SPOILERS AHEAD: This sequel builds from the elements that worked in 2018’s Venom and works in a new (to the big screen) villain: the Cletus Kasady/Carnage symbiote (Woody Harrelson). Eddie Brock/Venom (Tom Hardy) is working on getting his career going again and keeping his black friend out of trouble. Cletus bites Eddie when the latter visits him in prison and the result is a mutated symbiote and is compatible biologically with Kasady, but not emotionally. Kasady breaks out and reunites with his childhood love Shriek (Naomi Harris), a mutant with a sonic scream, and the plot of the movie revolves around their intent to marry at a cathedral, with witnesses/victims in attendance Eddie knows all too well.
This is an odd blend of horror, romance, action, and comedy, with director Andy Serkis choosing to do a lot of the CGI scenes in low light and/or at night (probably so it looks better onscreen). Combined with the score and the violence (this is pretty violent for a PG-13 movie but definitely lacks blood and gore), and this moves a little away from the sci-fi of Venom’s first outing. It won’t scare adults or teens, but a couple of scenes might be too much for young kids.
I like that the insecure Brock doesn’t need Venom in any biological sense, but the alien does imbue him with abilities that help him resurrect his investigative journalism career. The movie includes a predictable breakup scene where they go their separate ways in anger, reuniting when Carnage threatens Eddie’s lost love Anne Weying (Michelle Williams).
This movie is in many ways the opposite of the elegantly-crafted Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. It is over-the-top goofy in spots, relentlessly-paced, and even within its own world-building, asks the viewer to suspend disbelief regarding Harrelson playing a late-30’s Kasady, Venom’s club adventure, and more of the weird dialogue found in the first movie.
I can’t say this is a great movie by any means. If you love Carnage from the comics, this movie does it justice, though. It looks both menacing and powerful. There is growth in the Brock/Venom relationship, although the movie moves so fast it doesn’t have time to “bake” naturally. Venom: Let There Be Carnage reminds me of the first Underworld movie a little bit, with elements of Natural Born Killers.
And then there is the mid-credits scene.
Eddie and Venom are chilling in an apartment and Venom starts sharing a bit of its vast knowledge with its host, when there is a weird phenomenon, and the TV switches to J. Jonah Jameson ranting about Peter Parker is Spider-Man and Parker just killed Mysterio (the end of Spider-Man: Far From Home). This could be a result of the end of Loki season one, when The One Who Remains explains the divergent timelines and how the resulting chaos. It looks like the Venomverse timeline has crossed over into (what has been labelled as) the Earth-199999 timeline. This likely portends a meeting between Venom and Spider-Man possibly as soon as the upcoming Spider-Man: No Way Home , set for December 2021.
