Venom 2 CONFIRMED, Fifty Shades Of Grey Writer Returns
Is Tom Hardy ready for Woody Harrelson's Carnage?
Given the phenomenal box office success of the first Venom movie - which has now taken over $850 million at the global box office - it was always likely there'd be more coming in this franchise. It might not have been exactly critically acclaimed, but it definitely had its fans and there's a lot to admire in what Tom Hardy did with the character.
On the back of Sony announcing an October 2020 slot for an upcoming sequel without a title, they've now confirmed that that movie will indeed be Venom 2. Tom Hardy will return and so will Michelle Williams (hopefully with more to do this time) and Woody Harrelson as Carnage after his mid-credits debut in Venom.
It's set to be written by Kelly Marcel, who has previously written Saving Mr Banks and Fifty Shades Of Grey and was brought in for rewrites on the first Venom. Let's hope that the bits she rewrote were the good bits and not the opening third of the movie before Venom properly shows up, because that was... not so good.
Director Ruben Fleischer is not a lock yet and it may be that his schedule for Zombieland 2 - which will see him unavailable until October at the earliest - makes it impossible and he ends up being replaced by someone else. This might not be the worst thing in the world, because the map for making Venom 2 better has already been plotted by another sequel and that required a change of director too.
If Venom 2 wants to REALLY win, they'll go with the Deadpool 2 method. The first Deadpool was great, but that was mostly thanks to Ryan Reynolds' performance and the material he was given to work with. The supporting characters, villains and story weren't anywhere near up to the same level and that's very much the same with Venom.
Just as Deadpool 2 allowed Reynolds more scope to make his own, more outrageous movie that pushed everything that made Deadpool a great character and added heart and more substance, Sony should do the same with Tom Hardy. Looking at his interviews, he was frustrated during the first film's production over the decision to cut out most of the material he had the most fun shooting, which all sounded like the most colourful, outrageous stuff.
By the sound of it, he knows what the fans want from Venom and inviting him to take a more active role in the sequel's creation would be a smart move, no matter who the director is.
Let's hope that the sequel pushes the bonkers agenda even more. Carnage should certainly allow for that and it would be great to see more of She-Venom after the tiny hint in the first movie. She deserves it.