When Venom: Let There Be Carnage hits theaters later this year, audiences might just notice that Tom Hardy doesn't just star in the film, he also helped develop the sequel's story. The screenplay for the upcoming film was penned by Kelly Marcel, but Empire reveals that she will be sharing the "Story By" credit with none other than Tom Hardy himself, which will be his first.
"This is new for him, to get credit," Kelly Marcel told Empire, "but it’s not new for him to be this involved. He’s absolutely 100 per cent committed to everything that he does. He’s married to Venom. He loves this character. He’s very involved in what he thinks should happen." Marcel added that while Hardy wasn't breaking out a pen, the pair did spend a great deal of time developing the story together.
We spent months breaking the story together on FaceTime, riffing on ideas, seeing what worked, seeing what didn’t. Then I took everything we spoke about and holed up somewhere for three months quietly, knocking out a script.
As a good deal of what made the first film so entertaining was Tom Hardy's wild enthusiasm, I'm excited to see what he'll be bringing to the table this time around now that he's had a bigger hand in developing the story. The sequel finds Andy Serkis taking over from Ruben Fleischer in the director's chair, and features Tom Hardy and Michelle Williams reprising their roles of Eddie Brock and Anne Weying, respectively, with Woody Harrelson also starring as Cletus Kasady, the man who will become Carnage. Venom: Let There Be Carnage also stars Naomie Harris as Frances Barrison/Shriek, a love interest of Kasady's described by Serkis as a damaged soul who has been living in isolation.
Venom: Let There Be Carnage will hit theaters on September 24, 2021.