Venom 2 looked set to be one of the few blockbusters to get a release this year, but even Tom Hardy's anti-hero wasn't immune to the current global situation.

The return of Venom has now been pushed back to next summer, but at least with the delay, we got confirmation of the official title in a teaser video – Venom: Let There Be Carnage.

Pretty cool title, right? Not all fans agreed, but for quite a minor thing. Some think it should have been Absolute Carnage after the comics storyline.

However, as we explain here, there's some pretty major reasons why the sequel was never going to be an adaptation of that storyline. Perhaps we'll end up seeing it in the third Venom movie if the sequel is a hit.

But let's not look too far ahead just yet and focus on the sequel, directed by Andy Serkis. Here's everything you need to know.

Venom 2 release date: When is Venom Let There Be Carnage out in cinemas?

As we mentioned above, the sequel has been delayed from its original release date of October 2, 2020.

Venom 2 was set to be preceded by Morbius on July 31, then the Jared Leto movie was delayed to March 19, 2021. But Venom: Let There Be Carnage, too, has been pushed back to June 25, 2021 in the UK and US.

Filming started in November 2019 and was seemingly finished by April 2020, so hopefully there won't be any further delays to this June 2021 release.

"I started editing and then we had to shut down. The editor flew back to the States and I've been editing remotely," Serkis explained in May 2020. "It's no bad thing because we can spend more time with the visual effects and, ultimately, it's probably better for the movie."

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Venom 2 trailer: Any Venom Let There Be Carnage footage yet?

There were rumours that we might have seen the first trailer in early April, but that obviously didn't happen in the end.

With the release date change, it seems unlikely that we'd get our first look anytime soon.

Venom 2 cast: Who is in Venom Let There Be Carnage?



It was pretty much a given that Tom Hardy would be back as Eddie Brock and his alien alter ego. They make actors sign multi-film contracts these days, don'tcha know.



But in case you needed confirmation, Pascal said in June 2019: "I can say that Tom Hardy will be back, magnificently playing that character as no-one else can.

"When you think of Venom, you'll never be able to think of anyone but Tom Hardy sitting in that bathtub of lobsters. And once you saw Tom Hardy do this character, that's all you needed to know."

Michelle Williams, who stars as Eddie Brock's ex-wife Anne Weying, will also return. The actress told Yahoo!, simply "I'm in."

Sony Pictures

The sequel will hopefully turn the question mark over her relationship with Eddie at the conclusion of the first movie into a full stop. Or an ellipsis. Or some more positive punctuation mark.

But more importantly, Williams hopes the sequel will give She-Venom equal screen time.

One new addition to the cast list is likely to be Naomie Harris. Though it has yet to be 100% confirmed, it seems highly probable that the James Bond star will play the villain Shriek in the Venom sequel.

Marvel Comics

National treasure and frequent Tom Hardy colleague Stephen Graham has been confirmed to be joining the Venom sequel, but his role has yet to be confirmed. We've also been given our first glimpse at Woody Harrelson's Carnage thanks to Tom Hardy's Instagram.

A late confirmation to the cast is Killing Eve star Sean Delaney who confirmed to Insider that he's got a "very, very small blink-and-you'll-miss-me role".

"In terms of what I play in it, I can't say anything about it," he added. "In terms of its tie to the story, it's really cool. It's really, really cool."

BBC/Sid Gentle

Beyond that, Sony has a series of superhero movies in the pipeline, so perhaps Morbius (Jared Leto), Silver Sable, Black Cat, Silk, Nightwatch, Jackpot or any of Spider-Man's other allies and enemies could show up.

Especially since you could glimpse Spidey in the Morbius trailer...

As for a Spider-Man cameo, Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige said that a crossover "seems likely at some point", while producer Amy Pascal is a big fan of Tom Holland, but didn't specifically state Holland would be in a Venom movie.



Marvel Comics

While we didn't get a Spidey-sized cameo in the first Venom movie (well, not exactly), the director has hinted at a future Spider-Man crossover. Could that take place in Venom 2?

However, Spider-Man isn't wholly ruled out of appearing in a Venom movie. The original director Ruben Fleischer said that a confrontation between the two is "where it's all going to lead".

But it is important to note that Fleischer isn't directing the sequel, so whether this is something Andy Serkis wants remains to be seen.

Marvel boss Kevin Feige did say it was "likely" that the two would cross paths.

Venom 2 plot: What will Venom: Let There Be Carnage be about?

Venom 2's new director Andy Serkis has confirmed the movie will be an "extraordinary piece of cinema" but didn't reveal much about the plot.



He told IGN: "I can't tell you any ideas right now. I'm in the beginning stages, but I have some very clear ideas about what I want to see visually, and how we can take the characters to another dimension."

Gareth Cattermole Getty Images

Matt Tolmach, the producer on both Venom and Venom 2, told CinemaBlend that the sequel will focus on the relationship between Eddie and Venom:

"The heart of Venom was always the relationship between Eddie and Venom. These two characters, these two sides that had to figure out how to live together and that were somehow better together than they were separately, or more successful, and what that meant."

As for our friendly neighbourhood symbiote pairing, Eddie Brock and Venom have apparently dedicated themselves to doing good and only snacking on the heads of people who are definitely bad. What could possibly go wrong?

The end of the first movie promised that another symbiote will show up in the sequel – Venom's offspring, Carnage.

However, even the arrival of Carnage won't make it R-rated, according to producer Avi Arad. "When you hear Carnage, the only thing you can think of is R. But, if you know his story, if you really know the comic, there's no R here," he told Collider.

"He's a tortured soul. It's not about what he does, because we never have to show the knife going from here to there, and the blood is pouring. What you have to show is, what is the motivation?"

Venom: Let There Be Carnage will be released on June 25, 2021.

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