Venom overcame an (extremely unfair) critical mauling to become an $856 million smash, with audiences worldwide taking to the bromance between Tom Hardy and a slimy alien goo monster. It was a superhero movie with a distinct personality, anchored by a very fun dual performance from Hardy and a witty script. But with the film proving to be a hit and ending with a teaser for a sequel starring Woody Harrelson’s Carnage, you’d expect a follow-up to be fast-tracked. So far though, we’ve heard nothing about Venom 2.
We’ve had word that Sony are targeting an October 2nd, 2020 release date for the project, which should mean that it’s some way through pre-production and would go before the cameras later this year. But now, in a recent interview, studio chief Amy Pascal has explained that the film is “in the works” but that there’s “no timetable.”
This means that the October 2nd release date is in question and that we don’t know when we’re going to see everyone’s favorite symbiote back on the big screen. The key ingredient holding things up may be director Ruben Fleischer. He’s currently hard at work on the long-awaited Zombieland: Double Tap, which reunites the cast of Zombieland and will hit cinemas on October 18th, 2019. Once that’s in the can, Fleischer should be able to fully turn his attention to Venom 2.
In the meantime, the franchise will doubtless ramp up the hype on the Jared Leto-starring Morbius (scheduled for release on July 31st, 2020). Still, as fun as it’ll be watching Leto chomp his way through Sony’s corner of the Marvel Universe, what we desperately want is Venom back.
And hey, who knows, perhaps the reason they’re delaying it is because they’re waiting for an opportunity to see Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock go toe to toe with Tom Holland’s Spider-Man? That’s sure to be a dream matchup for millions of fans around the world.