Director Andy Serkis has offered some insight on the introduction of Naomie Harris' Shriek in the forthcoming Venom: Let There Be Carnage and how she fits into the story. A follow-up to the Tom Hardy-led 2018 Sony Marvel blockbuster, the sequel follows Eddie Brock (Hardy) and his titular alien symbiote as they must face off against serial killer Cletus Kasady and his evil alien symbiote Carnage. Woody Harrelson will return as the antagonist with Michelle Williams also reprising her role as Eddie's ex-fiancée Anne Weying.
The first standalone Venom film hit theaters in 2018 after over 20 years of attempts at getting one off the ground failed and appearances in other Spider-Man films were forced or scrapped. Despite its negative critical reception, the film was a box office smash, grossing over $856 million against its $100 million budget and with Hardy already having signed on to two more films, Sony officially greenlit a sequel in January 2019 with original co-writer Kelly Marcel attached to pen the script. With original director Ruben Fleischer busy putting the finishing touches on Zombieland: Double Tap, Sony tapped Andy Serkis to helm the sequel.
In a breakdown of the first trailer for the next installment in the Sony Pictures universe of Marvel characters for IGN, Serkis opened up about how Harris' Shriek would fit into the larger framework of the story. In addition to describing how Shriek would be explored in the sequel, Serkis praised Marcel's work of creating "beautifully drawn" and "multi-faceted...totally truthful and believable" characters. Read what Serkis had to say below:
“She's a damaged soul and she really has suffered in her childhood, but there is a real vulnerability about her, and she's in a lot of pain… She's been living in isolation for years, years and years. She's dangerous too and I think she has her own sense of fairness and being just, and I think when that line is crossed, then you see a very, very dangerous, dark side to her, and that's what we wanted to do with the character.”
There's certainly still a lot of uncertainty of how the film will introduce both Shriek and Carnage, namely whether it will properly adapt the "Maximum Carnage" storyline of the comics, given that it features a number of characters Sony doesn't have the rights to. But from both Serkis' comments and glimpses from the trailer, it seems the team behind Let There Be Carnage is certainly looking to remain faithful to the crossover arc and character. In addition, Marcel seems to be trying to make her a more vulnerable character by emphasizing her dark past. This is certainly a good sign the sequel will be offering a more interesting antagonist than the first film delivered.
Whether or not "Maximum Carnage" will act as the primary source of inspiration for the plot of the film, the first trailer and comments from the creative team do point toward wanting to fix the issues with the first film. Questions still abound as to how it will be explained Cletus got his symbiote or how Shriek acquired her powers, as the comics' explanation would require the film to have bigger ties to the Marvel Cinematic Universe than it may currently have. For now, viewers will have to wait and see how it all shakes out when Venom: Let There Be Carnage hits theaters on September 24.
Source: IGN