Woody Harrelson made a mid-credits appearance in last year's VENOM as serial killer Cletus Kasady, a character that fans of the Marvel Comics source material will know becomes the symbiote-coated supervillain Carnage… and just in case viewers weren't sure who Kasady was, the word "carnage" was included in his dialogue. Obviously the character was in there to set up a Venom vs. Carnage sequel, so it could be taken as a given that Harrelson would be back in the upcoming VENOM 2.
Then again, Harrelson landed the role because VENOM was directed by his ZOMBIELAND director Ruben Fleischer, who won't be back to direct VENOM 2 because he's busy putting the finishing touches on ZOMBIELAND: DOUBLE TAP. So will Harrelson come back now that VENOM 2 is being directed by his WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES co-star Andy Serkis?
The answer is yes, according to cinematographer Robert Richardson.
Richardson frequently collaborates with the likes of Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese, and Oliver Stone, and over the course of his career has been nominated for the Best Cinematography Academy Award nine times – with three of those nominations turning into wins. Richardson took home Oscars for his work on JFK, THE AVIATOR, and HUGO. But he has never worked on a comic book movie, and he told Collider that he's excited to be delving into this type of project, especially since the Ben Affleck Batman movie he was supposed to shoot fell apart a while ago.
I was looking forward to entering into that arena with BATMAN years ago with Ben [Affleck]. I thought, ‘Well this is something I haven’t done that I would love to try to do.’ And then Andy Serkis, who I worked with on BREATHE, gave me a call a month ago and said that he was up for this and would I be willing. I’d seen (the first VENOM). I watched it again, then they sent me a script and I felt like, yeah, I would say yes anyway to Andy just because I would say yes to Andy, but I also think it’s a great… I think it’s unexplored yet, and it’s going to explode, and this film, I think, will help it explode, because you have a remarkable central character with Venom, but now you’ve got Woody Harrelson, who’s going to obviously make his own little entrance here, and we’ll see what else comes in with the Sony Marvel collaboration. I look forward to it. It’s a massive change for me, but I’m excited. I think (Tom Hardy) is one of our best. He never misses. I so look forward to sitting with him and watching him perform."
Cinematographer Matthew Libatique had worked with Fleischer on the first VENOM, and Richardson said he will be honoring Libatique's work in the follow-up. When sets that were established in VENOM appear in VENOM 2, Richardson even intends to light them in exactly the same way Libatique did.
As Richardson mentioned, Tom Hardy will be reprising the role of Eddie Brock, who becomes the titular anti-hero when coated with an alien symbiote. Hardy has also been working closely with screenwriter Kelly Marcel as the script is being written.
Michelle Williams has said that she will be back as Eddie's wife Anne Weying as well.
VENOM 2 is likely aiming for an October 2020 release.
Fleischer casting Harrelson as Cletus Kasady was clearly a nod to the performance he gave in NATURAL BORN KILLERS twenty-five years ago, so it's cool that Richardson will be behind the camera when Harrelson goes full Carnage in the sequel, since Richardson was the cinematographer on NATURAL BORN KILLERS.