Venom 2 is now coming in June 2021, and we finally know the sequel’s official title.
Variety (opens in new tab) shared a report that Sony has officially pushed Venom: Let There Be Carnage from its original release date of October 2, 2020 to June 25, 2021. While that means it’s the latest film in a string of movies and TV shows to be delayed due coronavirus concerns (opens in new tab) (there’s already getting to be a pileup of former summer movies aiming for the end of the year), it also confirms that the superpowered anti-hero sequel directed by Andy Serkis will have a starring role for Carnage.
As was teased at the end of Venom (spoiler alert), Woody Harrelson’s Cletus Kasady becomes the host for another symbiote called Carnage. Tom Hardy is set to reprise his role as Eddie Brock, the host for Venom. Stephen Graham was also confirmed for the cast late last year, along with reports that Venom 2 may target an R-rating in response to the success of Joker (opens in new tab).
“What Joker does is it tells you that you can succeed,” producer Matt Tolbach told Joblo (opens in new tab) at the time. “For a very long time, that was the narrative. And Deadpool sort of wrestled that to the turf, and then Logan, but for a long time, that was considered totally forbidden. So you know, I think it’s the greatest thing in the world that R-rated movies are being embraced by massive audiences. And it just means that there are more opportunities for that kind of storytelling.”
The big remaining mystery is whether Sony will move to bring Tom Holland as Spider-Man into the Venom story, after a falling out with Disney (opens in new tab) (among other logistical concerns) made it impossible in the first film.
While we dream, check out our ranked listing of the best Spider-Man movies (opens in new tab).