Venom: Let There Be Carnage turns 5 this week—a good excuse to look back at how the symbiote sequel saved its biggest villain, built its odd-couple energy, and accidentally shared a city with another blockbuster.
Carnage was saved for the sequel
During development of 2018’s Venom, Carnage was expected but the creative team chose not to include him so the film could focus on Eddie Brock and Venom. Ruben Fleischer felt leaving Venom’s most formidable villain for later would give the franchise a place to go, so Cletus Kasady was teased in a mid-credits scene.
Woody Harrelson signed without a script
Fleischer wanted Harrelson because of the natural connection between Cletus and Harrelson’s Natural Born Killers performance. He asked him while they discussed a Zombieland sequel, and Harrelson agreed after dinner with Fleischer and Tom Hardy. Harrelson called it a roll of the dice because he had not read a sequel script before signing on.
Venom’s rave was a coming-out party
Andy Serkis described Eddie and Venom’s relationship as the central love affair of the film. The sequence where Venom goes to a rave and talks about the cruel treatment of aliens uses imagery reminiscent of LGBTQIA festivals because it was intended to be Venom’s coming-out party.
An alternate title borrowed from Joy Division
One alternate title considered was Venom: Love Will Tear Us Apart, named for the Joy Division song Love Will Tear Us Apart. Sony ultimately announced the title as Venom: Let There Be Carnage.
The Matrix Resurrections appears in the background
Filming in San Francisco was impacted by production on The Matrix Resurrections. Some roads for driving scenes were unavailable because that film was already using them. Helicopters used to film Matrix sequences are visible in the background of a Venom scene, with dialogue explaining them as police helicopters searching the city.
Carnage was built like an octopus
Serkis worked with dancers and actors on a motion-capture stage to define the two symbiotes. Venom was compared to a quarterback using brute force, while Carnage’s psychotic personality was shown through idiosyncratic, off-kilter movements. Serkis compared fighting Carnage to fighting an octopus.
The director’s cut was trimmed
The initial director’s cut ran around 10 or 15 minutes longer than the final version. Serkis wanted the film shorter than expected to make it a real thrill ride and to reach Carnage’s introduction with as little exposition as possible.
Jon Watts directed the mid-credits scene
The film’s mid-credits scene was directed by Spider-Man: No Way Home director Jon Watts during production of that film. As the second film in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, the choice carried extra weight for fans.
Those are eight of our favourite details. What is the one Venom: Let There Be Carnage fact you would save?
Facts from Wikipedia: Venom: Let There Be Carnage, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Film images from TMDB. This product uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB.
