By: Jayden Presley 

“Venom: Let There Be Carnage” was released in U.S. theatres on Oct. 1, nearly three years after its predecessor, “Venom.”  

Though the film was originally set to be released on Oct. 2, 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic caused the release to be delayed several times.  

Tom Hardy reprised the roles of Eddie Brock and Venom. Michelle Williams, who played Brock’s ex-fiancée, Anne Weying, also returned. 

The director, Andy Serkis, notably acted in the role of Ulysses Klaue in “Black Panther” and other films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He is also known for voicing and providing the motion capture for Gollum in the “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy. 

The first film ended with a teaser for the sequel, introducing the main antagonist Cletus Kasady, who was played by Woody Harrelson.  

The sequel begins with Kasady’s backstory, where he attended St. Estes Home for Unwanted Children with childhood sweetheart, Frances Barrison, played by Naomie Harris. Barrison is stolen away due to her sonic scream ability and taken to a place where she can be controlled.  

In the present, Brock interviews Kasady, now an infamous serial killer, to find out where he buried his victims. Venom deciphers Kasady’s drawings by using his symbiote abilities to pinpoint the locations, which gives Brock notoriety as a journalist. 

Kasady is sentenced to death by lethal injection and invites Brock to his execution. 

The meeting escalates and, after biting Brock’s hand, Kasady ingests a part of the symbiote blood. Kasady breaks free from execution when the symbiote mutates into Venom’s counterpart Carnage.  

A continuing conflict in the movie centers around Brock and Venom’s inability to coexist within the same body. Venom detaches from Brock’s body after an argument, and both characters spend time apart during a portion of the movie. 

Kasady’s first action is breaking Barrison, also known as Shriek, out of her isolated prison. The couple plan to wed in a cathedral, but not before fulfilling Carnage’s wish to destroy Venom. Shriek captures Anne Weying to draw Brock out into the open.  

After settling their differences, Brock and Venom work together to stop Kasady and Carnage from causing more destruction. The movie ends with a battle in the cathedral, where Brock and Venom are victorious, and they decide to hide away on an isolated island. 

The ending credits show an important teaser, beginning with Brock and Venom discussing how symbiotes have knowledge of other universes. 

A strange glitch transports them to a different location. Brock and Venom watch as the TV screen shows news of James Jonah Jameson revealing the identity of Peter Parker as Spider-Man, a familiar movie scene from “Spider-Man: Far From Home.”  

It is heavily implied that Venom will appear in the movie “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” which releases on Dec. 17. 

Despite the movie’s importance in moving the Venom storyline forward, the entire film felt rushed and underdeveloped. The fight scenes lacked the creativity that “Venom” had to offer, and the overall CGI of Venom and Carnage did not live up to the quality of the first movie. 

While “Venom” had its flaws, the story did not seem to be rushing to the end credits like the sequel. “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” overused the comedic bit of Venom’s particular taste in biting off the heads of his victims, but then failed to deliver in showing blood and gore.  

Both films in the “Venom” franchise received criticism from fans for not being rated R to portray the blood and gore shown in the comic books. In terms of the sequel, the PG-13 rating holds it back from exploring the level of violence that Venom and Carnage are capable of committing.