Warning: This article contains mild spoilers for Venom: Let There Be Carnage.

It may surprise some to learn that Venom: Let There Be Carnage isn't R-rated, but there's a reason for that: here's how violent it is. When the first Venom movie was released in 2018, a number of fans of the comic books were disappointed that, instead of the R rating they'd expected, it was rated PG-13. Despite that disappointment, the movie went on to be an enormous hit, generating $856 million at the global box office.

Venom 2 sees Andy Serkis taking over directing duties from Ruben Fleischer, and once again, there was hope that Sony might consider making the sequel a proper, R-rated movie. Considering the success of the first movie, this seemed reasonable, particularly when it was revealed that Cletus Kasady/Carnage would be the major villains of Venom 2. After all, Carnage is one of the most brutal and violent supervillains in the Marvel universe; it would be only right to give him a rating to match.

Related: How No Spider-Man Changed Venom's Movie Origin

However, Venom: Let There Be Carnage received the same PG-13 rating as before. Carnage is just as vicious as he is in the comics, particularly in one extended action sequence in a prison. Two big reasons go into Venom 2's PG-13 rather than R rating: a lack of blood and quick cuts. Make no mistake, both serial killer Cletus Kasady and the red symbiote that bonds with him are savage killers and that plays out on screen. But, as with all PG-13 movies, violence that would be brutal and horrific in real life or in a hard R-rated movie are completely bloodless in Venom 2. People are tossed like rag dolls and bodies broken, but Venom: Let There Be Carnage wipes it clean of all gore and viscera, rendering the violence inert and surface level.

Carnage in Venom Let There Be Carnage

There are a few moments in Venom: Let There Be Carnage that have the veneer of being genuinely, horrifically brutal, but the violence either happens off-screen or the camera cuts away just before the act. There is a scene, for example, where a newly-sprung Cletus Kasady stomps a store clerk so brutally that it's implied he killed him. It's unclear, however, since the actual violence happens behind the counter; the only thing the audience sees is Kasady from the waist up. Likewise, the secondary villain in the film, Shriek, is shot early on, but it's not shown in close-up. Another moment in which Shriek threatens to gouge out the eyeball of a man in a close shot ends when Shriek is distracted before she can finish the job.

Overall, Venom 2 is just as big and bonkers as the first movie, and the final, extended battle in the church offers a handful of moments of extremely visceral violence – but it's all implied, never shown. Throughout the movie, there's plenty of violence, but the violence that unfolds is bloodless and the moments where it would be impossible to not show gore sidestep the R rating thanks to clever cuts and framing. Those looking to be entertained by the bickering dynamic of Eddie Brock and Venom or by Cletus Kasady and Carnage's savagery will no doubt be happy. But those anticipating gory, hard-R violence from the PG-13 rated Venom: Let There Be Carnage should adjust expectations going in.

Next: Does Venom: Let There Be Carnage Have A Post-Credits Scene (& How Many)?