Trailer Breakdown For ‘Venom’: Let There Be Carnage (And the Best Twitter Reactions To Andy Serkis’ CGI Extravaganza)

By Josh Plainse

After numerous COVID-19-related delays, Sony finally released the first trailer for Andy Serkis’ Venom: Let There Be Carnage. It begins like most days; Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) pours himself a glass of orange juice as his titular symbiote sings the George and Ira Gershwin classic “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off” while making breakfast. Much like the aforementioned song’s message, Eddie and Venom are managing to get along, settling into a routine that does not include eating people…for now. The trailer also sets up the conflict, that will undoubtedly provoke a symphony of nerdgasms, between Venom and Carnage—Cletus Kasady’s (Woody Harrelson) symbiotic friend. It’s a CGI extravaganza to be sure, one worth reacting to on Twitter. 

https://twitter.com/ThatsQuayQuay/status/1391748409841754113?s=20

https://twitter.com/camillatwitt3r/status/1391744357460549633?s=20

https://twitter.com/BatatinhaGeek/status/1391758628370145288?s=20

Despite grossing $856.1 million worldwide, 2018’s Venom was criticized for seeming like a chaotic version of comic book movies from the early 2000s. The jury is out on whether the sequel will fare better with critics. Based upon the trailer, Venom: Let There Be Carnage appears to be leaning into the chaos causal moviegoers loved three years ago. The customer, they say, is always right. The film will also lean into the “Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters,” by introducing new characters and weaving a very profitable web, with or without Spider-Man. That said, from Naomi Harris’ Shriek and Daily Bugle nods to squashed spiders, here’s an arbitrary breakdown Sony’s latest trailer. 

Cover Photo: Sony Pictures

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Venom Carnage Trailer

  • Breakfast Of Champions

    Breakfast Of Champions

    It’s a hard knock life for us. Us being Eddie and Venom, who uses his tentacles to make breakfast, flicking around waffles, eggs, ketchup, and mushrooms throughout an apartment in disarray—there’s trash everywhere and animals running about (food?). At the end of Venom, the pair agree to coexist, and at the beginning of the Venom: Let There Be Carnage trailer, Eddie seemed to have begrudgingly accepted his symbiote pal while the latter is having a grand ol' time. It has all the making of your typical bromance/buddy cop/sitcom dynamic.

  • Stan The Man

    Stan The Man

    Gone but never forgotten. Not even death can stand in the way of a Stan Lee cameo. As Eddie heads in his local convenience store, and the audience is reintroduced to Mrs. Chen (Peggy Lu), Venom’s tentacle points to a magazine with Lee on the cover—indicating that this is indeed a Marvel film...whether or not it takes place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

  • Woody Harrelson’s Cletus Kasady

    Woody Harrelson’s Cletus Kasady

    Harrelson was first introduced as convicted serial killer Cletus Kasady in 2018’s Venom; requesting an interview with Eddie, Kasady promised “carnage” when he’s released from prison. The latter and its inmate of the moment return in Venom: Let There Be Carnage’s trailer. For whatever reason, Kasady is obsessed with Eddie, drawing parallels between the two and developing a sort of Lecter/Starling relationship. Later on in the trailer, we are shown Kasady’s execution; a cocktail of drugs enters his body, he transforms into Carnage, and voilà, he escapes—someone likely switched out the lethal injection with a symbiote. 

  • You Complete Me

    You Complete Me

    Kasady’s feelings for Eddie appear to be reciprocated. A brief shot shows Eddie rummaging through documents and looking into Kasady’s crimes on his laptop.

  • Enter That Actor You Know From That Thing

    Enter That Actor You Know From That Thing

    We get a brief glimpse of Stephen Graham’s (The Irishman, Boardwalk Empire) Mulligan, who is Kasady’s case and looking for his victims’ bodies. His investigation is one of the reasons Eddie is allowed to see Kasady. In the comics, Patrick Mulligan goes on to host the symbiote, Toxin, who is stronger than Venom and Carnage combined. 

    When we see Mulligan, he’s reading a Daily Bugle newspaper sporting the same logo design as the one from Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man movies. When ruffles through the paper, the letters “E-N-G-E-R-S” and “N-I-G-H-T-M” can be seen—an obvious reference to the Avengers. These Easter Eggs could imply Sony’s new movies take place within the same universe as Spider-Man of old or even within the MCU—something that is further hinted at by Michael Keaton’s Vulture appearing in the Morbius trailer...or it’s all just weird multiverse stuff that essentially means nothing. 

  • Michelle Williams’ Time Is Better Spent In Other Movies

    Michelle Williams’ Time Is Better Spent In Other Movies

    Williams is returning as Eddie’s former girlfriend, Anne Weying. However, after the pair meet up at a bar, Hardy’s character storms out, which doesn’t bode well for any future make-out sessions.

  • Ravoncroft Institute

    Ravoncroft Institute

    The trailer also shows us the outside of Ravencroft Institute, the place where most of Spider-Man’s villains are sent in the comics. This is also most likely where Kasady’s “death sentence” is carried out.

  • Shriek Not Shrek

    Shriek Not Shrek

    Naomie Harris’ Shriek is confirmed to be Venom: Let There Be Carnage’s second villain; we see her in Ravencroft lying down and then exhibiting her powers of manipulating sound. In the comics, she and Carnage are lovers. Therefore, it’s likely that relationship will carry over to the screen and see her escape Ravencroft with Kasady—we do see two people exiting a burning building later in the trailer. 

  • Arachnophobia

    Arachnophobia

    Fans hope for a Peter Parker/Spider-Man/Tom Holland cameo in Venom: Let There Be Carnage, setting up a showdown between the two main characters. During Kasady’s “waiting in the darkness for the rescuer that never comes” monologue, a man (probably Kasady) squashes a spider. This is either a troll or hints that the web-slinger is actually out there. 

  • Face Reveal

    Face Reveal

    Audiences get their first look at Carnage and it's visually magnificent; gory, red (as opposed to black), and comic-book accurate.

  • Amen

    Amen

    One of the coolest shots in the trailer features Carnage in front of a huge stained glass window. If the showdown between Venom and Carnage takes place in a church or cathedral, it’s worth noting that bells/loud instruments are effective weapons against the sound-sensitive symbiotes.

  • Food Isn't Love (And Neither Is Cannibalism, Armie Hammer)

    Food Isn't Love (And Neither Is Cannibalism, Armie Hammer)

    In the comics, one of Eddie’s main ways of getting Venom to stop eating people is to substitute chocolate—which somehow satisfied that seemingly insatiable hunger. In exchange for protection from local thugs, Mrs. Chen has been providing Eddie/Venom with large amounts of chocolate. Unfortunately for Mrs. Chen, the most recent shipment hasn’t arrived yet and Venom now wants to eat her.

Josh Plainse
Josh Plainse

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