a comfy home in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but that didn’t stop Sony from slowly building their own. 2018’s Venom was their first foray that will soon get a continuation in Venom: Let There Be Carnage. Of course, as Sony finally gave their franchise a name, it opened up the question of Spider-Man will interact with these characters. Morbius offered a glimpse at a connected universe with the appearance of Michael Keaton‘s Vulture, but there hasn’t been much on that since.

Well, it seems the director of the Venom sequel, Andy Serkis, is pretty sure that it’s going to happen at some point in the future. He discussed the eventual fight between the long-time comic adversaries in an interview with IGN during the film’s premiere.

Look, that’s the question on everyone’s lips. They want to know if Venom is gonna meet Spider-Man, but personally, it’s never gonna happen. I’m only joking, of course, it’s gonna happen. But, I think there’s so much. Look, it depends when you want to get there, and also, what the appetite is. If people want more Venom stories, then, to jump straight to Spider-Man, you could be missing out on so many great supervillain characters in between now and then. So, in a way, by rushing to it, you might be closing the door.
Andy Serkis

What makes this statement curious is that back in May, the director did highlight they’ve treated Venom as its own world. So, if he believes he’ll face Spider-Man, the bigger question is which one. Tom Holland seems to remain as a mainstay in the MCU moving forward, but a while back Kevin Feige hinted that he can cross between cinematic universes. Perhaps the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home push him out into Sony’s Spider-Man Universe. Whatever happens, it’s not going to

Source: Instagram via The Direct, IGN

September 14, 2021
‘CANDYMAN’s Tony Todd Voicing Venom in Insomniac’s ‘SPIDER-MAN 2’

PlayStation’s latest showcase finally unveiled Insomniac’s sequel to 2018’s Spider-Man. It gave us our first look at Venom and even teased the appearance of another villain, whose monologue could hint at Kraven the Hunter’s inclusion. In an official PlayStation blog, the developers also revealed that the voice we heard in the trailer was the original Candyman, Tony Todd voicing the symbiote.

It’s the first official casting we have for the game, but there was no word on who was the second voice before we get our glimpse at Venom. Still, Todd is an incredible choice who is famous for lending his unique vocal performance to a variety of evil characters. He famously played the evil version of The Flash in the CW’s second season, which was one of the few highlights.

As the game won’t release until 2023, we might not get any more updates on it until the next year, but it’s promising to know more is heading our way. The game will act as a sequel to both the 2018 original and its spin-off, or rather midquel, Spider-Man: Miles Morales. There’s no word what other villains will join, but the first gave us the Sinister Six and they might try to top it with the next entry.

Source: PlayStation

September 9, 2021
Sony Moves ‘VENOM’ Sequel One Last Time

Following the surprising box office success of Marvel Studios Shang-Chi, Sony has chosen to move Venom: Let There Be Carnage one more time, this time moving it forward to an October 1st release.

The sequel has moved several times over the past year and change, recently moving to October 15th from a planned September 17th release. The new October 1st date puts the film’s release almost exactly one year from it’s initial October 2, 2020 target date. The new date also means the sequel will debut exactly 3 years after the original which opened to over $80M, an October record at the time.

Tickets for the Andy Serkis-helmed sequel will go on sale this Wednesday. Venom: Let There Be Carnage will see Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock face off with Woody Harrelson’s Cletus Kasaday who, after biting Brock, becomes one of Marvel’s most unhinged characters: Carnage.

Source: Deadline

September 6, 2021
Sony May Delay ‘VENOM: LET THERE BE CARNAGE’ Again to January 2022

Well, this is disheartening. It looks like Sony is worried about the upcoming release of Venom: Let There Be Carnage. They just recently already pushed the film back into October, but Vulture has just shared that the latest Venom film was absent during the CinemaCon event even though they released a trailer for Spider-Man: No Way Home. Its absence was quite noticeable and after some digging, Vulture learned from sources that they plan on delaying it until January 21st, 2022. As such, it would take Morbius‘ release slot that will also get delayed once again.

The move is quite a surprise as they seemed to feel safe with an October release instead of pushing back more of their projects. Of course, it also adds speculation if Spider-Man: No Way Home would potentially get pushed back as well. Yet, if they release the Venom sequel at the beginning of January, it might be a sign they believe things will calm down again by the end of the year. Box Office has been dropping for the past few months but the real test will be Marvel Studios’ upcoming release of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.

Of course, the delay would also have strong implications for Morbius, which was initially going to release ahead of the Venom sequel. It was slated for July of this year, but it seems they have more hope that the proven franchise will draw in an audience. While not a sign of insecurity regarding Morbius, they simply already have a previous entry that showed them there’s a lot of Box Office potential. Sony does not have its own streaming service to rely on, which makes their decision to delay even harsher. We’ll see if the official confirmation will follow later this week.

Source: Vulture

August 24, 2021
‘Morbius’ Director May Have Accidentally Confirmed an Appearance by ‘Venom’s Tom Hardy

Sony has two major films in development based on the Spider-Man franchise that doesn’t include the iconic wall-crawler. Venom: Let There Be Carnage sees the return of Tom Hardy as the titular anti-hero. His film was slated for September, but there are already first signs it’ll potentially get delayed by a month. He’ll soon be joined by Jared Leto‘s Morbius, which got pushed back to January 2022.

The latter teased a connection to the wider universe with a trailer cameo by Michael Keaton’s Vulture, but it seems the director Daniel Espinosa may have given away another cameo. When asked about how it is to direct big stars, he mentioned a few known actors in the film and also name-dropped Tom Hardy. Here’s the translated answer from the interview with MovieZine:

It usually feels strange before the day begins, when you look at the schedule and stand on the set yourself. When you walk around there, the recording looks just like a Swedish production, but then when you look at the schedule and read names like Michael Keaton, Jared Leto, Tom Hardy, then it feels cool and very exciting. But once you start working, it’s exactly the same thing. An actor wants a director and actors want to be directed.

As there has never been a word on his inclusion, it seems the director may have accidentally let his involvement slip in the interview. It looks like Sony doesn’t want to waste any time building up their wider universe. If Hardy does end up in the film, he may end up being a post-credit sequence that connects the films to a new, wider universe. Sony has also recently cast Aaron Taylor-Johnson for the role of Kraven the Hunter.

So, they may have plans to integrate his character into this new wider universe that may or may not include Tom Holland’s Spider-Man moving forward. His inclusion would be an exciting direction forward as Sony continues to build upon Spidey’s vast number of adversaries throughout comic history. Who knows if a new attempt at the Sinister Six is in the future.

Source: MovieZine, IMDb

August 9, 2021
‘Venom: Let There Be Carnage’s New Zealand Release Delayed Until October

It looks like Clifford the Red Dog’s big delay could be the start of many. Currently, the pandemic is facing another upswing through the Delta Variant. As such, there’s a lot of uncertainty regarding if the upcoming September releases will keep their slot. Well, it seems that Sony might already be taking the first precautions, as Venom: Let There Be Carnage got postponed in New Zealand.

The site Event Cinemas has now listed the sequel as a release on the 14th of October, rather than its initial 23rd September release. When the Sony Pictures New Zealand account released the initial trailer in May, it included the international release date but was noticeably absent with the second trailer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiAju6ojIuM

Even the US version did not include a release date in the second trailer. It already raised some concerns that it might signal an eventual delay. It looks like that is indeed the fact. Curious enough, some countries already included an October release, such as the Austrian Cineplexx site having it slated for 21st October. Looking back at the May trailer for this market, it was slated for that release date in local German-speaking markets.

This is mainly due to the film market opening up later due to lockdown restrictions. Still, there’s a high likelihood that the film also faces a delay in the US. Early September releases seem quite safe in their current time slot, but anything eyeing the end of next month will likely get pushed back. So, Daniel Craig’s No Time to Die might suffer a similar fate with its currently planned release on the 30th of September.

Of course, it also threatens a delay for December’s release of Spider-Man: No Way Home if Sony is already considering pushing back its current releases. It’s uncertain if Eternals will keep its November release, and we might see a continued push back until the Delta Variant’s growth is halted. Box Office numbers have also gone down over the past few weeks signaling that it still needs some time before we return to some normality.

Source: USA Today, Event Cinemas, HOYTS, YouTube (NZ), Cineplexx, YouTube (GE)

August 8, 2021
Leaked ‘Venom: Let There Be Carnage’ Featurette Includes New Footage

Sony seems to be facing quite a few leaking pipes. There have been countless rumors surrounding the upcoming release of Spider-Man: No Way Home. The film’s new costumes leaked three weeks ago and there is still no trailer in sight. It looks like even their other new Spider-Verse entry, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, could avoid something leaking. YouTube channel Movies Basket shared the featurette that includes new footage.

In it, Woody Harrelson discusses the surprise of how comedic the film would end up being. The film’s director Andy Serkis also highlights how important the “old couple” dynamic is between Eddie and the Venom symbiote. The inclusion of Carnage also promises a much darker film, which might not see the two get out of it scot-free. It’s great that Serkis built upon the highlight from the first film and the new footage promises quite a bit more.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOkKci_V8Go

The first trailer already teased their returning dynamic, as Venom made quite a rich breakfast. It’ll be interesting to see if Carnage will act as a more serious counterpart to our main duo. Sony also has the Mobius film on the horizon with Jared Leto in the lead. The film was pushed back quite frequently throughout the pandemic and it is surprising that we got more leaks out of the other two properties. Still, Venom‘s sequel looks promising and they nailed Carnage’s design. f course, it would’ve been nice if they were more directly connected to Spider-Man but there is always a chance their paths will cross. Sony seems very focused on making that a reality.

Source: YouTube

July 20, 2021
Pitching a Black Suit Trilogy After ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’

Believe it or not, it’s already been six years since Tom Holland was cast as the MCU’s version of Peter Parker. The actor has since appeared in five films with the final installment of his trilogy set to drop in December of this year. While the series capper, No Way Home, promises to be a jam-packed delight for fans of the iconic character, it does come packaged with a loaded question: what happens to Spider-Man once it’s over? Holland seems to be far from done playing the role. The occurrence of more films, set during Peter’s college years, has been theorized by fans for ages. Marvel boss Kevin Feige once used the Harry Potter franchise as a reference for the MCU’s take on Spidey. So, a collection of sequels with a darker tone doesn’t feel like it’s completely off the table.

Luckily for Marvel, there actually happens to be a famous plot device in the Spidey mythos that could do wonders for shifting the character in that mature direction. That’s right, I’m talking about a certain famed alien symbiote. Venom bonding with Holland‘s Peter is something fans have wanted to see for a long time, but unfortunately, the two entities currently exist in separate cinematic universes. Luckily, Loki and the What If series are teasing a colliding multiverse. As such, there is a perfect opportunity to tell a “Black Suit Trilogy” inside of a bigger picture that includes three different franchises. The story would start with:

Avengers: Secret Wars

The creatives at Marvel Studios have been alluding to an adaptation of the classic event series Secret Wars for years now. Loki creator Michael Waldron even gave Murphy’s Multiverse a cheeky “We’ll see,” when asked about the concept during a recent interview. That storyline has had a few iterations, but the multiversal trajectory of Phase Four indicates the MCU may go with a project inspired by Jonathan Hickman‘s 2015 series. That story dealt with the fallout of multiple Marvel universes colliding with each other and becoming a single continuity.

This is something that could translate well on screen, with an array of live-action Marvel franchises already in existence. If this movie were to come to fruition, there is a chance that Tom Hardy‘s Venom may find his way into the Sacred Timeline. The event would be a great way to bring Venom and Spider-Man into the same universe. Holland‘s Parker finally getting the symbiote in Battleworld would be a wonderful homage to the original 1984 Secret Wars comic. It would act as his first step into his new life.

Spider-Man: Identity Crisis (or Last Hunt)

Before a live-action Spider-Verse was on the table, it appeared the third MCU Spider-Man film would focus on the consequences of Peter’s identity being publicly revealed. Michael Mando felt poised to don a Scorpion suit, and there was heavy speculation Marvel’s ultimate hunter Kraven would come to NYC to find new prey. Despite not ending up this way, that plot would still make for a pretty good movie. Should the story of Peter’s unmasking not be concluded in No Way Home, it wouldn’t be hard to shift this concept to a fourth film.

If Secret Wars were to bring all the cinematic universes together, we would already have an established Kraven ready to go. Throw in the idea that Peter’s family and friends would also have targets painted on their backs, you’ll have a pretty good amount of physical and emotional threats to test Peter’s morals while influenced by the Venom symbiote. Just imagine the story of J.M. DeMatteis‘ Kraven’s Last Hunt combining with J. Michael Straczynski‘s Back In Black.

Venom: Separation Anxiety

If Let There Be Carnage does as well as the first Venom flick, you know there’ll be another sequel. After going through his origin story and duking it out with a redheaded Woody Harrelson, what’s left for a symbiote to do? It’s logical to assume the third movie is where we’ll finally see Holland‘s Spider-Man confront Hardy‘s Venom. If Peter has the symbiote, Eddie Brock is going to want it back.

The project could even take inspiration from the mid-90’s Separation Anxiety storyline, in which a Venom-less Eddie finds himself up against a horde of spawns created by the Life Foundation. If Peter were wearing the black suit in a world of rampaging symbiotes, it stands to reason he’d be attracted to the carnage. Once he meets back up with Eddie? Game, set, match.

Source: Collider, Marvel, Good Reads

July 8, 2021