Venom 2: what could the storyline become with Tom Hardy’s involvement?

Tom Hardy is assisting Kelly Marcel with the screenplay for the Venom sequel but to what extent? What impact does it have? And what could the plot be?

Recently, it’s been revealed that not only Carnage will be the villain in the sequel to Venom, but Shriek will be, as well. Back in August, CBR.com reported that actor Tom Hardy, who is reprising his role as the parasitic alien life-form and disgraced journalist Eddie Brock, is involved with the development of the script with one of the original screenwriters.

Kelly Marcel, writer and executive producer of Venom 2, is the collaborator Hardy is contributing to the writing process with. “Tom was very involved with the writing, with Kelly Marcel, of the news story,” new coming director Andy Serkis, informed. “So it’s very much centered around their take.” On the filmmaking process, the Breathe director stated at the time:

"“I’m excited to work with all the great actors who are involved. It’s a fantastic franchise.”“I’m really honored to have been asked to direct it. And it feels like it’s a very, again, very contemporary story. And it’s I think it’s going to be, hopefully, a story piece of cinema.”"

Most recently, Black and Blue and Skyfall star, Naomie Harris, was said to be in final negotiations to play Shriek in Sony’s Universe of Marvel Characters (SUMC)  for Venom 2. Serkis has quite a few stars in his sandcastle, with the likes of Hardy, Michelle Williams, Woody Harrelson and hopefully now, Harris. With Shriek added to the mix, it appears Marcel could be building towards the “Maximum Carnage” storyline.

Know your character, bolster and extend your theme.

Although we are not certain as to the extent of Hardy’s involvement with Marcel on the second chapter of Venom’s journey, the star has to bring those key moments to life. The collaboration between the writer and actor is just as crucial as the one between writer and director. Hardy has made it more than clear he is a fan of the Lethal Protector and really embodied both Eddie Brock and Venom in the original film. It’s also quite clear Sony chose Marcel to continue penning the sequel because they saw a diamond in the rough within her draft, following the previous script by Scott Rosenberg and Jeff Pinkner.

What Hardy can bring to the table is more of the character interactions between Brock and the symbiote, which made the life-form the MVP of the last film. Whether or not Marcel was responsible for those scenes is not known, but it appears that she seems to excel more in tone and character development as opposed to dialogue, which Hardy could assist with in that arena in terms of subtext. The key is that Brock will have a complicated relationship between himself and the symbiote, Cletus Kasady (Harrelson) and their asexual son/enemy, Carnage. With Shriek added to the mix, we are in for a more toxic impasse.

Naomie Harris’ portrayal of Shriek

Provided the script is a lot tighter this time around, Naomie Harris can bring an energy to Shriek that is intense and maniacal and a performance that can carry weight. The Golden Globe and BAFTA-nominated actress clearly has range, as she has been involved in vast amounts of roles, from 28 Days Later to the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, along with the James Bond series featuring Daniel Craig and Moonlight.

For the role of Shriek, think of the drug-addicted mother of Moonlight protagonist Chiron mixed with the Voodoo Queen and sea goddess Tia Dalma/Calypso in the Pirates films. Hopefully, the character has enough screen time to make an impact on viewers. Shriek is a key player in the “Maximum Carnage” story arc, so the screenwriter will need to plant the seeds towards their “Avengers0level” event. Harris is more than capable of leaving a lasting impression on moviegoers, regardless of how strong the script is.

Not quite “Maximum Carnage,” instead, Existentialism versus Nihilism

This could be reaching but, with enough work put into it, the sequel may have the potential to be the next Dark Knight in terms of escalation and set pieces, not quality. For those who may think I’m crazy, first, hear me out. Yes, the comparisons between Venom 2 and The Dark Knight may not be the best. With Venom 2, the creative team has a chance to explore high-concept themes such as ethics between the aforesaid protagonist and antagonist as apposed to just going for a CGI slugfest.

More from Movies

• James Gunn’s Superman: Legacy casts more major DC characters
• New Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom trailer pushes Arthur to his limits
• 7 actors who could replace Ezra Miller as The Flash in the DC Universe
• Masters of the Universe reboot’s new domain could be at Amazon’s Prime Video Streamer
• James Gunn gives interesting update of Superman and Supergirl movies at DC Studios

Before digging deep into the ethics aspect as a potential theme, the conflict between Venom, Carnage and Shriek can mirror the conflict between Batman, Joker and Two-Face from The Dark Knight. The comparisons end there. With Batman, his ethics are leaning more towards deontology, but taking the law into his own hands. The Joker is pure anarchy and chaos in that society more or less should embrace what life has to bring in chaos: to not allow or beholden to a system that “appears” safe. His ideology is that society’s belief in order is the real joke.

Before his transformation into Two-Face, Harvey Dent was a district attorney that had faith in the justice system despite its corruption. Batman, Dent and Lieutenant James Gordon were cleaning up the streets of Gotham, one crime family at a time. After being driven mad by his torture, Dent’s ethics shifted towards chance and luck.

In the case of Venom, he is shown to be morally ambiguous but leans more towards justice. With this, Venom 2 can set the stage for “Maximum Carnage” but can draw inspiration from a few storylines, the introduction of Carnage and confrontation seen in The Amazing Spider-Man No. 361 to No. 363, the two limited series illustrated by artist Clayton Crain such as Venom vs. Carnage, by Peter Milligan and 2010’s Carnage by Zeb Wells.

As for themes, the conversation on ethics can delve into nihilism versus existentialism and sadism. What is the meaning of life for the symbiotes? Should they coexist with humanity? Fully take control of their host and leave them as an empty shell or eradicate all life and embrace their parasitic nature? We’ll just have to wait and see what Hardy and Marcel cook up for the symbiote’s latest big-screen outing.