We got the first trailer for Venom: Let There Be Carnage yesterday, and we now have some pretty badass merchandise to go with it.
As you can see, Funko has unveiled the Venom and Carnage Pops for the highly anticipated sequel, with the latter giving us a much better look at the design Sony Pictures has gone for with Cletus Kasady's alien symbiote.
While it definitely pays homage to the comic books, the Carnage design is very much grounded in the world of the Venom franchise, though an effort has been made to give this red symbiote the black elements we're used to seeing on the page. In that sneak peek, it was hard to make sense of what he looked like thanks to all those tendrils, so this Pop comes at a good time.
Unfortunately, we may never get to see truly comic accurate versions of these two characters on screen, but it's hard to slate this sequel for the effort that's gone into bringing them into live-action.
"Tom Hardy returns to the big screen as the lethal protector Venom, one of Marvel's greatest and most complex characters," reads a brief synopsis that was released on the movie's newly launched website yesterday. "Directed by Andy Serkis, the film also stars Michelle Williams, Naomie Harris and Woody Harrelson, in the role of the villain Cletus Kasady/Carnage."
Venom: Let There Be Carnage stars Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Naomie Harris, Reid Scott, Stephen Graham, and Woody Harrelson. It's set to be released in theaters globally this September.
Check out the movie's Funko Pops (and find out where you can order them from) below:
Hit the "Next" button below to check out 5 big reveals
from Andy Serkis about the Venom: Let There Be Carnage trailer!
5. Eddie And Venom's "Odd Couple" Relationship
If this trailer makes anything clear, it's that the goofy relationship between Eddie Brock and his symbiotic "other" is going to be front and centre in Venom: Let There Be Carnage. According to Serkis, they've reached the "Odd Couple stage of their relationship" by the time we find them here.
"They've been together for a year and a half, say, since the last story," the filmmaker explains. "And they're figuring out how to be with each other. And it's like living with this maniac toddler. Eddie is really struggling. He can't concentrate. He's trying to get on with work. And he, of course, only thinks about himself anyway, on the whole."
Serkis goes on to add that Eddie views Venom as "kind of a weird, screwed-up mirror version of himself," but how does the alien feel about their newfound dynamic?
"Venom of course feels trapped, because he can't leave Eddie's body unless he has his permission. And when they go out, the deal is - you live in my body, you live by my rules," Serkis says. "And we're under threat. We're in a dangerous position here. We've got to keep quiet. And nobody must know because of all the things that happened in the last story, if people find out and get a grip of what's going on then we'll both be hauled into Area 51 and examined."
4. Cletus Kasady's Interest In Eddie Brock
At the end of Venom, we saw Eddie meet with Cletus (who promised that there would be "carnage"). However, this sequel is set to elaborate on their dynamic by explaining what brings the two men together.
Serkis explains the similarities between them by saying, "They both had strange upbringings with strange relationships with their parents and their families. And there's an inherent loneliness that they both recognize in each other."
As for why Eddie would want to develop a relationship with Cletus, it doesn't sound like it's entirely the anti-hero's choice.
"Cletus actually reaches out and will only speak to Eddie Brock. That's at the beginning of the story, we learned that he's the only one he'll speak to. And the cops, therefore, want Eddie to go in and investigate and try and discover where some of the bodies, some of the many bodies of Cletus's victims are."
It sounds like Eddie has own selfish motivations...
3. Eddie's New Mission
It seems Serkis is keen to zero in on Eddie's selfishness as a character, and the filmmaker reveals that his main motivation is to regain his standing as a journalist by getting the scoop of the century from the serial killer (look closely and you'll notice The Daily Bugle in this first look).
"He's on a mission. But also, he's self-serving in only the way that Eddie can be. He wants to get in there and maybe he can make a story, get back to what he wants to do most, which is writing and the written word and being a journalist," the director teases. "So this sets up really the confrontation, or the false relationship, that Eddie sort of pretends to have with Cletus, in order to get information out of it."
If we had to hazard a guess, Carnage will go after Eddie/Venom because he feels betrayed, and Serkis went on to drop some intriguing hints about those drawings on the walls inside Cletus' cell.
"Cletus has an extraordinary child-like but vivid imagination and mind, and he expresses himself by drawing," the director says. "His cell is completely covered with these really bizarre markings and expressions. It's like his anger and frustration and his sadness and his desperation and his loneliness."
2. What's The Deal With Shriek?
While she doesn't suit up, the Venom: Let There Be Carnage trailer does feature our first look at Naomie Harris as Shriek. In the comic books, she has a weird romantic relationship with Cletus, and while Serkis wouldn't comment on that, he did shed some light on what to expect from the villain.
"She's a damaged soul and she really has suffered in her childhood, but there is a real vulnerability about her, and she's in a lot of pain," he teases. "She's been living in isolation for years, years and years."
"With all of these characters, what's so beautifully drawn about them is that they're multi-faceted, they're totally truthful and believable, and yet. She's dangerous too and I think she has her own sense of fairness and being just, and I think when that line is crossed, then you see a very, very dangerous, dark side to her, and that's what we wanted to do with the character."
She sounds like an intriguing addition to the sequel, and that apparent shot of Ravencroft blowing up does seemingly confirm that Shriek and Carnage plan to team up.
1. Carnage's Powers
The movie marks Carnage's live-action debut, and it sounds like Serkis had a blast bringing the iconic villain to life on screen. As well as coming up with his appearance, though, it seems like a lot of thought was put into his powers.
"He can turn to mist. He can turn to all manner of tendrils. He can take different forms. He can weaponize, he can do all of these different things," the filmmaker reveals. "With all symbiotes, they reflect the person who is their host. So the darkness of Carnage, the playfulness, the wit, the strangeness."
"Cletus has a real intelligence and a real sense of humor, and we wanted to reflect that in the symbiote that is linked to him."
This sounds like a different approach to the villain, but will it be as much of a departure from the comic books as the first Venom movie with the title character and Riot? That obviously remains to be seen for now...
Many thanks to IGN for the quotes used here. Check out their full breakdown below: