Yesterday,
Venom 2 star Tom Hardy shared our first look at Woody Harrelson as Cletus Kasady in the sequel. While that's since been deleted (don't worry, you can still see it by clicking
HERE), the actor has now been spotted on set in that same costume being confronted by the police.
It doesn't look like Cletus is too concerned about having a gun pointed at him, and based on the arm movements the actor makes, it seems plausible that special effects will be used at a later date to showcase his transformation into Carnage.
We saw Tom Hardy pulling off similarly weird looking moves while
Venom was shooting, and you have to believe Sony Pictures will have learned from their mistakes after the underwhelming first teaser for the 2018 release showed only Eddie Brock and no Venom. With that in mind, a first look at Carnage surely has to be revealed when the first footage from this follow-up is revealed.
We don't know when that's coming, but production is nearing its end, and it can't be too much longer now. Despite the critical response to
Venom, there's a lot of excitement surrounding this sequel, and speculation continues running rampant that Spider-Man could make a cameo appearance.
Check out the set video below:
Which characters do we want to see in the Venom
sequel? Click the "Next" button below to find out!
Toxin
In one of Venom and Carnage's most entertaining clashes, the two Symbiotes went to war after Toxin was born. Carnage's child and Venom's grandson, the Toxin Symbiote bonded with NYPD officer, Patrick Mulligan. Unlike Eddie Brock and Cletus Kasady, Pat was never tempted to give in to his darker impulses and constantly struggled to keep Toxin on the side of the angels.
The big screen version of Eddie is a good guy for the most part, so differentiating Pat in that way wouldn't work, but there's definitely some potential for a good story here - especially as Toxin's abilities essentially make him poisonous to the other Symbiotes. A cop unleashing the powers of one of these aliens is also very different to a journalist and serial killer, so that might be fun to explore.
The Jury
The Life Foundation proved to be a pretty underwhelming bunch of goons led by Carlson Drake, but The Jury could be a big improvement and a great secondary antagonist for
Venom 2. Led by General Orwell Taylor, this group existed solely to take out Venom, and Serkis has already dropped some hints that's he's taking inspiration from the "Lethal Protector" storyline.
Each member of The Jury was outfitted with powerful armoured suits and tech based on Tony Stark's designs. Throw in the fact that they had sonic blasters and flamethrowers and it's not hard to imagine the government tasking this clandestine group with taking out Venom
and Carnage!
The Fortunato Family
If you read Mark Millar's superb
Marvel Knights: Spider-Man run, you'll know that a wimpy young man called Angelo Fortunato became the second man to wear the Venom Symbiote after Eddie Brock sold it in an auction. Finally able to take his frustrations out on those around him, Angelo quickly embraced his other's monstrous nature but died when the Symbiote decided to leave him.
Angelo was part of the Fortunato crime family, and seeing as we've already seen a group like The Life Foundation taking on Venom, it might be good to now have the Lethal Protector go after this group. Angelo wouldn't actually have to suit up here, but this would be a neat Easter Egg for comic book fans and finally gives us the version of Venom we've been waiting to see for a while now.
Anti-Venom
Eddie Brock became Anti-Venom when he and the Symbiote crossed paths with Mr. Negative. Thanks to his newfound powers, Anti-Venom could deliver killing blows to his fellow Symbiotes and that might be an interesting direction to take this sequel in, especially if Eddie is forced to change his other in order to put an end to Carnage once and for all. it may also allow Anne to become She-Venom!
In terms of introducing Anti-Venom as a brand new character, that's certainly one possibility, but it's hard to say who could fill that role and making him an entirely separate entity to Eddie and Cletus could result in the striking looking character becoming something of a third wheel.
Stewart Ward
Senator Stewart Ward was introduced during some pretty terrible tales in the 1990s and was aligned with HYDRA. However, when some of Spider-Man's villains learned of his true nature - and the fact that he'd been infected with an alien virus - they attempted to extort him and he wound up squaring off with both the wall-crawler and Venom.
If that all sounds a bit convoluted and crappy, it's because it was. But a United States Senator with an alien side could work well here, especially if he's actually serving the Symbiotes and uses his influence to send a group like The Jury after Venom at their request. He's far from an essential addition to this movie, but he's someone Sony could use in a lot of cool ways.
Demogoblin
Jason Philip Macendale Jr. was the Hobgoblin, but after being defeated by both Spider-Man and the Green Goblin, he made a deal with a demon which saw him imbued with incredible powers...and left him possessed as well. Eventually, the demon tore itself away from Macendale and become the Demogoblin, so why do we think he would be a good addition to the
Venom sequel?
Well, aside from the fact that the Demogoblin aligned itself with Carnage during the "Maximum Carnage" storyline, there are lots of ways the character could be reinvented for the big screen and having Venom go up against some sort of demon (who could be revealed as actually being another Symbiote) might make for a fun and crazy dynamic that takes this franchise in an even more OTT direction.
Knull
Venom dropped some big hints thatt the Symbiotes hail from an alien planet, and Knull is definitely a character with a lot of potential in a live-action setting. In the comics, he's the God of the Symbiotes and the ancient being responsible for their creation. It all depends on how much Sony wants to delve into their origin story and whether they'll take this franchise down a more sci-fi route.
For now, it goes without saying that the focus should be on Venom battling Carnage (more on that later), but some hints about the Symbiote's past throughout the movie and a post-credits scene introducing Knull would be a great way of setting the stage for a massive third chapter. In that, Venom and Carnage could be forced to work together in order to put a stop to their "creator."
Shriek
Another of Carnage's allies during "Maximum Carnage," Shriek is an absolute must for this sequel. A mutant in the comic books, she has a sonic scream which Cletus could definitely use to his advantage while battling Venom, and seeing as she becomes Carnage's "girlfriend," Serkis could have a lot of fun delving into their sick and twisted relationship.
Even if Shriek is portrayed as a regular human or just a "groupie" who wants to follow the serial killer, another female character being added to this franchise would be no bad thing. Shriek is a great villain in a lot of way,s and it would be cool to see Venom outnumbered by taking on more than just the one threat this time around.
Morbius, The Living Vampire
Morbius starring Jared Leto is set to be released before
Venom 2, and with Spider-Man likely set to remain entirely separate from these spinoffs, why not start bringing their worlds together for a crossover somewhere down the line? The Living Vampire is definitely a character who would make for both an exciting ally
and enemy to Venom.
Leto and Hardy working together also has some potential, and there are countless ways Sony could tie Morbius and Venom's stories together. Personally, I think this would have to be a post-credits scene of some sort (even if it's just Eddie investigating reports of a vampire), but this may not be a crossover fans want depending how good or bad
Morbius is.
Carnage
Cletus Kasady was introduced in Venom's post-credits scene, but that doesn't necessarily mean he will appear in the sequel. After all, we've seen many teases in the past which haven't led anywhere and that's something Sony is definitely guilty of (just look at
The Amazing Spider-Man movies).
Carnage needs to factor into this sequel, though, because him coming to blows with Venom would be truly epic. Whether Woody Harrelson and his silly looking wig will return is hard to say now that there's a new director on board, but those scenes pitting Venom against Riot were a highlight, so you have to hope that Serkis will not only deliver more of that but also improve on it for a violent, epic tale.