Sony have released new images for Venom: Let There Be Carnage which show off the battle between the film's symbiotes, as well as Naomie Harris' Shriek. The sequel to 2018's Venom, Let There Be Carnage sees Tom Hardy return as the titular lethal avenger as he battles the escaped serial killer Cletus Kasady (Woody Harrelson), who has become host to the symbiote Carnage. Alongside Hardy and Harrelson, Harris joins as Shriek, a damaged soul who is in love with Kasady and capable of manipulating sound.
Venom 2 was originally scheduled for release in October 2020 but was delayed several times as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. On August 12th, Sony - who have been committed to theatrical releases throughout the pandemic - delayed the film's release by a further three weeks from September 24th to October 15th amidst a surge in COVID cases involving the Delta variant. However, there are rumors abound that Sony will delay the film even further to 2022, which would not be surprising considering they just closed a deal with Amazon that sees Hotel Transylvania 4 forego a theatrical release and land directly on the streaming platform instead.
While there are conflicting reports about Venom 2's fate, the ten new images released by Sony suggest that they are going ahead with the planned release date. The photos (via Comicbook.com) show Venom and Carnage in the midst of their climatic confrontation, similar to what has been shown in the most recent trailer. They also show Hardy's Eddie Brock being interrogated by both Stephen Graham's Detective Mulligan and Michelle Williams' Anne, although it seems that he and Venom are co-operating voluntary considering the lack of handcuffs. You can check out the images below:
Perhaps most interesting are the images of Harris' Shriek. Very little has been shown of the character so far, aside from her imprisonment in the Ravencroft Institute and brief snippets of her escape. The images continue this, showing Shriek attempting to use her powers on a guard who is wearing noise-cancelling headphones. As such, her role in the film remains to be seen although Venom 2 director Andy Serkis has promised that she will have a dark side. Considering her abilities, and the fact that sonic waves are a significant weakness to symbiotes, it's entirely possible she may prove integral to hindering Venom, or even stopping Carnage if she has a change of heart.
The images continue to show a great deal of promise for the much-anticipated sequel, however if Venom 2 is indeed delayed further they will do little to placate dissatisfied fans. Considering the working relationship between Sony and Disney, chiefly in regards to Spider-Man, it would make more sense if the two studios could work out an arrangement that sees Venom 2 come to Premier Access on Disney+. The studio have already made a similar deal with Amazon, although Disney are notoriously difficult to negotiate with and Sony already have an arrangement that their titles in the Sony Spider-Man Universe become available on Netflix first.
The rumored date for Venom 2's delay is that of fellow SSU film Morbius, which makes sense as Hardy is rumored to make an appearance in the Jared Leto-led vampire movie. Considering that the first trailer for Morbius has already shown that Michael Keaton's Vulture from Spider-Man: Homecoming will appear, it seems that film will serve to tie the SSU together and could even pave the way for an appearance from Venom in Disney's MCU. Of course, this is purely hypothetical, and we won't know anything until Venom: Let There Be Carnage is finally released. Fans will just have to hope that the film isn't delayed any further.
Source: Sony via ComicBook.com
