Venom: Let There Be Carnage has had its theatrical release pushed back, but its new release date closer to Halloween will be to the movie's advantage. With the new delta variant complicating efforts to end the COVID-19 pandemic and nationwide vaccination not yet achieved in the United States, the delay of the sequel to 2018's Venom isn't terribly surprising, the film having moved from September 24 to October 15. However, assuming Let There Be Carnage is able to hold onto that date, it's actually a more fitting one for it.

The first Venom was released on October 5, 2018, and went on to pull in $856 million worldwide. Part of that can probably be attributed to the monstrous Venom character himself being one ideally suited to debut in cinemas during the Halloween season, much more so than superhero movies with less of an anti-hero or horror movie angle. Though more in the vein of a horror-comedy, Venom's surprise box office success boiled down to a few factors, and it also benefitted from its title character being one very much tailored for a time of the year when monsters and the horror genre, in general, are more on audiences' collective minds than at any other point on the calendar.

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While the trailers show that Let There Be Carnage is not ditching the wacky comedic banter between Tom Hardy's Eddie Brock and the alien symbiote he's bonded with, it's also bringing the equally vicious symbiote-based villain Carnage into play. With Woody Harrelson returning as Cletus Kasady after his end-credits cameo in the first Venom, Carnage is well-known as a serial killer with superpowers. The entire premise and marketing of Let There Be Carnage are based on a showdown of monsters, which makes a release date in the Halloween season even more of wise move.

Carnage in Venom Let There Be Carnage

With two alien creatures as its stars and no clear ties to the MCU (though Tom Hardy wants a Spider-Man crossover), Let There Be Carnage has the freedom to dive more into horror movie waters. Sony's own Marvel villain-centered cinematic universe also has the upcoming Morbius on the way, which Eddie Brock may be making a cameo in. Assuming that happens, the Venom sequel emphasizing its horror elements could be a great lead-in to Eddie crossing paths with Jared Leto's titular vampire, giving another bit of incentive for Let There Be Carnage to debut near Halloween.

Of course, it should be emphasized that no theatrical release date can be set in stone with the current state of the pandemic. The release dates of numerous fall and holiday season movies, such as the Sony-MCU release of Spider-Man: No Way Home, continue to be to discussed without one hundred percent certainty that they'll stay put. The new date of Let There Be Carnage is also the same date as Halloween Kills, and it's unlikely that the latest return of Michael Myers and an alien monster battle are going to maintain the same date, much less during a pandemic. Still, Venom: Let There Be Carnage moving to October is a smart course of action for Sony, who can now market it as a comic book movie with horror vibes during the spookiest time of the year.

NEXT: Venom 2 Needs To Be Less Stranger Things, More Men In Black

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