20 facts you might not know about 'Venom: Let There Be Carnage'

Kelly Marcel was brought on to write Venom: Let There Be Carnage after doing some writing on the first film. This time, she had sole credit for the screenplay, though the Fifty Shades of Grey screenwriter shared the “story by” credit. Who did she share it with? Why, none other than Tom Hardy.

Ruben Fleischer directed Venom, but he was unable to direct the sequel as he was too busy working on Zombieland: Double Tap. A few different people, including Rupert Wyatt and Rupert Sanders, were considered. In the end, a guy not named Rupert got the gig. That would be Andy Serkis. While Serkis is best known for his motion-capture acting, he had directed films before this one.

The original plan was for Carnage to be the villain in Venom. However, the creative team realized that having Carnage in the movie along with explaining Venom and symbiotes might be a bit much. As such, Carnage was shelved…mostly. Cletus Kasady — the killer who binds with Carnage in the comics — did make a mid-credits scene appearance to set up Carnage for the sequel.

It’s Fleischer who got Harrelson to sign on as Kasady a.k.a. Carnage. Sure, he didn’t end up directing the sequel, but he was setting the path forward with Venom. Fleischer and Hardy met with Harrelson for dinner to try and get him to sign on to play Carnage, knowing a sequel was likely coming. Harrelson had no script to go off of, but he still agreed to take a shot and signed on to play the role.

A lot of enthusiasm emanated from Harrelson’s appearance in the mid-credits scene. At least some of that was his hairdo, which was definitely notable. Perhaps too notable. In Let There Be Carnage, Kasady has a different hairstyle. Serkis justified it by saying it marked the passage of time, but the hairdo was changed because they were worried it would distract the audience.

The sweet spot for comic book movies is a PG-13 rating, but the success of movies like Deadpool and Joker have made the R rating viable. Given the gonzo nature of Venom, and the violence of the comics, for a moment there was talk of bumping up to an R rating. Ultimately, though, one of the producers said that it wasn’t worth it to change the rating just for the sake of it, so we got a PG-13 movie instead.

While Tom Hardy plays them both, Venom the movie is oftentimes a two-hander between these two characters. After meeting each other in the first movie, the two know each other a bit better in this one. Serkis has said that the reference point for them in this movie was The Odd Couple, in which case Venom is definitely the Oscar of the two.

After filming some in London, the production moved to San Francisco. There, an unexpected complication occurred. The Matrix: Resurrections was filming at the same time. Some places where the Venom crew wanted to shoot were unavailable because The Matrix was already shooting there. However, this crossover did lead to an uncredited cameo for Hardy in Resurrections.

Here’s how far the filming of The Matrix: Resurrections impacted Venom: Let There Be Carnage. There are helicopters in the background of scenes in Venom that were being used to film The Matrix. Fortunately, they were able to work around that by inserting dialogue that stated those were police helicopters.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage is a strong title. We have no complaints. Especially since, you know, Carnage is in the movie. That being said, there was an interesting alternate option that was apparently considered. It’s possible this movie could have been called “Venom: Love Will Tear Us Apart,” which borrows its subtitle from a Joy Division song. That would have been a big swing, but ultimately, they went with the “Carnage” version.

Part of the reason why Serkis got the gig was because of his intimate knowledge of motion-capture acting and CGI. While working on post-production, he wanted to create distinct movements and fighting styles for Venom and Carnage, which he wanted to tie to Brock and Kasady as well. Serkis compared Venom to a quarterback, while he said fighting Carnage would be like fighting an octopus.

Harrelson wasn’t asked to do motion capture for Carnage, but he was actually reluctant to perform any part of the character. He was uncertain of doing the voice and actually suggested that Serkis should do it himself, given his experience voicing characters like Gollum. However, Serkis encouraged Harrelson to voice the character himself, and in the end, he did.

Both Tom Hardy and Stephen Graham have something in common beyond being in Venom: Let There Be Carnage. They have each played Chicago crime capo Al Capone. Hardy starred in the film Capone, while Graham played him in the TV show Boardwalk Empire.

While he was alive, Stan Lee made a habit of having a cameo in every Marvel movie. Lee has since passed on, but his legacy is still getting honored. Venom organized a stack of magazines in Mrs. Chen’s shop, and on the cover of one of those magazines is Lee.

Eddie wears a T-shirt that reads “Mumford Phys Ed” and a Detroit Lions jacket during the movie. You know who also wears both of those bits of attire? That would be Axel Foley, a.k.a. Eddie Murphy’s character in the Beverly Hills Cop movies. Brock may not have a connection to Detroit, but this is a fun reference.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage was first scheduled for Oct. 2, 2020. Then, of course, the COVID-19 pandemic kept rearing its ugly head. First, it was moved to June 25, 2021. Then, it was bumped to Sept. 17, 2022, and then again to Sept. 24. After this, it was pushed to Oct. 15. Weirdly, after that, it was bumped up to Oct. 1. In the end, it was moved back almost exactly one year to the day.

While it would have surely garnered a bigger box office in better circumstances, Let There Be Carnage was plenty successful. It made $213.5 million in North America, which is a solid number, but it also made $288.5 million overseas. That left it with a $502 million box office off a $110 million budget. It ended up the seventh-highest-grossing movie of 2021.

Eddie and Anne go to a restaurant with the French name “L’Araignee.” This would be an odd name for a restaurant if this wasn’t a film built around a Spider-Man villain. L’Araignee” is French for “The Spider,” a little nod to Spidey (and perhaps a foreshadowing of the mid-credits scene).

At the end of Let There Be Carnage, Eddie and Venom find themselves transported to a mysterious room, where they see a scene that was filmed by Jon Watts during Spider-Man: No Way Home featuring Tom Holland and J. Jonah Jameson. Then, at the end of that film, we get a credits scene with Eddie and Venom hanging out in a tropical bar until they are pulled back into their universe…save for a bit of the symbiote. Now, the world of Venom and the MCU are connected.

Hardy has said since 2018 that he’s signed on for a third Venom movie. Clearly, he loves the character, given he got himself a “story by” credit, and the films have been big hits. The third Venom movie is already being discussed a bit according to producers, and Serkis has said he would be interesting in returning to direct.