Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021) Film Review

Sony Pictures

VENOM: LET THERE BE CARNAGE

Starring Tom Hardy (Eddie Brock / Venom), Michelle Williams (Anne Weying), Woody Harrelson (Cletus Kasady / Carnage), and Naomi Harris (Frances Barrison / Shriek), and Riz Ahmed (Carlton Drake / Riot), with credits footage featuring Tom Holland as Peter Parker / Spider-Man and JK Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson from the Marvel Cinematic Universe

Directed by Andy Serkis

Produced by Avi Arad, Matt Tolmach, Amy Pascal, Kelly Marcel, Tom Hardy, and Hutch Parker

Written by Kelly Marcel

Music by Marco Beltrami

Distributed by Sony Pictures

Run Time: 1 hour and 37 minutes

World Premier: September 14, 2021, in London, England

Opening Weekend Box Office: $90 million (North America)

Worldwide Box Office: $502 million

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 58%

Marvel Entertainment

Fun Venom: Let There Be Carnage Facts

On August 21, 2019, Sony Pictures pulled Spider-Man out of the Marvel Cinematic Universe after discussions between Sony Pictures and Disney / Marvel Studios to extend the deal they made to share the character in 2015 completely broke down. Reports stated that Disney / Marvel Studios felt entitled to more of the Box Office take on the Spider-Man films they produce, with further reports stating that Disney was looking for a 50 / 50 split that would see the companies share the financing of the films as well as the Box Office take. This feeling was no doubt brought on by the fact that 2019’s Spider-Man: Far From Home emerged as the highest-grossing film in the history of Sony Pictures at that time, bringing in over $1 billion. Sony balked at these proposals and with the talks at a standstill, the story was leaked that Spider-Man and presumably his entire supporting cast, would no longer be part of the MCU. This news sent shockwaves throughout the comic book movie fandom and threatened to dramatically change the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Sony’s Spider-Man Universe in ways that no one wanted.

On September 27, 2019: Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures announced that they had agreed upon a new deal that would at least temporarily keep Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This new deal would see Marvel Studios produce the film that eventually became Spider-Man: No Way Home. Upon the announcement of the new deal, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige suggested that in the future, Spider-Man would boast the unique trait of being able to appear in two different Cinematic Universes, bringing many to speculate that this would mean that Tom Holland’s Peter Parker from the MCU would soon be joining Sony’s Spider-Man Universe and sharing the screen with the likes of Venom and Morbius.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage commenced filming on November 15, 2019, and physical production concluded around the time of the Coronavirus Outbreak and the onset of the COVID-19 Global Pandemic. Venom: Let There Be Carnage was originally supposed to be released in October of 2020, but the Pandemic shutdown theaters (amongst many other things) for much of the year, prompting Sony Pictures to postpone the film several times before finally releasing it a full year after its initial intended release.

Cletus Kasady / Carnage was created by David Michelinie and Mark Bagley, debuting in 1992’s Amazing Spider-Man # 359.

In the Marvel comics, Carnage is the spawn of Venom.

Francis Barrison / Shriek was created by Tom DeFalco and Ron Lim in 1993, debuting in Spider-Man Unlimited # 1.

In Venom: Let There Be Carnage, the Venom symbiote refers to itself and Eddie Brock as “Lethal Protectors.” This was lifted from the Marvel comics when Venom emerged as an anti-hero character living in San Francisco after forming a truce with Spider-Man.

In his last moment, the eyes of Stephen Graham’s Patrick Mulligan glow blue. This sets him up to potentially portray the character Toxin in a future film set within this Universe.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage featured a groundbreaking credits scene which saw Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock and his Venom symbiote get transported into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, officially making Venom: Let There Be Carnage and its predecessor Venom canon to the MCU via the Multiverse. The scene was directed by Jon Watts and filmed on the set of Marvel Studios’ and Sony Pictures’ Spider-Man: No Way Home. That film revealed that this occurred due to a botched magical spell cast by the sorcerer Doctor Stephen Strange in a failed attempt to erase the minds of everyone in his Universe in a way that would cause everyone to forget that the MCU 616-Universe’s Spider-Man was Tom Holland’s Peter Parker. Instead of that happening, the barriers between worlds were shattered, and people from throughout the Multiverse that knew Peter Parker’s secret were pulled into the MCU 616-Universe. Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock / Venom was one such entity, as Venom shares a hive symbiotic mind with its species that reaches beyond Multiversal boundaries. Venom knew Peter Parker’s secret because an alternate version of itself learned it before dying while fighting Spider-Man. This Spider-Man was portrayed by Tobey Maguire and these events were chronicled in Sony Pictures’ 2007 film Spider-Man 3.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage was the seventh highest-grossing film of 2021, and one of an unprecedented four MCU films to place within the Top-10 for a given year along with Spider-Man: No Way Home, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and Eternals.

On Wednesday, April 21, 2021, the Walt Disney Company and Sony Pictures reached a groundbreaking deal to bring all of Sony’s Spider-Man films to Disney+ where they would exist alongside other Marvel Cinematic Universe films for viewing by Disney+ subscribers. This deal was said to include not only Spider-Man: Homecoming and Spider-Man: Far From Home, but Sam Raimi’s original Spider-Man Trilogy from 2002-2007, and both Amazing Spider-Man films from 2012 and 2014, in addition to both of Sony’s Venom films.

Venom’s much-hyped introduction into the Marvel Cinematic Universe ended up being much ado about nothing. Eddie Brock ended up not appearing in the main portion of Spider-Man: No Way Home, but he did appear during the film’s credits, seen hanging out at a bar in Mexico discussing the nature of extraterrestrials with a bartender. Brock does ultimately announce his intention to meet-up with Tom Holland’s Peter Parker / Spider-Man, but before he can embark upon that path Doctor Strange casts a spell that fixes the botched spell that brought Brock into the MCU 616-Universe in the first place, returning Eddie and Venom to the Cinematic Universe from which they came. There could be much, much more to this story to come however, as a small piece of the Venom symbiote was left behind in the MCU 616-Universe and is likely to make its way to Tom Holland’s Peter Parker / Spider-Man at some point.

Sony Pictures

My Venom: Let There Be Carnage Review

Venom: Let There Be Carnage was released in a year that will be remembered cinematically speaking, as the year of Spider-Man. A year that featured the release of Spider-Man: No Way Home; a celebration of the character’s cinematic history and a movie that has gotten credit for saving the movie-going business en route to becoming the highest-grossing Spider-Man film of all-time and the third highest-grossing MCU film of all-time, as well as the highest-grossing film of 2021. Venom: Let There Be Carnage was a part of all of that hype, with this film being the tool through which we got our first taste of a character from Sony’s Spider-Man Universe officially joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe with their previously established continuity intact.

It was hard coming out of this movie to focus on very much beyond that historical and groundbreaking moment in the credits, but there was a whole hour-and-a-half of stuff to take in prior to that monumental scene.

Was it any good? Yeah, I thought it was okay. Just as was the case with the first film, Venom: Let There Be Carnage is a step down in quality compared to the usual productions that have been churned out by Marvel Studios since 2008. It was never in the cards for Venom: Let There Be Carnage to be a Best Picture contender at the Oscars. It’s just not that kind of movie, and this film embraced its identity for what it was even more so than the first Venom movie did. As the title suggest, this is a film about Carnage. It’s mayhem and it’s violence and it’s wildly over the top.

Venom and Carnage are two of Marvel’s biggest character creations of the past 40-years. They’re frightening and violent characters with a vast mythology that has expanded exponentially in recent years through the outstanding work of writers such as Jason Aron and Donny Cates. In the 1990’s, Venom and Carnage, with their big eyes, sharp teeth, and in Venom’s case, a disturbingly long tongue, were widely celebrated as cutting-edge characters with big fan followings. Their monstrous appearances were celebrated for their awesomeness on television in Spider-Man: The Animated Series and in video games such as Spider-Man and Venom: Maximum Carnage. In the comics, Maximum Carnage was a huge Event Series. Getting these two together on film and in live action has been a long time coming for fans of these characters, and 2018’s Venom perfectly set up what was sure to be a memorable clash for the ages!

Venom: Let There Be Carnage is everything you always hear comic book movie detractors bash these kinds of films for. It’s loud. It’s noisy. It’s extremely heavy on CGI. It’s not very original, and it doesn’t have much in the way of emotional depth. This, like the first Venom film, is a popcorn movie with a few laughs, a few scares, and loads of action. In other words, it’s fun for people who enjoy these types of things. I am one such person, so I had a good time with this movie.

Sony Pictures

Just as was the case the first time around, Tom Hardy is once again the person who most makes this film work. The success of Venom in 2018, seemed to land Hardy even more creative freedom in this film, and he brought back that eccentric and quirky nervous behavior that defined his character in addition to some all-new kinds of crazy and bizarre antics. The relationship between Eddie and Venom and their trials and tribulations and debates were really great, and Venom was wildly entertaining as a character.

Watching Venom hang out at that party, decked-out in neon necklaces was one of those “wow, what a world we live in” sort of moments for me as a comic book reader and movie watcher. It was perfect, and there are all kinds of delightful little moments throughout this film from Venom, whether he is cooking for Eddie, singing, or biting people’s heads off! Venom is a wonderful character and Tom Hardy has done an outstanding job bringing the character to life and giving Sony and Marvel Studios all kinds of intriguing possibilities that can be explored with this character in the future. Of course, we all want to see Venom vs. a Spider-Man, but I think about a character like Knull (the God of the Symbiotes) and how Gorr the God Butcher debuted in Thor: Love and Thunder, and it really fires me up for the future! And I like Venom where he is in the action / horror / comedy place. His films are if nothing else, different, and that is a good thing.

Everything Eddie and everything Venom were hits with me, and I thought both Venom and Carnage looked amazing. I did not see Venom: Let There Be Carnage in theaters, but I bought the Blu-ray the day that it came out and the film looks and sounded great on my television / stereo system.

Outside of Tom Hardy and Eddie and Venom, this film was about Cletus Kasady and his beloved Shriek. I did not enjoy their love story and in fact, Shriek wasn’t all that enjoyable for me as a viewer. I also have to admit to being a little disappointed with Woody Harrelson’s performance. I was stoked about his casting, and Carnage was certainly a better villain than Riot in the first film, but I thought Harrelson was just a bit too over the top at times. I mean, he wasn’t Paul Giamatti in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 bad, but he was a far cry from Willem Dafoe’s Norman Osborn. Again, I thought Carnage looked really cool, and the fights with Venom were all I’d hoped they would be, but Kasady himself in human form was a bit of a miss in its execution.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage successfully brought Venom vs. Carnage to the big screen and expanded Venom’s mythology and reach in some very exciting ways. I don’t hold Eddie’s short MCU tenure against Spider-Man: No Way Home as a film, but I was disappointed that all that we got was all that we got. The door is always open for future crossovers, but I was looking forward to Tom Holland and Tom Hardy mixing it up on screen in the MCU and was especially excited by the notion of Tom Holland’s Peter Parker mixing it up with the Venom symbiote. Maybe we will still get to see that someday, but the more pressing issue is, exactly what Universe does Venom and Venom: Let There Be Carnage take place in, and does that Universe have a Spider-Man?

Personally, I hope we are going to discover that the Universe that Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock / Venom started out in is the same Universe that is inhabited by Andrew Garfield’s Peter Parker / Spider-Man. We know from No Way Home that Andrew’s Peter went down a dark path following the death of Gwen Stacy and that Universe was already established as having some very monstrous characters such as The Lizard and The Green Goblin. I think Andrew Garfield’s Peter Parker / Spider-Man living in New York City and experiencing the things he has experienced lines up perfectly with Tom Holland’s Eddie Brock / Venom living in San Francisco and going through all that he has gone through. The next Venom film could end up seeing the return of Andrew Garfield’s Amazing Spider-Man and further flushing out that cinematic world. I would be all for this, and I believe Morbius will end up existing in this world as well and bringing all of those characters together would be a huge deal that Sony could reap the benefits from exclusively.

Time will tell.

Sony Pictures

Highlights of Venom: Let There Be Carnage:

Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock / Venom

Chemistry Between Tom Hardy and Himself

Venom vs Carnage!

Sony’s Further Embrace of Marvel’s Horror Side

Groundbreaking Credits Scene that Transports Eddie Brock / Venom into the MCU

Sony Pictures

Notable MCU Concepts and Characters Introduced:

Venom: Let There Be Carnage officially ushered Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock / Venom into the Marvel Cinematic Universe while the ensuing film Spider-Man: No Way Home returned Eddie and (most of) Venom to the Universe from which they came. However, this small but groundbreaking move canonized both of Sony Picture’s Venom films and all of their characters as MCU canon via the Multiverse.