Venom: Let There Be Carnage is set to debut at $60 million if estimates prove to be correct. The sequel to the 2018 Venom film is reportedly delivering in every sense of the world, taking the next step in the supervillain's story that began in the last film.
Venom: Let There Be Carnage will be introducing Cletus Kasady/Carnage, the scarlet symbiote from the Marvel comic books who is often a foil for both Spider-Man and Venom. In fact, it often requires both characters to take down Carnage. In both the comics and Sony's sequel film, Kasady becomes Carnage after getting a symbiote like the titular protagonist Eddie Brock/Venom.
While tracking and leading exhibitors estimate Let There Be Carnage will open this weekend with $60 million-plus, Sony is being more cautious by predicting a $40 million debut. The first Venom film teased Kasady in a post-credits scene, but now fans will see the titans fight in this film from directed by Andy Serkis. According to Deadline, "There wasn’t an empty seat in the house [at a fan screening] and the movie played like gangbusters to great cheers with fans dressed in tow." This lines up with the private fan screening of Venom a few weeks ago. The outlet went on to compare Let There Be Carnage to the first Venom film by saying, "Unlike the clunkiness of the first 2018 movie, which totally delivered, this sequel heightens the Venom mythology and continues the Spidey villains toward a Sinister Six track which Sony definitely has its eyes upon down the road."
If there's any truth to the Sinister Six project from Sony then, this film may do a lot more than just have two of the most popular Spider-Man supervillains fight each other. In a perfect world, Let There Be Carnage would tie in with Tom Holland's Spider-Man continuity, but fans shouldn't hold their breath for something of that magnitude. Fans will be more than satisfied with just Carnage as the villain, especially since the character looks just like he does in the comic books.
Venom 2 may be set to do well at the box office, but many will begin to wonder where the film series goes from here. Since the film will see Venom and Carnage fight, future sequels will need to find someone or something that can top this battle. There are not many characters who can one-up the anticipation fans have for Carnage, so many people look to Spider Man as the next adversary for Venom.
In the meantime, fans should enjoy Venom 2 being out at long last. The film is taking steps to give fans a better showing than what they got in 2018, so that will always be appreciated. Keep in mind the 2018 Venom film wasn't outright terrible to many, it just had a few things that could be improved. It focused on the villain's origin, so now all the sequels have to do is just continue on the path.
Venom: Let There Be Carnage will debut in theaters on October 1st, 2021.
Source: Deadline