With Let There Be Carnage out on the big screen, we got to thinking about whether or not there will be a Venom 3 for Tom Hardy and the rest of the people-eating crew. Both of the two films are a part of Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, which weirdly doesn’t include any Spider-Man films, but is the second flick the end of the line or the start of something bigger.
The next film in the series will be Morbius, which introduces the vampire-like character into the mix as yet another anti-hero of sorts. It continues the theme of characters battling with their inner demons, while still trying to save the day, mostly, so fits in well with Eddie Brock and his toothy symbiotic alien pal with a killer instinct, Venom.
AdvertisementMorbuis will then be followed in 2023 by Kraven the Hunter with Aaron Taylor-Johnson in the leading role. It’s another character that is historically villainous in the comic books, but with antihero sentiments at times, so clearly there’s a theme forming in the direction of Sony’s Spider-Man Universe.
Have the previous films done enough to justify Venom 3?
Its fair to say that Let There Be Carnage was far from the critics choice during its autumn run on the big screen, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that that it hasn’t done enough to justify the production of Venom 3. The reviews may not have been particularly favorable, but the reality is that it has been fairly successful at the box office, which is always a good indicator for the future of a series.
AdvertisementHowever, there is a but and it’s a fairly big one because it’s all about the production company getting enough bang for its buck. Venom 2 has done well at the cinema, but it’s nowhere near as successful as the first film, which could give Sony something to think about in terms of the future of the series.
In fact, its takings are around have of the box office haul for the first film, so there’s clearly a big gap between the two from a business point of view. The only caveat to this is that Let There Be Carnage is still out in cinemas, so it’s possible that it will be able to close the gap partially by the time it finished. Although, there definitely isn’t enough space for it to catch up completely, so it’s still going to be down.
AdvertisementThe other side to this argument is that we’re only just on the other side of the worst of the global COVID-19 pandemic, so there’s a very good reason for slower performance in terms of global box office takings. The Tom Hardy production would have undoubtedly done better if it weren’t for the remaining disruption from the virus, so it’s difficult to judge it in comparison to the first film.
A big factor in terms of the prospect of Venom 3 could be the performance of the next Sony Spider-Man Universe film, Morbius. If that does well enough then things could look positive for the threequel. However, if it bombs or doesn’t stack up to its budget then it could prompt an even larger rethink by Sony with its Marvel tie-in.
Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter to see more news and updates on upcoming home entertainment releases, and you can see more on the film with the official Venom Movie Twitter page at https://twitter.com/VenomMovie.
The future of Venom 3 in the Sony Spider-Man Universe
The first two films in the series are also the first two movies in the SPMU, so it’s clearly very important in the future of it all. Clearly, the idea is to build something up that has the potential to be as big as the MCU or the DCEU. With this in mind, Venom is like the Iron Man or Superman of the Universe.
If you think about it logically, the idea must surely be to introduce audiences to a series of new characters before bringing them all together for the kind of mighty reckoning that could rival Avengers or Justice League. If that’s the case then you’d expect the next step to feature some kind of crossover, which could either be a full team formation deal, or something like Iron Man 3 where Black Widow joined the party.
If we had to put our money anywhere, we’d have to go with the latter and Venom 3 would make a pretty good place to start. The first film saw Eddie and the big V taking out Riot and shutting down the alien invasion of the symbiotic race and then the second was all about the destruction of Carnage, so you could say that’s the big elements from the comic books covered.
As a result, a logical next step would be to bring Michael Morbius and Kraven the Hunter into the mix with a story about Kraven going up against the monsters to prove he’s the best once his origin story is unveiled in the 2023 film. Another possibility, it that it’s all building to tie in with an eventual match-up with Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, which would bring together all of Sony’s big hitters into one place.
Conclusions
Looking at all of the information and potential of the series, we’d have to say that it looks positive for Venom 3. The finances just about stack up and there’s a lot riding on the Sony Spider-Man Universe, so it will be a big upset for it to be left in the dust like the Amazing films starring Andrew Garfield.
Sony will also have seen from the MCU and DCEU that a series can take blips in the road, either critical or box office performance, as long as they’re ironed out by later films in the series. Venom: Let There Be Carnage may not be as big as the first film, but if it’s all a part of some bigger, more lucrative master plan then it should be game on.
We’ll update you with more details on Venom 3 as they get confirmed. You can also check out our movie news section to keep tabs on the latest upcoming films, or visit the Venom movie website at https://www.venom.movie/.
