Following the immense box office success of Venom (2018), which grossed over $856 million worldwide, a sequel was an immediate priority for Sony Pictures. The first film's post-credits scene, introducing Woody Harrelson as Cletus Kasady, explicitly telegraphed the studio's intention to bring Carnage to the big screen. Kelly Marcel, who co-wrote the first film, was hired to write the screenplay, this time receiving sole credit and developing the story alongside star Tom Hardy. Director Ruben Fleischer did not return for the sequel due to scheduling conflicts with Zombieland: Double Tap. After a search that reportedly included directors like Travis Knight and Rupert Wyatt, Sony announced in August 2019 that Andy Serkis would direct the film. Serkis, renowned for his pioneering work in performance-capture acting as Gollum in The Lord of the Rings and Caesar in the Planet of the Apes reboot trilogy, was seen as a perfect fit. His deep understanding of creating and directing digital characters was considered invaluable for a film centered on two symbiote-driven protagonists. Serkis stated he was drawn to the project by the story's central relationship and the chance to explore its darker, more complex elements while retaining the first film's signature dark humor.
Tom Hardy's return as Eddie Brock / Venom was the cornerstone of the production. Hardy was significantly more involved in the creative process for the sequel, earning a “Story by” credit. His deep investment in the character's duality—the beleaguered, anxious journalist and the impulsive, id-driven alien—was central to the film's tone. Michelle Williams and Reid Scott also reprised their roles as Anne Weying and Dr. Dan Lewis, respectively, providing a human anchor to Eddie's chaotic life. The most significant new casting was the full introduction of Woody Harrelson as Cletus Kasady / Carnage. Harrelson's brief appearance in the first film was met with some fan criticism for his unkempt, red wig. For Let There Be Carnage, his look was redesigned to be more grounded and menacing. Harrelson embraced the role of the charismatic yet deeply disturbed serial killer, drawing inspiration from the character's comic book origins while infusing it with his own unique screen presence. Naomie Harris was cast as Frances Barrison / Shriek, a key figure from the Maximum Carnage comic storyline and Cletus Kasady's love interest. Her inclusion added another layer to the villain's motivations, turning the central conflict into a tale of two deeply dysfunctional couples. Stephen Graham, a frequent collaborator with Tom Hardy, joined the cast as Detective Mulligan, a character with his own significant comic book history as the eventual host for the symbiote Toxin. Principal photography began in November 2019 at Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden in England, under the working title Fillmore. Filming also took place on location in London and San Francisco, the primary setting of the film. The production wrapped in February 2020, just before the global film industry was profoundly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Venom: Let There Be Carnage was originally slated for release on October 2, 2020. However, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic forced Sony to significantly alter its release schedule. The film was first delayed to June 25, 2021, then to September 17, 2021, and again to September 24, before a brief pushback to October 15. As vaccination rates increased and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings performed strongly at the box office, Sony made the bold decision to move the release date forward to October 1, 2021, a rare move during the pandemic era. The marketing campaign heavily emphasized the “Venom vs. Carnage” showdown, promising a spectacle-driven action film. Trailers highlighted the central conflict, the comedic banter between Eddie and Venom, and the terrifying introduction of Carnage. The tagline “The world has enough superheroes” continued to position the franchise as a darker, more irreverent alternative to the mainstream MCU. The final title, Let There Be Carnage, was a direct, pulpy nod to the film's central promise of mayhem.
The film opens one year after the events of the first Venom. Eddie Brock has adapted to life with the Venom symbiote, establishing a set of rules to prevent the alien from eating people, primarily subsisting on a diet of chocolate and chickens. Their relationship is fraught with tension; Venom desires freedom and the chance to be a lethal protector, while Eddie craves a return to normalcy and a chance to revive his journalism career. Eddie secures a career-defining opportunity: an exclusive final interview with the notorious serial killer Cletus Kasady, who is on death row at San Quentin State Prison and will speak only to him. During a volatile confrontation, Kasady taunts Eddie and bites his hand, inadvertently ingesting a small part of the symbiote. The alien substance mixes with Kasady's blood, and on the night of his execution by lethal injection, a new, monstrous red symbiote erupts from within him. Dubbing itself “Carnage,” this new entity is a fusion of Kasady's psychosis and symbiotic power. Carnage lays waste to the prison, liberating Kasady and embarking on a violent quest to find his long-lost love, Frances Barrison, who is being held in a specialized facility at the Ravencroft Institute. Meanwhile, Eddie and Venom's bickering reaches a breaking point, leading to a physical fight that culminates in the symbiote separating from Eddie. Each attempts to live without the other, with disastrous results. Venom “body hops” through San Francisco, eventually ending up at a rave where he delivers an impassioned speech about acceptance before being found by Anne and Dan. Eddie, powerless and struggling, is arrested by Detective Mulligan, who suspects his involvement in Kasady's escape. Kasady, with Carnage's help, frees Frances Barrison, also known as Shriek, who possesses a powerful sonic scream. The two deranged lovers plan a “wedding” at a cathedral, where they intend to cement their union with a final act of mass murder, starting with their respective nemeses: Detective Mulligan for Shriek (who shot her in the eye as a child) and Eddie Brock for Kasady. Realizing the city is in grave danger and that they cannot succeed alone, Eddie and Venom reconcile through Anne's mediation. They re-bond and head to the cathedral for a final confrontation. The ensuing battle pits Venom against the stronger, more vicious Carnage, while Eddie and Anne must also contend with Shriek's sonic attacks. They discover that both symbiotes are vulnerable to high-frequency sound and fire. Shriek's sonic screams, while harming Venom, are even more devastating to Carnage, causing him to separate from Cletus. In a climactic moment, Venom consumes the Carnage symbiote and bites off Cletus Kasady's head, ending the threat. As police swarm the cathedral, Eddie and Venom, now fugitives, escape, embracing their new identity as a “Lethal Protector” on the run.
The primary comic book inspiration for the film is the 1993 crossover storyline Maximum Carnage. This 14-part epic saw Carnage escape from Ravencroft and assemble a “family” of supervillains, including Shriek, Demogoblin, and Carrion, to unleash a massive killing spree across New York City. Spider-Man was forced to form an uneasy alliance with Venom, along with other heroes like Captain America and Black Cat, to stop the rampage. While the film scales down the conflict significantly—focusing only on Carnage and Shriek—it directly lifts the core villainous pairing and the theme of Venom having to become a hero to stop a greater evil. The film's tone, however, is far more comedic than the grim and violent comic storyline.
In the prime comic universe, Carnage's origin is remarkably similar to the film's, but with a key difference. Cletus Kasady was Eddie Brock's cellmate at Ryker's Island prison. When the Venom symbiote broke Eddie out of jail, it left behind a small, asexually reproduced offspring. This spawn entered Cletus's bloodstream through a cut and bonded with him on a cellular level, creating a symbiote-host bond far more intimate and powerful than Eddie and Venom's. The resulting creature, Carnage, viewed Venom as its “father” and immediately set out to surpass him in violence and chaos, believing that murder was the ultimate form of freedom. The film streamlines this by having Cletus bite Eddie, directly transferring the symbiotic material.
Shriek's comic book origin (first appearing in Spider-Man Unlimited #1, 1993) portrays her as a drug dealer named Frances Louise Barrison who was driven insane by a trip through Cloak's Darkforce Dimension, which also awakened her latent mutant powers of sonic blasts and empathy manipulation. She became a “mother” figure in Carnage's makeshift family during Maximum Carnage. The film simplifies her backstory, removing the drug dealing and mutant aspects, and instead frames her as a troubled youth whose powers led to her institutionalization. Her connection to Cletus is made far more romantic and predates their super-powered states, making their relationship the central motivation for the film's plot.
Venom: Let There Be Carnage is the second film in what Sony Pictures has designated as Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU), a shared cinematic universe based on Marvel characters associated with Spider-Man. It exists in a separate reality from the mainline Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), though as the post-credits scene reveals, the walls between these universes are permeable. The film directly follows the events of Venom (2018) and occurs before the events of Morbius (2022). It solidifies the SSU's tone as being darker and more focused on anti-heroes compared to the more traditional heroism of the MCU.
In what is arguably the most talked-about scene of the film, Eddie and Venom are relaxing in a hotel room in Mexico, discussing the vast, collective knowledge the symbiote hive mind possesses across universes. As Venom offers to show Eddie a glimpse, the room suddenly shakes and transforms. The drab hotel room becomes a much nicer resort suite, and on the television, the broadcast has changed to J. Jonah Jameson's (J.K. Simmons) shocking report from the end of Spider-Man: Far From Home, revealing Peter Parker's identity as Spider-Man. This scene confirms several massive points:
The film leaves several plot threads open for future installments. Eddie and Venom are now fugitives, embracing their role as anti-heroes on the run. The setup for Detective Mulligan's transformation into Toxin creates a powerful potential ally or antagonist for a future film. Most importantly, the brief trip to the MCU has left both Eddie and Venom with knowledge of Spider-Man's existence, a plot point that will almost certainly drive the narrative of the upcoming third Venom film.