Tom Hardy is no strangers to either big budgets or sequels, having appeared in Black Hawk Down, Star Trek: Nemesis, Inception, The Dark Knight Rises, The Revenant and Mad Max: Fury Road throughout his career, while he also saw a cameo in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker left on the cutting room floor. However, tomorrow’s Venom: Let There Be Carnage marks the first time he’s played the same character more than once on the big screen.
Not only does he pull double duty as Eddie Brock and his alter ego in a performance the likes of which producer Hutch Parker had never seen before, Hardy is also part of the producorial team and developed the story alongside his close friend and regular collaborator Kelly Marcel, making him one of the most important creative driving forces behind the entire operation.
As you’d expect, the Academy Award nominee is as intensely dedicated to the property behind offscreen as he is on set, and in a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Hardy admitted that he’s deeply invested in continuing the Venom franchise long past Let There Be Carnage.
“I’m deeply invested in this particular franchise. If it’s successful, there is another one to do.”
Venom: Let There Be Carnage is tracking for an opening weekend in the $40-60 million range, and Sony are very light in terms of marketable properties at the studio’s disposal, so we can reasonably expect a third installment to be announced in the not too distant future. Unless of course, Eddie has other things to occupy his time…