Venom: Let There Be Carnage is the hotly anticipated sequel that will finally introduce fan-favorite villain Carnage to the big screen. In the storied history of Venom's lore, the concept of symbiotes carries on for years, encapsulating many characters, and some of the lines in the trailer give the impression that the ongoing Venom franchise might include even more monsters.
In 2018's Venom the titular anti-hero made his second ever film appearance, and the villainous Riot was introduced to movie going audiences. Carnage will be the next big introduction, totaling three symbiotes in the franchise thus far, but the comics contain many more.
Venom was technically introduced into the Marvel universe in 1984, but made his first full appearance four years later in 1988. The symbiote bonded with Spider-Man, creating the iconic black suit before bonding with Eddie Brock to create the Venom fans know and love today. Venom was hugely popular, still one of the most beloved comic book villains in history, so the character gradually shifted from villain to more of an anti-hero role. With Venom often taking the role of protagonist, the writers needed a new symbiote to do evil.
Carnage was introduced in 1992 with the express purpose of being a darker and more violent version of Venom, due to the character's immense popularity. The writers were reticent to split the symbiote from Eddie Brock, so they devised a new symbiote. In the comics, Carnage is the first offspring of Venom, abandoned in a prison cell and left to bond with serial killer Cletus Kasady. This familial bond leads the character to see Venom as an arch-nemesis, but Carnage is not the only offspring of Venom.
Over the years, Venom spawned another five offspring through a forced birthing process, changed forms a couple of times, was cloned, and became a grandparent as Carnage spawned a couple of his own. Interestingly, Riot, introduced as a villain in the first Venom film, was one of Venom's children in the comics. His other children were given comparably edgy names including Scream, Agony, Lasher, and Phage. The latter three combined with Riot to form Hybrid, and Carnage also spawned Toxin, Scorn, and Raze. Finally, Venom was also cloned, reabsorbed his clone, and expelled the extra onto a teenage girl to form Mania.
That is a total of 11 unique symbiotes, and there are still a few more, including Anti-Venom or Venom from the 2099 series. While there are many creatures, they are all along the same family line with Venom as its patriarch. While Riot has already been included in a radically different capacity than his comic book source, the remaining handful of offspring could still become important parts of the film universe.
In the marketing released so far for Venom: Let There Be Carnage Eddie Brock and Cletus Kasady seem to have a strange connection. Kasady invites Brock to interview him, just as he did in the end credit scene of the previous film, claiming that they share something special. In one of the strangest scenes in the trailer, Kasady takes a bite out of Brock's hand through the bars of his cell, claiming that what he tastes is not blood. The fact that he senses a connection with Brock before having met him and sinks his teeth into him upon first interaction implies a very different set of circumstances than their relationship in the comic.
If Kasady has the Carnage symbiote before meeting Eddie Brock, he must have gotten it somewhere else. If he does not have it, he must have some other way of determining Brock's secret identity. Either way, it is a different introduction for the character than the previous iterations. The film universe could be excising the offspring aspect of the character, allowing the other symbiotes to exist outside the family line. This is the decision the filmmakers made with Riot in the first film, and could carry throughout the franchise.
Venom was clearly intended to be the jumping-off point for a film universe on the level of the Marvel or DC cinematic universe. If those plans remain as intended, the hallmark of the universe is clearly the symbiote concept. Marvel's backlog of symbiotes is vast and varied, some being totally forgotten while others become beloved. If the filmmakers have devised a different way in which Carnage was born, then that origin could also bring audiences the other cast of symbiote creatures, and possibly even create some new ones.
The biggest downfall of this concept is repetitiveness. The first film and the upcoming sequel have evil symbiotes as their primary antagonists, with one wild card thrown in, and if that is the plan going forward, the concept could swiftly grow stale. Each symbiote could develop new abilities, new personalities, and new motivations as the alien infestation expands. Symbiote characters can fill a variety of interesting roles and carry a full universe if applied and spaced out well. Fans would likely be ecstatic to see a Mania movie or a Mercury team movie in the mold of this new superhero universe.
Venom and Let There Be Carnage may be the big introduction of the symbiote concept to many new fans, and that concept has been strong enough to carry many comic storylines. If the films get to go on, fans may see the film premiere of lesser-known comic book horrors or even brand new alien hybrids.