With the sound of corn kernels popping and the smell of butter in the air, “Venom: Let There be Carnage” was released Sept. 30 as a sequel to “Venom.” The movie was a box office success, with a $90 million opening day total, exceeding their expectations by $30 million. 

“Let There be Carnage” begins where its predecessor left off, with the main character Eddie (Tom Hardy), living in a not-so-perfect symbiotic relationship with the parasite Venom. The parasite relies upon Eddie for survival and subsequently, Eddie relies upon Venom for his survival as well. After their many fights together they created a multitude of enemies prepared to hunt down both sides of the duo. 

Eddie is a news reporter and has the opportunity to interview a high priority criminal, Cletus Kasady (Woody Harrelson) who is currently in police custody. This leads Eddie down a rabbit hole of discovery, and with Venom’s help, uncovers hidden truths about Cletus’s past crimes, as well as digging deeper into the criminal’s childhood. This gave Eddie and the audience important insight into why Cletus lost his mind. 

There were also love interests for both Eddie and Cletus. Eddie’s possible love interest is his ex-fiance, Anne Weying (Michelle Williams). She was featured in the first installation of the series. This sequel continues her and Eddie’s rollercoaster of a love story with many ups and downs. Cletus’s girlfriend is Frances Barrison A.K.A. Shriek (Naomie Harris). He grew up with Shriek in a foster home, and although they were parted at times throughout their life, their distance only grew their love for each other. Playing another major villain in the film, Shriek was a large factor in Cletus’s continued insanity.

Eddie and Venom are shown constantly bickering over differing viewpoints; however it is incorporated with a sarcastic, funny tone. This gives the movie some comedic relief amongst the serious plot. Many funny fight scenes are also thrown into the movie, keeping it entertaining and full of action.

The acting helped the believability of the movie and led to a more enthralling plotline. Harrelson played the role of a psychotic criminal nearly perfect, from maniacal laughs to complete insanity. Along with making Cletus a downright maniac, Harrelson also makes you feel bad for the character at times. As he explains his childhood and the bad fortune he has had, the audience begins to see how he became such a horrible villain and starts to gain sympathy for the misunderstood character.

Hardy, along with playing Eddie, was also the voice for Venom. His ability to change his voice with such ease shows a high skill level that helped further the entertainment factor of the movie.

The soundtrack for the movie also helped towards its success, featuring many songs by Eminem. After Eminem’s initial feature in the first installation of the series, his song “Venom” became extremely popular as well as helping the movie appear on non-Marvel fans radars. 

Expectations for this film were very high after the first adaptation, and it did not disappoint, especially the end credit scene which was extremely important for future Marvel movies. It gave insight into the next Marvel release, as well as tying Venom into the bigger picture of the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe). Marvel fans will have to watch the film in theaters to find out the fate of Venom along with the Marvel Universe as a whole.

Contact Makinzy Todd at [email protected]