Exclusive: Venom VFX lead talks “scary” challenge of Carnage in Venom sequel

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

While many bet against VENOM being a success at the box office, some even saying it was "Catwoman level bad" early on, the film has been more than a little surprise, thus far grossing $845 million worldwide ($212 million domestic) and still chugging along, even as it prepares to hit digital and blu-ray later this month. While we could argue the merits of quality vs. box office numbers, the bottom line is that movies don't make this kind of money because people are going back multiple tiimes to hate watch it. They're going back because they dig it. The film teases the appearance of Carnage with a cameo of Cletus Cassidy (as played by Woody Harrelson) and although we never see the red-and-black symbiote in action, it's very apparent that they are setting him up for the sequel.

Talking to VFX artist Paul Franklin in an interview for the Blu-Ray/DVD release of VENOM we learned a few things about what the VFX crew is thinking for the look of Carnage in the sequel and, like VENOM, it sounds like their heads are in the right space in terms of bringing him to life on the big screen. Franklin mentions the wealth of material to draw from in the comics and talks specifically about the organic nature of the character and what his look evokes. If you're a fan of Carnage then this should make you pretty damn happy. It may be early days, but it's good to hear that the focus on the look and design are being taken seriously and passionately. Check out what Franklin had to say below.

There’s a tease at the end of the film featuring Cletus Kasady who becomes Carnage. Have you guys given any thought to design or even made up any mock-ups or anything to how you guys would approach making Carnage into a film version?

You know, it’s all very early days with that. Obviously, Carnage is a very well-established character in the comics, so just as with Venom there’s a wealth of material to go on; there’s lots of different directions we could take the character. I think at this stage we’re still waiting to see what the writers come up with before we get really into that. I think everybody has been so blown away by the success of Venom that we’re just thinking where exactly are we going to take this character next? What’s going to be the next evolution of the Venom cinematic universe?

I think the important thing is that all of the lessons we learned on Venom in terms of how we created the creature, the character onscreen, they’re all going to be taken forward and rolled into whatever is done with Carnage. I think the combination of creature and creature effects animation to create the organic aspects of the character, that’s going to be crucial to bringing Carnage to life, because anybody that knows the character from the comic books knows that he’s basically like a skinned man, he’s got a permanently exploding-like blood coming off his surface and that is going to be a big challenge, making that feel real and scary and visceral in the world of the film. So, that’s a pretty exciting proposition and I think I can safely say that the effects artists are as excited to see that character come to the screen as the audiences are.

We'll have more from my interview with Franklin on the week of VENOM's blu-ray/DVD release, which hits shelves on December 18th, while digital arrives a week early on December 11th.