Venom bites off Spider-Man's head in an R-rated fan poster for Venom: Let There Be Carnage. Thanks to the box office success of the first Venom, Sony is currently moving full-speed ahead with an entire universe of Spider-Man antihero movies. That includes the Venom sequel, which was recently postponed from its original release date in October to June 2021 in response to the coronavirus pandemic. In addition to delaying its launch time, Sony has also announced Venom 2 is titled Let There Be Carnage in honor of Woody Harrelson's serial killer Cletus Kasady and his symbiote counterpart.
With Venom and the upcoming Morbius tying into the MCU with their marketing, there's been a lot of rumor-mongering about Tom Holland's Spider-Man showing up in Let There Be Carnage. Tom Hardy (who's once again reprising his role as Eddie Brock in the sequel) helped stir the pot by posting, then quickly deleting an image of Venom attacking Spider-Man from his Instagram account shortly after the title was revealed. Now, a fan artist has taken the idea a little further, and in a decidedly bloody direction.
In a post on their Instagram account, digital artist Yadvender Singh Rana (aka. ultraraw26) unveiled some definitely R-rated art for Venom: Let There Be Carnage inspired by Hardy's photo. You can check it out below.
Obviously, if Holland's Peter Parker shows up in Venom 2, it's safe to assume he will NOT be getting his head chomped off (a la this gory fan artwork). Interestingly, though, there is a real possibility the sequel will be rated R. Producer Matt Tolmach actually confirmed as much in a previous interview, saying the option is on the table thanks to the R-rated Joker grossing north of $1 billion at the box office last fall. Considering the first Venom was rated PG-13 and took in $856 million in theaters back in October 2018, odds are Sony will play it safe and stick with that rating for the sequel. That's all the more likely at this stage, with Venom: Let There Be Carnage now arriving in the midst of the traditionally-competitive summer.
Still, while it might not go all the way to earning an R-rating, the Venom sequel is nevertheless shaping up to be more gruesome than its predecessor. That was already expected due to Cletus being the primary villain, but seems all the more likely now with Andy Serkis calling the shots. The latter is known for making darker effects-driven fare, both as a director (Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle) and an actor (Plane of the Apes), and that should continue with Let There Be Carnage, as its title implies. Hopefully, Serkis will also put his motion-capture knowledge to good use and allow Hardy's acting to shine through, in-between all the Venom head-chomping wackiness.
Source: ultraraw26/Instagram
