The first full trailer for Tom Hardy's Sony solo outing drew big at the box office, and a sequel was quickly ushered into production.
Directed by Andy Serkis with a script from Kelly Marcel, Venom: Let There Be Carnage is another chance to get the famous Marvel monster right, and promising a showdown between Hardy's Eddie Brock and Woody Harrelson's Carnage (following his post-credits debut in the first film) goes a long way toward doing exactly that. Venom: Let There Be Carnage was one of many productions affected by pandemic-related delays, with the sequel entering post-production just as Hollywood entered its 2020 shutdown. Now set for September 2021, fans needn't wait much longer before getting their next fix of Venom.
Part of the first film's negative reception can be attributed to a misguided first trailer, which felt less like Venom and much closer to Tom Hardy: The Movie. In of first impressions, Venom: Let There Be Carnage makes a far more promising start. This is how the footage breaks down.
Back In San Francisco
The Venom: Let There Be Carnage trailer kicks off with a gorgeous panoramic landscape of San Francisco over the Bay Bridge. 2018's Venom predominantly took place in the Californian city, and the sequel returns to the same locale, steering clear of the superhero-heavy New York City. Eddie Brock's latest adventure was shot largely between Leavesden Studios in the UK and on location in San Francisco.
The First Rule Of Venom Club
Most roommate rules involve who does the washing up, or whether unmarked fridge food is fair game, but Eddie Brock has somewhat lower expectations of his inner symbiote. Following the end of the first movie, Brock and Venom are coexisting in relative peace, but Tom Hardy's character has strict guidelines when it comes to eating people. Although the sign is more or less played for laughs, it does demonstrate the growing bond of trust between the two, and the "softer" Venom we'll be seeing in the sequel. Andy Serkis confirms approximately 18 months have ed between films.
Breakfast With Venom
Somewhat boldly, the Venom: Let There Be Carnage trailer opens with a comedy skit featuring Eddie Brock and his symbiote pal making breakfast. The pair previously agreed to coexist in secret, and their partnership appears to be going... well? Eddie's apartment has obviously seen better days; the room of littered with trash while animals roam freely (Venom's dinner, perhaps?), and it's not hard to see how the place got into such bad condition. Eddie sullenly allows Venom to flick around his tentacles making breakfast, and the symbiote takes little care as he splats together some waffles, eggs (complete with shell), ket-shup, and worst of all, mushrooms. Eddie is clearly in a place of grudging acceptance that this is his life now.
2018's Venom made several key mistakes - not being open about the film's comedy, and failing to properly dig into the day-to-day relationship between Eddie Brock and Venom. Venom: Let There Be Carnage rights both of those wrongs, giving a quirky look into their unconventional coexistence. Above all, the introduction proves Venom and Eddie's friendly (if somewhat dysfunctional) dynamic.
An Invitation From Cletus
When Eddie Brock sits down for breakfast, he's holding a card of some description (the one Venom squirts tomato sauce all over). Although the item is fairly nondescript initially, it's a close visual match for a similar-sized card Cletus Kasady is later seen scrawling on inside his cell. It seems the prisoner has, yet again, made with Brock, and could be requesting an audience with the journalist following their first meeting at the end of Venom.
Mrs. Chen
The gags continue as Eddie heads to his local store, and the audience are reintroduced to Peggy Lu as local storeowner, Mrs. Chen. The big takeaway here is Mrs. Chen's surprising casualness with Eddie Brock still being Venom. The journalist used his symbiote abilities to rescue the store from thugs in the original film, but even so, Mrs. Chen is remarkably friendly to the man-eating extra-terrestrial hiding inside Tom Hardy. Venom's rather relaxed with her too, proving how far he's come since trying to invade Earth.
This "friendly neighborhood Venom" act perhaps isn't how most fans will know the character, and while comic book depictions certainly aren't this comedic usually, a goofy, jaunty Venom isn't entirely unheard of.
A Stan Lee Easter Egg
Stan Lee may, sadly, no longer be with us, but not even that can stand in the way of a good cameo. As Eddie Brock enters Mrs. Chen's store, a magazine stand by the counter proudly displays an issue with the comic book legend on the front cover. In a neat touch, Venom's tentacle points to Stan Lee as Eddie walks past.
Return To Prison
This particular location will be familiar to those who recall the post-credits scene from 2018's Venom - the prison that holds Cletus Kasady. It would appear that, over the past year and a half, Eddie Brock has developed somewhat of a bond with Kasady... or perhaps that should be the other way round?
Cletus Kasady
Woody Harrelson was first introduced as convicted serial killer Cletus Kasady in 2018's Venom movie, requesting an interview with Eddie Brock and promising "carnage" upon his release. Catching up with the murderer, Kasady has now (wisely) shaved his clown-like red mop and redecorated the inside of his cell with insane carvings. Kasady seems transfixed with Eddie, and sees parallels between them (which, as things stand, aren't completely obvious). Harrelson's characterization of Kasady appears somewhat less out-there compared to his post-credits debut in Venom, when he spoke of sucking out eyeballs and other perfectly rational serial killer shtick.
Phoenix
Like any serial killer worth his salt, Cletus Kasady wiles away his incarceration by scrawling child-like images on his wall. Most of the images and phrases hold little bearing upon Marvel lore, and merely hint at possible events in the character's past, with the exception of one. Intriguingly, among the engravings on Kasady's cell wall is the phrase "The Phoenix Will Rise." Please, God, don't let this be another Dark Phoenix movie.
"You & I Are The Same"
Across the course of their correspondence, Cletus Kasady has evidently come to believe that he shares a certain kinship with Eddie Brock. At this point, Kasady doesn't appear to possess a symbiote, so he can't be talking about their shared experience with alien possession, but rather their corresponding personalities, their self-centered natures, and their troubled upbringings. Although you'd be hard-pressed to find similarities between Brock and Kasady on the surface, they might share more in common than Eddie would like to it.
